Southern Byways

They say every house a story, and this couldn’t be more true than at The Magnolia Grill located in downtown Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

But before I go into the story of the home, let me talk about the food. I was lucky to have a taste of the kitchen, that is I had the opportunity to try a little of everything, including dessert (more about that later.)

Tom Rice, owner, cook (not chef, he says) and all-around fascinating Ft. Walton-ite, says he got his start in the restaurant business at the early age of 17 working at an Italian eatery. Today, you can still some of that in the The Magnolia Grill’s menu.

Some of the items served last night included Fliet Tips Florentina, served with a   side of spaghetti and marinara sauce ($26), Manicotti with meat sauce ($18), and Crawfish Etoufee with rice ($15). There was also crab cake and shrimp Alfredo, which isn’t listed on the menu, but Rice says it’s one of their more popular items and you can ask for it. The dinner menu itself includes steak selections, soups/salads, and of course, seafood. There’s a children’s section as well.

Desserts were a sampling of tiramisu, cheesecake and a very tasty chocolate mint pie.

During the meal, Rice comments that food is a hobby for him and his job is the curator of the museum, the home. He points out that the house is a working museum. Every piece/decoration from around town and has something to do with the town.

I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me back up and tell you about the house itself. Built around the early 1900’s,the house was ordered from Sears (it’s a Craftsman-style) for around $2,700, and delivered via train in Pensacola. In Pensacola, it was loaded onto a barge and shipped to Ft. Walton. As Rice retells the history, every piece was there and all that was needed was a local carpenter to put it together, and built the chimney. Once put together, the home was about 3,000 square feet.

  Now, of course, to modernize it (adding the restaurant-required kitchen, and electricity), some of it has been renovated, but not much. The part of the restaurant I was eating in was the sun porch. What was once the bedrooms is now filled with dining tables.

Upstairs, mainly used for special events as a private dining room, is where you can find the larger museum-type items. Rice says that when people around town either retire or have no further use for pieces, they’ll give it to him. And there are very interesting  collections, from old dental apparatus to old cameras. One interesting thing that I came across was the script from Jaws II, which was filmed in Destin. 

The next time you’re in the area, be sure to stop in for a meal and a piece of history. You’ll be glad you did.

Photo credits: Scenes from The Magnolia Grill, personal photos