Restaurants near Pier Park in Panama City Beach, by need

Big Mama's PCB, 10071 Hutchison Blvd, Panama City Beach, is a few minutes' drive from Pier Park and serves Southern home cooking: bone-in fried chicken, country fried steak and peach cobbler, lunch and dinner daily, plus weekend brunch. There is a large free lot and a full bar. Call (850) 588-5085 to confirm hours.

What is Pier Park, and where does dinner fit?

Visit Panama City Beach describes Pier Park as an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex. People spend a whole afternoon there walking between stores, which is why "where do we eat" comes up around 4 PM with tired kids and a car to find.

Pier Park has plenty of places to eat inside it. This guide is about the other kind of meal: a sit-down plate of Southern food with easy parking, a few minutes away. We are in the old Applebee's building on Hutchison Blvd, near Pier Park and never at it, so the honest pitch is a short drive in exchange for a quieter table and a lot you do not circle.

What can you eat a few minutes from Pier Park?

The menu is Southern home cooking from our downtown Panama City kitchen, with Gulf seafood added. We call it Coastal Country. These are the plates most people start with, all from the all-day menu:

• Bone-in fried chicken, from $15
• Country fried steak, $16
• Chicken fried chicken, $16
• Catfish po'boy or shrimp po'boy, $15
• Grouper BLT, $19
• Shrimp N' Grits, $22
• Big Papa Platter, $28

Sides are $4 each: mac and cheese, mock shoe, collards, black eyed peas, green beans and more. Mock shoe is our spelling of maque choux, a fried corn side. Cornbread is $2. Peach cobbler is $8 and comes with whipped cream made in house. The lunch and dinner page has the full list.

Which meal fits which part of the day?

Match the meal to the hour and the answer gets short. Hours are posted but still being confirmed, so call (850) 588-5085 before you drive.

• Weekday lunch, from 11: the daily special, served with two sides. A third side is $2 more, and when we are out, we are out. No price is printed for specials, so ask or call.
• Early dinner before dark: fried chicken with two sides, or a po'boy if you want to eat and move on.
• Late dinner, to 9 by our posted hours: the Big Papa Platter, or prime rib from 4 PM to close on Friday and Saturday.
• Weekend morning, from 9: brunch, with biscuits and gravy from $7, Chicken N' Waffles at $16 and the Breakfast Po'Boy at $14.

There is no weekday breakfast at the beach store, since weekdays open at 11. Weekday breakfast from 6:30 is at our Big Mama's on the Bayou store in downtown Panama City.

What about families, groups and the bar?

We have plenty of big tables, which helps when a family arrives in two cars. Kids plates are $10: tenders, fish, a smash burger or shrimp. Call ahead for a large group and we will do our best to have the table ready. Parties of 6 or more carry an 18% gratuity, and prices are cash prices with a 3% card fee added.

The bar is full, with draft beer, wine, cocktails and margaritas, and margaritas are on at brunch too. Drinks without alcohol include sweet or unsweet tea at $3.50 and an Arnold Palmer at $3.50.

What if you are staying in a condo or hotel?

Order ahead on Toast and pick it up at the counter. That works when half the group is still walking Pier Park and the other half is back at the room. A tray for a bigger gathering is a call to the catering line: give us the date and headcount, and we will tell you what we can do.

Fried chicken, mac and cheese and cornbread are on the menu every day, and the all-day menu lists every price.

How to pick

Want a table and a bar after the shops, come for dinner and ask about the special. Want to eat fast and get back, a po'boy or the smash burger and a side. Spending a Saturday morning near Pier Park, brunch from 9. Staying in, order on Toast and pick it up.

Big Mama's PCB is at 10071 Hutchison Blvd, Panama City Beach, a few minutes' drive from Pier Park, with a free lot out front. Call (850) 588-5085 to confirm hours, or order ahead on Toast.