By Jack Smith
While all of our featured restaurants offer a plethora of homemade soups and salads, I’d like to focus on two of my favorites, Caesar salad and she-crab soup. Most food-historians believe the Caesar salad was invented in the 1920s by an Italian immigrant named Caesar Cardini, a restaurateur with restaurants in both Mexico and the United States. On July 4, 1924, Cardini ran out of supplies at his restaurant, Caesar’s, in Tijuana, Mexico (where Americans flocked to avoid prohibition restrictions). Improvising with what he had left on hand, the first Caesar salad was tossed (or so the story goes).
My all-time favorite soup is she-crab, a true southern delicacy. History tells us that she-crab soup was first made in Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1920s at The Rutledge house. There the butler, William Deas, was asked to come up with something special for visiting President William Howard Taft. We are lucky to live in a southern town that offers several versions. My favorite is found at…
Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant
5551 N Lagoon Drive, PCB | (850) 234-2225
captandersons.com
Try our Johnny’s Special Greek Salad. Fresh crab meat and Gulf shrimp, iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges with Greek ripe olives, Salonika peppers, feta cheese and our famous Greek dressing. Crisp and refreshing!
Señor Frogs
15005 Front Beach Road, PCB
senorfrogs.com/panama-city-beach
Come for the food, stay for the fun. Try our delicious chicken tortilla soup with rice, pulled chicken, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, queso fresco, and avocado topped with toasted pasilla strips. Served with a side of sour cream. Our fiesta taco salad is a party in your mouth with a crispy flour tortilla, beans, rice, lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, queso fresco, with chipotle dressing and choice of meats.
The Wicked Wheel
10025 Hutchison Boulevard, PCB | (850) 588-7947
thewickedwheel.com
The Wicked Wheel’s Mandarin Walnut Salad is a refreshing choice any time of the year. Think romaine lettuce served with Mandarin oranges, walnuts, red onions, tomatoes, bleu cheese crumbles, and cranraisins served with raspberry walnut vinaigrette on the side. This salad is full of flavor with every bite.
Schooners
5121 Gulf Drive, PCB | (850) 235-3555
schooners.com
The wedge with a view! A whole heart of romaine lettuce, bacon, blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing sets this salad apart. Try it with our New Orleans style Seafood Gumbo!
The Pancakery
13800 Panama City Beach Pkwy, PCB | (850) 588-5077
thepancakery.com
The Pancakery started in Destin and opened it’s doors March 2011. After a huge success, The Pancakery expanded down the coast to a second location in Panama City Beach in 2017. Come check out what makes The Pancakery a Florida Panhandle’s FAVORITE. Enjoy a delectable house salad, chef salad ceasar salad or chicken salad sandwich.
