Eating Out With Kids: The Fish House Pensacola, FL

We did a lot of eating on our recent Florida vacation. I mean a lot. First stop upon arriving was a Publix to stock up on good for you groceries. Things we as a clean eating family needed to get by on for breakfast and lunch, for seven whole days. This is necessary when traveling with children who require a clean diet. Not to mention it saves you quite a chunk of change.

Eating our dinner out every evening was a special treat after a long day of playing on the sand, crashing with the waves, or discovering all the fun family things Pensacola Beach has to offer. Often times though, dinner is where we ran into problems trying to decide what to feed our kids. Almost every spot we went offered a kids menu. Fail. Huge huge fail. All I could see was fried this and fried that and dessert and soda included. I knew for sure there would be icky stuff lurking in the grease all that stuff was dunked in, so most of the time I ended up ordering the kids boiled shrimp and veggies as a side. At an adult price. Of course. At one stop though I was pleasantly surprised by the kids menu and the overall quality of the food.

Enter The Fish House in Pensacola, Florida.

To be honest I wasn't expecting much more than what we had already come across. The place looked nice and the setting was beautiful but I had finally resigned myself to the fact that no one in the restaurant industry cares about children's food. The Fish House restored a tiny bit of faith in my jaded clean eating heart.

A few of the yummy offerings on the kids menu: Today's Fish (fresh catch broiled), Jumbo Shrimp, and Margherita Pizza with basil pesto. There were also chicken strips and mac and cheese because really what kids menu would be complete without those.

Sides were also plentiful and included: Ma’s Fresh Collard Greens,  Black-eyed Peas, Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits,  Fries, Coleslaw,  Corn Fritters, Grilled Veggies, and  Asparagus.

Get this....there was even a kids Sushi menu. Yep, your little one could get several different kid sized rolls plus edamame. Here is where I put down the menu and personally thanked a waiter for such variety to choose from.

So what did we have?

This guy had the fresh catch with some Corn Fritters on the side. I realize these are fried but they were full of cheese and super yummy and we couldn't resist trying them. He also had a root beer which is a rare treat. Abita makes some good tasting stuff.

Cash had the Jumbo Shrimp and Corn Fritters (which he didn't even touch). He said the shrimp was excellent. Kelsey (our vacation nanny) had the Dragon Roll. No complaints out of her either. Sugarbaby ended up scavenging off of everyone's else's plate.

The husband and I debated and stalled and conversed (don't you just love candid shots?). There was so much good stuff to chose from! He ended up with the Swordfish & Grilled Veggies and Mashed Potatoes. I opted for the World Famous Grits a YaYa. It was possibly the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. Smoked gouda grits topped with spinach, portabella mushrooms, applewood smoked bacon, garlic, shallots, & cream with jumbo spiced Gulf shrimp. It was insane. I saved what grits I couldn't stuff down my gullet and had them for breakfast with a fried egg on top the next morning.

We also had the Claws In Sauce as an appetizer and the sauce was delectable. It was sopped  up with thick hunks of French bread.  Another great thing about this restaurant, the prices are high but the servings are huge! You won't leave hungry. It is for certain a place to check out with or without kids in Pensacola.