Visit Magnolia Grill in Fort Walton Beach for Delicious Dining and Okaloosa County History

Courtesy of Tom Rice

Culinary delights aren’t all that the Magnolia Grill provides in Fort Walton Beach. It also serves up photos and other relics of Okaloosa County. “We call it a museum that serves food,” says Tom Rice, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Peggy. 

As lifelong residents, the Rices have seen the area grow while working to keep alive the early history found in family records. Magnolia Grill boasts several recipes that Rice learned when working at the local Italian restaurant, Perri’s, during high school in the ’60s. 

What the Rices are sure of is the more people who move to northwest Florida, the more the region thrives. 

Early Days on the Panhandle 

Following the Seminole Wars of the mid-1800s, the area’s Camp Walton guarded the Santa Rosa Sound during the Civil War. However, much of the land remained unsettled wilderness until near the turn of the century, according to the Okaloosa County website. 

Growth in the lumber, turpentine and fishing industries led to a small population boom, so in 1915, William Mapoles, a local and state representative, worked to create Okaloosa County, according to the Florida Historical Society. 

James Hartley Beal, Peggy’s great grandfather, moved his family to the area in 1928. 

Beal was a pharmacist who later sold insurance for compounding druggists. He had a fondness for Camp Walton and built several houses, even though the area had no highways or bridges. 

“He found himself being able to come to Camp Walton in the 1920s and enjoy paradise on Earth – and sell some of it to his friends,” Rice says. “Dr. Beal, great grandpa, writes about the great Coast Highway coming through this place.” 

WWII Accelerates Changes 

In 1934, local businessman James Plew donated 1,460 acres for Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base to help ease the Depression’s local impact. 

As an airplane enthusiast, Plew also built a small airstrip. This would become Eglin Field, where Rice’s parents would eventually work. 

Rice watched traffic increase and more residents move to Fort Walton Beach during his nearly three decade military career. 

Then in 1995, Rice decided to retire from the Army and open Magnolia Grill. From his experiences at Perri’s to his and Peggy’s family records, he sees how so many events of his life have intertwined. 

“I always credit the experience at St. Mary’s Catholic School as preparing me for almost 30 years in the Army,” he says, adding that it taught him a lot about “discipline, standing in a straight line and keeping my mouth shut.”