St. Michael's Brewing Company Expanding to Fort Walton Beach

Saint Michael’s Brewing Company is preparing to open its second location at 29 Racetrack Rd NE, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547, bringing its veteran-owned craft brewing passion to a new audience. The owner Mike Bares told Business Debut that while they're still in the planning phase, the target opening is November or December 2025.

The Fort Walton Beach venue will seat around 65 guests in the dining area, with 15–16 additional bar seats. Expect a blend of counter and table side service. A beer and wine license is planned for the location. It will be open seven days a week, with anticipated hours of 11 am–9 pm on weekdays and 11 am–10 pm on weekends.

As for food, the menu will lean into gourmet pressed sandwiches and fresh salads. “We’re looking at maybe Cuban sandwiches, chicken salad, fresh greens, all made in-house,” Bares said. The focus is on fresh, light fare for the daytime crowd. In the future, the kitchen may expand into evening specials like steak dinners.

The beer lineup at the new location will include local favorites like the Coastie Blonde Ale—a light, refreshing summer beer—and the Dead On Amber Ale, which recently earned a bronze medal at a Florida commercial brewing competition. Both are popular in Saint Michael’s taproom and are also distributed in kegs and cans throughout the region. In fact, several of their beers were picked up by Publix in March 2024 and are now available in 33 store locations. Like all of Saint Michael’s brews, these beers are named to honor military, law enforcement, and first responders.

“Saint Michael is a patron saint for military and law enforcement. That's how we came up with our branding,” said Bares, a retired Air Force veteran himself. Bares and his wife, Paula, co-own both Saint Michael’s locations.

The new outpost builds on the success of Saint Michael’s original Navarre location, which opened in 2020. Unlike the first, which relies on food trucks for dining options, the Fort Walton Beach location will feature a full kitchen and an in-house food service.

They plan to hire an experienced executive chef or restaurant manager to ensure quality and efficiency. “Even though I was a brewer before I opened the Navarre location, I still hired a commercial brewing person,” Bares said. “We're gonna have to do the same thing with Fort Walton. We will find an executive chef or someone with a lot of restaurant management experience who can develop good recipes and menus and really know the ins and outs of the restaurant side of it.”

To follow updates, visit Saint Michael’s Brewing Company on Facebook or check out their main website.