Calypso Beach Café & Sports Grille:
Far More Than Your Usual Beach Bar
15812 Front Beach Rd., Panama City Bch, 850-234-6788
By Bruce Collier July 29, 2004 Issue


Panama City Beach hosts more beach bar/restaurants than I’ve been able to count. Most are designed and executed on the generic model — prefab “island” decor, rough wooden floors and walls, fruity rum drinks with cute names, loads of beer posters, and a what-the-hell attitude that often extends to the service and quality of the food. Such is definitely not the case with Calypso Beach Café & Sports Grille in Panama City Beach. You may come here looking for Margaritaville 101, but you’ll come back for the food.

Calypso is a one-story structure, mostly wood, brightly painted and decorated with original artwork, much of which appears to be for sale. The first thing I noticed upon entering was just how many people the place can accommodate. Two main dining rooms run parallel to each other, with a pair of smaller, more intimate spaces and a bar area laid out perpendicular to both. I gave up counting the number of TV sets, large and small, on the walls. It is possible to avoid them, but it takes skill. Calypso keeps the volume down, so you can hold a conversation. On the afternoon we were there, a live jazz trio played discreetly underneath it all. We ordered drinks — there’s a full bar — and studied the menu.

It’s a big one, with over 80 items to choose from, including a New Orleans style brunch offered 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Calypso offers lunch and dinner, covering soups, salads, appetizers, sandwiches, entrees, and a long list of desserts. I don’t have the space to list every item, but you can get crab cakes, shrimp, crawfish, oysters, various kinds of local fish, beef, ribs, chicken, pasta, po-boys, and brunch egg dishes, prepared in a combination of Caribbean, New Orleans, and Cajun styles. What we had was only a small sample, but if it is representative, you’re safe getting anything.

We started with “mile high” nachos and sautéed crawfish. The nachos came in assorted colors of blue, red, and natural, covered with just enough melted cheese and chili to flavor them without drowning them. Salsa, sour cream, and diced chili peppers came on the side. Most restaurants of this kind offer nachos, but it was nice to see a kitchen throw some style into what is often just a pile of messy, beer-absorbing grunge.

The sautéed crawfish were good enough to eat every day for a month. A bowlful of peeled crawfish tails came in a light, rosy, tangy sauce. Fortunately, three slices of garlicky toasted baguettes were provided to spare my friend the sight of me licking the bowl.

My friend ordered a house specialty, Shrimp Panama. The shrimp were served tossed with sautéed fresh mushrooms and garlic over angel hair pasta. It was simple and good, especially if you like garlic as much as my friend does.

I ordered the catch of the day, mahi mahi grilled and served with garlic-mashed potatoes. There was also more bread for the crawfish bowl that I refused to let the waiter clear away even though he wanted to. Calypso offers a good selection of side dishes, including baked potatoes, fries, glazed sweet potatoes, creamed spinach, paella, red beans and rice, steamed vegetables, sautéed mushrooms and fried pickles.

Other highlighted menu items include beach balls—a cheese blend with broccoli and jalapenos, barbecued and jerk ribs, stuffed shrimp, shrimp Bucktown—sautéed with tasso, crab cakes Benedict (at brunch), teriyaki marinated Caribbean chicken, seafood gumbo, and fish served fried, grilled or blackened. You can also get club sandwiches and burgers.

Calypso offers 12 desserts, as well as a sampler. We ordered Bahamian coconut pie and milk chocolate cheesecake. Both were good, and neither needed their not-especially- realistic whipped topping. I think I liked the pie best. It was denser than a traditional coconut cream pie, and its crushed coconut/pecan cookie crust gave it more of a brownie quality. The cheesecake was good, slightly tangy, very creamy, and almost mousse-like. The white chocolate chips were a nice garnish, even though white chocolate isn’t really chocolate. But that’s another column.

Other desserts offered were key lime pie, various fruit cheesecakes, a bread pudding, lemon icebox pie, bananas Foster, and a chocolate cake. We were about to leave when a man passed by our table, looking down at our plates. He apologized, saying he was just curious. He introduced himself as the executive chef, and asked us how everything was. After letting me go on a bit about the sautéed crawfish, he smiled and said, “We’re just getting started.” Good for him, good for Calypso, and good for you if you choose to hit Panama City Beach for a well-prepared and thoughtfully presented meal.