RESTAURANT REVIEW: Seagrove Coyote has good food going for it

A tiny, hip café right next to Flip Flops, this eatery has the potential to lure customers from all ends of the food palate spectrum. Yes, both carnivores and vegans will find something to satisfy here.

The food

Open only for breakfast and lunch, the Seagrove Coyote has a menu of items listed on a large chalkboard, or you can get innovative and create your own meal from a list of ingredients.

Menu items you can toy with are biscuits, croissants, breakfast burritos, omelets, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, taco salads and nachos.

If you’d rather order something off the menu, there are several appetite attackers, which are overstuffed burritos. My lunch date and I both tried one of these. He had the “My Big Fat Greek Burrito,” and I had the “McGuire.”

The Greek was stuffed with coyote chicken, feta cheese, kalamata olives, sofrito rice and black beans topped with bean sauce black olives and feta. He said it tasted like a regular burrito from somewhere like Moe’s with the exception of the feta cheese.

My McGuire was a flour tortilla stuffed with double beef (shredded steak), roasted potatoes, topped with bean sauce and shredded cheese.

I thought my burrito was pretty good. It came out piping hot and was full of flavor, however, also very reminscent of Moe’s.

One thing I would have liked to have tried, but didn’t see it on the chalkboard on the day we visited is the Lafayette Burrito, which is stuffed with Louisiana crawfish etoufee, sofrito rice and red beans, topped with bean sauce and shredded cheese.

The café offers healthy alternatives to some ingredients. For instance, flour tortillas can be substituted with Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted whole grain tortillas and omelets can be prepared with Egg Beaters.

The vegetarian burrito option is the L.A., which is stuffed with roasted red peppers, green chilis and cabbage packed with guacamole, sofrito rice and black beans.

Some interesting breakfast choices were the chorizo gravy and Chilequiles, which is a gourmet cornshell tortilla and egg fushion topped with onions, cilantro, sour cream and Coyote’s signature red salsa.

The atmosphere

Inside the Seagrove Coyote feels more like a Starbucks than a burrito joint. The first thing you notice are the small café tables and pastries on the counter.

Outside are an assortment of picnic tables that are irresistible on a clear, sunny day.

The service

The person behind the counter was the major drawback to our visit. Her attitude made the whole dining experience awkward.

I wanted to try a variety of things here, but my date and I truly felt like we were invading her space. She was more interested in reading her book than in helping us.

So, I can’t promise a pleasant experience if the wait staff isn’t pleasant.

A final taste

Seagrove doesn’t have a ton of places to pick up an early morning breakfast on the cheap. Coyote’s food is good, but service is lacking. If you can deal with that, give it a try.

Quick Bites

The Seagrove Coyote

Location

4281 ECO 30-A

Santa Rosa Beach

Phone

850-231-0716

Hours

Thursday through Monday

7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Reservations

Not necessary

Handicap accessibility

Good

Children’s menu

Yes

Price range

Burritos

$8.95 to $9.95

Tacos

$7.95

Chips and salsa bar

$4.95

Create your own omelet/breakfast burrito

$7.50

Payment

Major credit cards