Black Marlin Bar & Grill

We celebrated a Birthday. Made reservations for the bar. The sweet young bartender was fantastic. She was attentive, even though she had a full bar. She was skilled with the libations also. Great time. We ordered seared scallops that were amazing, and the birthday boy wanted to come for the Shrimp and Grits that never disappoint. But we also ordered Grouper, and unfortunately, it was so hard my husband's fork wouldn't cut through it. So we ordered another order of Scallops. This restaurant has scrumptious food, but a reservation is a must and make it days ahead.

This is one of our fave restaurants in all of the Port A! When visiting, we always have one dinner and one brunch at Black Marlin. We were excited this last time to find out that they now take online reservations. The shrimp and grits are the best ever. Our 7 year old daughter has to get her own bowl each time and devours them. Their drinks are tasty and refreshing and they always have a great cocktail menu. Servers are always nice and we love seeing some of the same ones there year after year. The Sunday brunch has a Blood Mary Bar with so many food add-ons you may not need to order any food from the menu. Our daughter adores the croissant beignets and the avocado toast was light and perfect.

I thought the ambience for 4th of July weekend was great, the service (Antoninette) was friendly, but not spectacular. The 4 different entrees we had were good. The red snapper dip was a bit overcooked

A friend of mine recommended Black Marlin and it did not disappoint. In fact, it was better than expected after listening to the recommendation. It is not a very big restaurant which I can only assume allows them to provide quality over quantity. And for the prices, you can't beat it. This is the only restaurant I can remember where the food is a few steps above the price they charge. Don't get me wrong, it is still a $25-50 per person dining experience with the ability to go well above that, but they do such a fantastic job to where it makes it completely worth it. I left thinking I robbed the place!

If you have younger kids, the Mac'n Cheese is amazing and big enough for two. Just don't try it, you may not give any to them!