The Blue Parrot - a SGI Staple
The Blue Parrot is arguably the most famous and recognizable restaurant on St. George Island. Guests to the island often drive/walk from their vacation rental homes to the Blue Parrot to enjoy great seafood and awesome views from this beachfront restaurant. The Blue Parrot began as a hot dog stand on St. George Island in the 80s when it was called S.O. Beach. New owners of the hot dog stand changed the name to Blue Parrot and, over time, the restaurant has expanded three times. The current owners Steve Rash and George Joanos are best friends and have been working together for over a decade. The Blue Parrot sources all of its local seafood from Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola, and it’s hand-picked to make sure it is the highest quality.
Our last trip to the Blue Parrot was on a Monday, so it was fairly quiet (it’s open 11 am to 9 pm, 7 days a week). The hostess sat us right away at a table as close as we could get to the beach. Unfortunately, there was an older gentleman that likely had way too much to drink and was using a lot of language that we didn’t want our kids to hear. Our waitress did an awesome job of moving us to another table and took great care of us for the rest of our time at dinner.
The Blue Parrot has one of the most extensive menus on the Island (to view the menu, click here). They have everything from huge burgers to wings to chicken fingers, but if you’re going to the Blue Parrot, you have to have the seafood! They do have a kids menu, and yes, two of our kids got corn dogs (insert eye-rolling emoji here!). Krista and I decided to split the “World Famous Blue Parrot Seafood Platter” (we got the fried version…hey, we’re on vacation!). As you can see below , the platter is loaded with grouper, shrimp, oysters, scallops, a hush puppy and a crab cake; it also comes with a choice of two sides.
We enjoyed all of the food along with our great views and awesome service at the Blue Parrot. Brody gave it a big thumbs up!
Many people love going to the Blue Parrot website even when they aren’t on the island. Sometimes you just need your “beach fix” and the Blue Parrot webcam can give you just what you need.
We also want to celebrate the Blue Parrot for what it does in the community. The restaurant sponsors many local events including the Chili Cook Off (March), Bash on the Beach (mid-April), the St. George Island Mullet Toss (June) and Volleyball tournaments on the beach in August. To check out the latest on Blue Parrot events click here.
If you are on your St. George Island beach vacation and haven’t been to the Blue Parrot, go check it out. What is your favorite thing about the Blue Parrot? Let us know in the comment section below.
We always get the seafood platter to share too, and yes, fried also! You can even sit outside on the "beach" area of the restaurant.