Review: Southern restaurant harkens to Old Florida in both food and atmosphere

Maribeth Renne
·3 min read

For an authentic "Old Florida" dining experience featuring native cuisine and atmosphere, look no further west than Marsh Landing Restaurant in our infamous city of Fellsmere in Indian River County.

Infamous, you ask? Indeed, Fellsmere is known as the first place in Florida where women were allowed to vote. In addition, the annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival holds two Guinness Book World Records, one for the most frog legs served in a single day and one for the largest frog leg festival in the world.

When visiting Marsh Landing Restaurant in the vintage Fellsmere Estates Corp. Building, allow yourself ample time to look around at all the early Florida trappings, antiques, photos and memorabilia. Laminated onto the wooden tabletops are newspapers such as The Fellsmere Farmer. We read news from Nov. 14, 1912, and perused a Rexall drug store ad touting their 1 cent sale on toiletry items.

All things food: New restaurants, reviews, inspections & best bets

At Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere, the shrimp and grits have andouille sausage sauteed in a delectable sauce.
At Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere, the shrimp and grits have andouille sausage sauteed in a delectable sauce.

Lest you think this is just a sleepy old place, allow me to set you straight! Our friendly and energetic waitress Stephanie W. greeted us with a big smile and the question, “What will you be drinking tonight?” and from there, she masterfully kept things going at a well-timed pace.

Appetizers such as frog legs, gator tail, corn fritters, fried green tomatoes and swamp cabbage soup were tempting, but we remembered that entrée portions at Marsh Landing Restaurant are quite large. Therefore, we headed right to the "Cattleman’s Corner" portion of the menu, where we found a half rack of baby back ribs ($21.95).

Succulent, tender ribs came with a cup of tangy barbeque sauce for dipping. From the extensive list of sides, we chose creamy mashed red potatoes and gravy, and home-style coleslaw. A generous square of Marsh Landing’s uniquely delicious cornbread — a cross between corn pudding and cornbread — was included.

The Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere is in the vintage Fellsmere Estates Corp. Building at 44 N. Broadway St.
The Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere is in the vintage Fellsmere Estates Corp. Building at 44 N. Broadway St.

From the "Fisherman’s Friends" menu heading, we found shrimp and grits ($19.95). We greatly enjoyed the shrimp and andouille sausage sauteed in a delectable sauce and served over grits. We were excited to choose black-eyed peas cooked with pieces of ham and collard greens for our sides, along with that delicious cornbread.

Alongside the salt and pepper shakers, the tables at Marsh Landing are set in the Southern tradition with jars of Frog Leg Frannie’s hot pepper vinegar. Just a tablespoon gives those delicious collard greens a nice kick!

We finished up our meal with slices of pie ($8.95).

Most memorable was the chocolate peanut butter pie. If you enjoy the flavors of chocolate and peanut butter, this pie — standing up high with peanut butter filling and chocolate topping — is not to be missed. In second place was the rich and yummy caramel bourbon pecan pie.

Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. are bluegrass nights and, on this night, reservations are highly recommended. Welcome to Florida!

At Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere, the caramel bourbon pecan pie is a Southern favorite.
At Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere, the caramel bourbon pecan pie is a Southern favorite.

Marsh Landing Restaurant

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Restaurant review: Marsh Landing Restaurant serves Southern food