DESTIN — When I was in college, the Ale House chain in my town was incredibly popular. It had been at least 10 years since I visited an Ale House, and was excited when I had the opportunity to dine at Miller’s Ale House in Destin.
I’d heard that Miller’s was pretty busy with a lengthy wait, so my friend and I dined there sometime between lunch and dinner with no wait.
The food
The menu is pretty large. In fact, our waitress said she’d give us some time to look through the restaurant’s “novel.”
My friend and I both wanted to try the jambalaya, but for variety’s sake I ordered the seafood macaroni and cheese.
Our food came quickly, and my pasta was piping hot. The macaroni and cheese part of the dish wasn’t too heavy, and there was plenty of shrimp and scallops throughout the dish. I ended up leaving some of the pasta on the plate just because I was saving room for dessert.
My friend’s jambalaya also was good and had plenty of sausage, chicken and shrimp over rice that was cooked with Cajun seasonings, red and green peppers, onions, scallions and tomatoes.
My friend said at her college Ale House her group usually ordered beer and Capt’n Jack’s Buried Treasure. We ordered the Buried Treasure to share, and couldn’t finish it. It’s a mammoth slice of ice cream cake with an Oreo crust, caramel and Heath Bar crunch swimming in a sea of hot fudge and topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
This cake was amazing. It is the reason I will return to Miller’s Ale House. The richness of the Oreos, toffee bits and hot fudge combined with the texture of the crunch of the toffee and creaminess of the hot fudge send this dessert over the edge. And, at $4.99 it was well worth its price.
Miller’s Ale House also serves Zingers, which are a very popular menu item. These are boneless chicken wings. What makes Zingers special is Ale House takes them a step further by offering a variety of toppings.
They have the Zinger Mountain Melt, which is the medium garlic wings piled over fries and topped with melted jack and cheddar cheese, bacon bits and scallions. Another choice is Zingers Florentine which are the wings tossed in a garlic parmesan sauce and topped with spinach dip, Monterrey jack and parmesan cheese and diced tomatoes.
They also have quesadillas, nachos, burgers, salads and sandwiches and seafood.
Because it’s an ale house, Miller’s also serves more than 75 varieties of beer. They also have a ton of drink specials every day.
The atmosphere
This is definitely a sports bar. Miller’s has more than 60 flatscreen televisions. There is no seat in this restaurant where you cannot have a perfect view of a TV.
While we were there on a Monday afternoon, many diners chose to dine on the outside patio where there was a mixture of families and older couples taking a leisurely lunch.
The service
Our waitress, Diana, was super nice. My friend remarked she thought she would have made a perfect “Saturday Night Live” character — that’s how nice she was.
A final taste
Miller’s is a nice place to park yourself for the big game, enjoy a meal or just a snack, but mostly definitely try Capt’n Jack’s Buried Treasure.
Location
34906 Emerald Coast Parkway
Destin, FL 32541
Telephone
850-837-0694
Hours
Sunday
11 a.m. to midnight
Monday through Saturday
11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Reservations
Not necessary
Handicap accessibility
Good
Children’s menu
Yes
Price range
Zingers
$8.79 to $9.99
Starters
$6.95 to $10.95
Salads
$3.99 to $9.79
Burgers & Sandwiches
$7.49 to $9.95
Entrées
$9.95 to $16.99
Desserts
$3.99 to $6.95
Payment
Credit cards accepted
