Spring Creek Restaurant

***** AS A RESULT OF HURRICANE MICHAEL IN OCTOBER, 2018, SPRING CREEK RESTAURANT IS CURRENTLY CLOSED, BUT DOES OPERATE AS A FOOD TRUCK. *****

With dinner prices at $30 or more, Spring Creek Restaurant is not for bargain-hunters nor for those in search of eat-in-the-rough cracker dining. But neither is it the least bit swanky. Although it only dates back to 1977, it feels more like a taste of laid-back Florida from the state’s glory days as an undeveloped, get-away-from-it-all resort. It is a warm and friendly, family-run, tree-shaded fish-camp lodge that serves a time-honored Sunshine State menu of mullet, grouper, crabs, shrimp, and, of course, oysters.

One of the best ways to start a meal is a small portion of Spring Creek’s tomato-cheese pie topped with grilled shrimp. If that sounds really good (it is!), note that the tomato pie also is available as a main course. Other entrees we’ve enjoyed are soft-shelled crab (fried or broiled), shrimp stuffed with deviled crab and wrapped in bacon, and crisp-fried fillets of mullet. For those allergic to seafood, the restaurant offers ribeye steaks, chicken, and quail.

Dinners come with a fine, fresh mix-your-own salad and house-special ranch dressing or extremely creamy blue cheese dressing. The pie repertoire includes Key lime, chocolate-peanut butter, and coconut cream.

If you bring your own cleaned fish, the kitchen will cook it for you and serve it with salad, rolls, spuds or grits, and hushpuppies, all for $13.

A short walk away from the restaurant is the family’s Airbnb cottage called The Creek House.