Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Fudpuckers - Restaurant Review


Fudpuckers is located in Destin, Florida and is the most fun you can take a kid to.

When you first pull up into the parking lot, you spy Alligator Crossing signs everywhere. Before you get out of the car you find yourself looking out the windows onto the ground suspiciously.

Then you see the building - Wow! Painted mainly in a fushia sort of color, it has every other color on it too, plus a VW bus sticking 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the building. Grafitti is a must there - every conceivable bit of space, including the hanging lamps, tables, chairs, walls, etc. is covered in grafitti. My son was openly hostile toward me since I didn't just happen to have a Sharpie pen in my purse.


Then comes the zinger for the kids, and adults alike. The 80 alligators surrounding the restaurant. You can stay up top and feed them with poles (bit pricey at $3.00 for 4 pieces of food) or you can go below to the "museum" and see them thru the glass swimming around. They have an actual degreed alligator expert on staff to keep them all happy and healthy, and to answer all your questions.

There is also a huge gift shop, full indoor/outdoor bar with stage for weekend bands, and a playground for the kiddies while waiting for seating.

The food is extremely average, but you don't go for the food. They give it fun names though and I felt very naughty ordering the "mother fudpucker" burger. The kids meals are average with overpriced drinks, but you get a little dinosaur on each plate and that was more exciting to the little kids than the alligators swimming everywhere. Another night I had nachos which were extremely dull.

This is one of the few restaurants in Destin not on the water or a pier, but it's a nice change for the kids and when we were in Destin, we actually went here twice.