Football season inside Sandestin runs on a published schedule this year. Two resort restaurants have their own Game Days calendars, which cover college Saturdays and NFL Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays through December 31. Baytowne Wharf has added a football-and-bonfire night to the start of its 18th Annual Beer Festival. The same games show everywhere. What changes from one spot to the next is the setting, the start date and the crowd you'll be sitting with.
If you live on or near the resort, that makes the question more specific than "where's a TV." You're choosing between a lawn on the bay, a dining room facing the Gulf and a pizza bar in the Village, and they don't all start on the same weekend.
Two Venues, Two Start Dates
The resort's Game Days program is split between two restaurants, and they open a month apart. Game Days at The Beach House started Saturday, September 5, and runs through Thursday, December 31. Game Days at Marina Bar & Grill starts Thursday, October 1, and runs through the same December 31 end date.
So for this coming Saturday, September 26, The Beach House is the resort's official football room. The Marina lawn takes over as the second option once October starts.
| The Beach House | Marina Bar & Grill | Roberto's Pizzeria | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | 4009 S Sandestin Boulevard | 8330 Mike Hayes Dr | The Village of Baytowne Wharf |
| Season | Sept. 5 to Dec. 31 | Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 | Open seven days a week |
| Setting | Indoors, Gulf views | Outdoor Tailgate Lawn on the bay | Bar and dining room |
| Screens | Nine TVs | Waterfront Jumbotron plus indoor TVs | Screens along the bar and across the dining room |
| Game days | Sat., Sun., Mon., Thu. | Sat., Sun., Mon., Thu. | Not published |
The Marina Lawn Is Built for a Crowd
Marina Bar & Grill is the resort's biggest football setup. The resort calls it the Tailgate Lawn, and it runs Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays with college and NFL games shown outdoors. The main screen is a waterfront Jumbotron. The feature game gets sound, the other games play on indoor TVs, and seating is first-come.
The food is a tailgate menu. The resort lists shareable plates, wings, burgers and sandwiches, with beer and cocktails from the bar.
Seating is first-come and only one game gets sound, so the lawn suits a big-draw matchup that the whole crowd wants to hear. If your team is playing in a smaller game at the same time, you'll be watching it on an indoor TV, probably without sound. That's the trade-off for sitting outside by Baytowne Marina on an October afternoon.
The Marina stays busy through November. The resort has a separate November Game Days listing covering November 1 through 30, with NCAA Saturdays, NFL Sundays and some Monday and Thursday night games on the waterfront screen.
The Beach House Has the Gulf View
The Beach House suits people who'd rather sit down than stand around. Visit South Walton lists the football program as free, with nine TVs spread through the restaurant. Sandestin lists it as open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with football specials every game day.
The resort's marketing speaks straight to people who live here. The promotion asks locals looking for a "new home field" to pull up a seat. The room itself has been around a while. The Beach House opened on Monday, April 13, 2015, in the space that used to be Elephant Walk. That opening came with a remodel: new flooring, walls taken out and a rebuilt bar redesigned for Gulf views.
That bar layout from the 2015 remodel is why this room works for football. The TVs and the water are in the same line of sight, which counts for a lot during a noon kickoff in September. It also lets The Beach House fill a gap on the calendar. It started a month before the Marina and will still be showing games on the nights the lawn gets too cool to enjoy.
Roberto's Pizzeria Is the Village Sports Bar
Inside The Village of Baytowne Wharf, Roberto's Pizzeria is the sports bar. Sandestin describes it as having a full bar, big-screen TVs and drink specials. A local football guide published this month calls it the Village's sports bar. It notes screens along the bar and across the dining room and recommends pizza and wings as the game-day order.
Roberto's makes the most sense on Monday and Thursday nights, when you want to catch the game and walk the Village afterward instead of sitting on a lawn. The Baytowne directory also lists Fat Tuesday as a spot to catch the big game on flat-screen TVs with wings and snacks.
October 16: Football at the Beer Festival
The clearest sign that football now shapes Sandestin's fall calendar is at the Beer Festival. The 18th Annual Baytowne Wharf Beer Festival is October 16 and 17. For the first time, Friday night is the Baytowne Backyard Bash, a tailgate-style kickoff with football on the big screen. The festival's own site says both the Bash and its bonfires are new this year. It takes place at the Baytowne Wharf Events Plaza from 6 to 8 p.m., with beer, bourbon, food, bonfires and live music from 55 South.
Tickets are sold separately for each day, so it helps to know which part you want:
- Friday Backyard Bash, 6 to 8 p.m.: $55 presale, $65 at the door if it hasn't sold out. This covers Friday only.
- Saturday Grand Craft Beer Tasting, 2 to 5 p.m.: $45 presale, $55 at the door, with more than 150 domestic and international craft beers.
- Saturday Pour Pass: $80. You get a dedicated entrance, festival swag and a specialty tasting on top of Saturday admission.
- Two-day ticket: $95 for both Friday night and Saturday's Grand Tasting.
Every ticket comes with a tasting glass, and the event runs rain or shine with no refunds. Saturday is adding food options this year. Seltzer Lane is coming back, and there are new tasting stations: Beer From Around Here for local brews and Import Lane for international ones.
For football fans, the $95 two-day ticket is the best value. Buying the Friday and Saturday presale tickets separately comes to $100, so the combined ticket saves $5 and gets you into both the Friday game-night event and the Saturday tasting.
November: A 5K, Then a Tailgate
By late November, football has worked its way into other resort events too. The Sandestin Turkey Trot is Sunday, November 22, from 7 to 11 a.m. at Baytowne Marina. It includes a 5K, a one-mile walk and a post-race tailgate, and it benefits the Sandestin Foundation for Kids. Since it falls on an NFL Sunday at the same marina where Game Days runs through the month, you can finish the race and still be in place for the afternoon games.
Stocking Up for Home Games
For people who host at home, there's a new store at the resort entrance. Beach Liquors and Fine Wines has opened at The Market Shops, 9375 Emerald Coast Parkway. It's the company's sixth area location and is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. It has a self-serve wine and whiskey bar, more than 35 wines and whiskies by the pour, a craft beer cave and delivery. The 4,800-square-foot store sits on the far west side of the center and holds wine tastings every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. According to The Destin Log, $10 gets you five tickets at the door, good for five different wines. The Destin Log reports a grand opening planned for Thursday, October 1. That's the same day the Marina lawn opens for the season.
Event times and details can change, so check the Sandestin and Baytowne Wharf calendars before you go.
Talk to Albert Now!
Knowing which game-day spot fits your weekend is the kind of local detail we pay attention to every day at Albert Baeza. Albert works directly with clients across Sandestin, Miramar Beach and 30A, whether you're thinking about a second home near the marina, an investment property or just want a straight answer about the area. Talk to Albert Now!
