Get a taste of Pensacola history: 6 historic restaurants that are still favorites today

It’s safe to say Pensacola’s foodie scene has blown up in recent years.

Don’t believe us? Take a look at the number of new restaurants we write about on a weekly basis.

While it’s nice to eat at the newest, trendiest restaurant that’s opened up, it’s also nice to get reacquainted with some of the city's mainstays.

Pensacola has a host of restaurants that have stood the test of time and continue to operate today — many of which are still extremely popular.

What makes them so good? Keeping reading to find out.

McGuire’s Irish Pub

McGuire’s is not only one of Pensacola’s oldest restaurants, but it’s also the oldest brewery in the state. The Irish pub first opened as a small neighborhood pub in 1977. It moved into its current location in 1982, which was incidentally the original location of the old Pensacola firehouse in 1927.

The brewery was opened in 1988 and continues to operate, making ales, porters, stouts and root beer from its traditional oak and copper brewery. A second McGuire’s Irish Pub location opened in Destin in 1996.

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McGuire’s was originally opened by Molly and McGuire Martin. In addition to being an owner of the restaurant, Molly was known for being an upbeat and welcoming hostess and a talented vocalist. She was also the first person to sign a dollar bill and tack it to a wall at McGuire’s — a tradition that has now been reproduced over a million times.

McGuire’s continues to be one of the area’s most popular restaurants with people coming from all over to stop in and kiss the moose.

Elbow Room

We’ve written about the Elbow Room a lot, and for good reason. It’s a fun place to hang out and offers cheap drinks, good pizza and another reason is that it’s part of Pensacola's history.

The Elbow Room opened in 1963. At the time, it was known as Maggie’s Cafe. It was a simple eatery that really didn’t have much in common with the watering hole we know and love today.

Navy veteran Jim Flynn convinced his mother, Maggie Flynn, to turn the eatery into a pizza pub, thus birthing the beloved Elbow Room.

As former News Journal reporter Troy Moon wrote in 2016, “For generations, it has served up pizza, beer and a sublime atmosphere that attracted hipster and hardhat alike, as well as every demographic between.”

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Jim believed that bars should be bars, not big spectacles. He wanted his bar to be dark and cool, which he very much succeeded at doing.

Walking into the bar feels like walking into a scene from the 1990 television series “Twin Peaks.” You can find photos of Spock and Captain Kirk along the wall, a Dolly Parton-themed pinball machine and a throng of other familiar characters among the wall decor and knickknacks.

Jim died in 2016 but his vision for the perfect bar is alive and well at the Elbow Room.

Jerry’s Drive In

Jerry's Drive In first opened in 1939 and was a family affair. It remains a family affair even after it was sold in 1997 to current owners Jimmy and Pam Halstead, and their daughter, Laurin.

For over 80 years, Jerry’s has been a prominent staple to Pensacolians, serving mouth-watering burgers, fried seafood dinners and soups made with love.

Regulars have fond memories of great food, stopping in for dinner dressed up at formal dances and everything in between.

In 2021, the restaurant underwent a slight makeover, implementing a point-of-sale system to help streamline the workflow, shortening the bar, adding indoor booths and implementing a dog-friendly outdoor patio behind the restaurant.

Jerry’s is a restaurant that has stood the test of time and plans to be around for a long time.

Coffee Cup

Restaurants have come and gone like the changing seasons, but Coffee Cup has remained a local favorite for over 75 years. The popular breakfast and lunch restaurant has a nostalgic reputation that has remained even after it was purchased in 2018 by Jaco’s Bayfront Grille owner David Hambrick.

The Coffee Cup is so loved by regulars that, according to Hambrick, customers were bringing him scavenged files, articles and the like to help educate him on the restaurant.

While it may not look like it today, the restaurant was actually considered to be pretty fancy when it originally opened in 1945. According to Coffee Cup general manager Jon Coffey, the restaurant had air conditioning, which wasn’t common in the ‘40s.

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A blurb in the News Journal in 1945 revealed that Wade Cagle, a former chief steward at the San Carlos Hotel, was opening the Coffee Cup restaurant in a new brick building at 520 E. Cervantes St. It was actually the second location after the first one at Cervantes and ‘O’ Street (now, Pace Boulevard). A few weeks later Cagle ran an ad calling his business, “A place that you would want to be seen in. A place where you could bring your friends and if they were strangers, you, too, could be proud of your Coffee Cup.”

When Coffey began managing the restaurant, he said customers would tell him over a dozen times a day not to change anything, and he’s kept to his word.

The Dwarf Chicken Stand

When it’s midnight and the craving for piping hot fried chicken kicks in, where do you turn? Dwarf Chicken.

The legendary chicken shack has been burning the midnight cooking oil since 1963 in the heart of the Belmont-DeVilliers historic district.

Back then, the restaurant was called The Dwarf Drive Inn, affectionately named after the small, yellow building it was located in.

The restaurant closed for three years and reopened on Massachusetts Avenue, but it wasn’t able to recreate the spark it did when it was in the Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood.

In 2014, the restaurant was reopened by NeeSee Jones-Lutley, niece of the Dwarf Founder, Vera Rancifer, in the location we know today.

Originally, the Dwarf would stay open late into the morning. You could find the place packed at 3 a.m. Today, the stand closes around 11 p.m. during the week, but you can still find it open at 4 a.m. on Fridays and 2 a.m. Saturdays.

Joe Patti’s Seafood

It might be a stretch to call Joe Patti’s a restaurant, but if it puts food in our stomachs, it fits the bill to us.

Joe Patti’s has existed in Pensacola for over 90 years. It all started in the early 1930s when Anna and Joe Patti began selling fish from their front porch on DeVilliers Street. Patti wanted to sell high-quality fish at a fair price.

Evidently, it was a pretty successful business plan.

Between the ‘60s and ‘90s, Joe Patti’s operated a fleet of refrigerated trucks, serving restaurants fresh fish along the Gulf Coast and really put itself on the map.

In the late ‘90s, the shop expanded and opened a gourmet delicatessen, sushi bar and wine shop. The oils, vinegar, meats, cheeses and more became a staple and eventually lead to the creation of Anna’s Fine Wine.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola historic restaurant: Jerry's. McGuires, Joe Patti's and more