The Best Fun And Casual Restaurants In 11 Top Spring Break Destinations

Spring break is a time to get away from it all — to spend some quality time in the sun, on the beach, kicking back with friends and maybe getting a little bit rowdy. But at some point you're going to need to eat something, and you have no reason to settle for a crummy slice of pizza on the boardwalk.

Going strong for more than 35 years, this waterfront institution specializes in local, wild-caught Gulf seafood and top-notch steaks. Shrimp, red snapper, grouper, flounder, scallops, mahi mahi, and other fresh seafood can be cooked any way you like it (you can even bring your own catch and they'll cook it for you!), and you can't beat their steak and shrimp combo, with a 14-ounce ribeye and Cajun blackened Gulf shrimp. Make sure you start with Heat From the Deep — Gulf shrimp stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeno, bacon-wrapped and deep-fried.

This Space Coast destination has no shortage of solid restaurants, but locals and visitors alike swear by the diminutive Fat Kahuna's, located just steps from the beach. Steak and burgers are all on point, but it's the fresh seafood that keeps the regulars coming back. Start with the legendary coconut shrimp (made to order and tempura-battered) and continue with your choice of shrimp, salmon, corvina, mahi mahi, sushi-grade tuna, or shark, simply grilled and served with coconut rice, fresh vegetables, and spiced black beans. Sauces are made from scratch, and everything is cooked to order.

This now-legendary Asian noodle bar and gastropub is the perfect spot for a night out with friends. Always bustling and always a scene, this is the restaurant that started it all for the restaurant group behind it, who now have seven additional restaurants. Make sure you order a bunch of buns — you can't go wrong with Buffalo sweetbreads, lechon asado, pork belly, softshell chili crab, and short rib — and don't miss the shrimp toast and ramen.

Unfortunate name aside, this 40-plus-year-old East Bay Street institution serves some of the freshest seafood in town. Make sure you try the cracked conch (a Bahamian specialty) and definitely order the catch of the day; be it red snapper, yellowtail, or whole spiny lobster, you can pick it out yourself and they'll cook it to order.

In Cancún, you can do much better than Señor Frog's; look no further than the refined but still casual La Habichuela Sunset. Located in the city's famed Hotel Zone, this classy outpost of the venerable downtown crowd-pleaser bases all their dishes on old family recipes, and only the finest local ingredients and products are used. Try the ceviche, lobster, fish filet in traditional Mayan Tikin-Xik sauce, Yucatán lime soup, and chicken mole, and go home blissed-out and happy.