RESTAURANT NEWS | FLORIDA
Indaco Has Arrived in Alys Beach
Come for the corn-and-crab triangoli. Stay to find out whether pizza-infused gin is genius.
INDACO | MAP | INSTAGRAM
By Rebecca Thompson
6:40 a.m. ET, July 17, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: Rebecca Thompson has held many jobs, from newspaper writer to middle-school teacher. As a restaurant critic, she’s reviewed the Michelin-starred to gas station BBQ.
Alys Beach already looks like somebody rendered a Mediterranean resort and then removed every visible inconvenience. Now it has a modern Italian restaurant serving clam pizza, corn-and-crab pasta, and a cocktail made with pizza-infused gin.
Indaco is in the Alys Beach Town Center, a few steps from its sister restaurant O-Ku. INDACO gets the full coastal treatment: white walls, warm wood floors, rattan, porcelain lights, and blue-and-white tiles painted with Gulf scenes. Deep indigo tile wraps the chef’s counter, while handmade shell tiles make sure nobody forgets the beach is nearby.
Executive chef Dakota Watson’s menu is more interesting than the usual beach-town Italian safety net. There’s snapper tartare, tuna crudo, corn-and-crab triangoli, beef Bolognese radiatori, pork Milanese, and a flat iron steak. The wood-fired pizzas include one with clams and another with peaches, which makes it clear Watson isn’t coasting on the seabreezes.
For $65 per person, the kitchen will choose a three-course, family-style meal for the table, saving everyone from the familiar vacation-dinner sharing exercise. Dessert brings butterscotch budino, corn semifreddo, vanilla stracciatella soft serve, and affogato.
The bar is where things really get interesting: The Dollar Slice mixes pizza-infused gin with basil, vermouth, and amaro. Pink Dunes combines tequila, coconut water, strawberry-rhubarb cordial, and lime. There’s also a full spritz section, because this is Alys Beach and apparently nobody should have to drink a regular-sized cocktail before sunset.
Indaco serves brunch Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The menu includes steak and eggs and a breakfast pizza, along with the restaurant’s pastas, pizzas, and Italian sandwiches for anyone who rejects the premise that eggs must be involved. Aperitivo Hour follows from 2:30 to 4 p.m., also Friday through Sunday, with drink specials and bar snacks available only at the bar. It creates a narrow but useful window between brunch and dinner, two meals Alys Beach has never seemed likely to skip.
Indaco is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For a place that has never lacked scenery, Alys Beach now has one more reason to stay through dinner.
Ming and Courtney Pu open TANA, a Taiwanese New American restaurant.
By ERIC BARTON
