Destin Chops moving to 30A

One of Destin?s only fi ne-dining restaurants is headed east.
Saturday night was the last dinner service for Destin Chops, which closed that evening with plans to re-open in March in the Seacrest Beach area on County Road 30A.
Jim Altamura, owner of Chops and the adjacent harborfront eatery Marina Cafe, said the decision to move Chops to South Walton was a relatively easy one.
?I just didn?t want to run three restaurants,? he said in an interview. ?Now that we?re in the offseason, it didn?t make a whole lot of sense to be competing with myself next door.?
Altamura said he acquired the property in Walton County two years ago and began designing the restaurant and fi ne-tuning the menu about a year and a half ago for a 30A installment of Destin Chops, to be called Destin Chops 30A, according to the restaurant?s Web site.
?The idea was always to close the restaurant here and move it out there. I just didn?t want to push it,? he said.
Altamura said much of the Chops staff has been absorbed into Marina Cafe and some of the Chops menu items have been incorporated into Marina Cafe?s menu.
As development continues to sprout eastward, Altamura said moving his restaurant to 30A puts him in prime position to capitalize on a relatively new, lucrative market in Walton County.
?Destin Chops on 30A will be the only prime steakhouse once you leave Sandestin for 22 miles,? he said. ?Out there at Rosemary Beach, you?ve got Seacrest Beach, Wild Heron, WaterSound ? it was an opportunity to make the right move at the right time.?
Altamura opened in Marina Cafe in 1988 and opened Destin Chops nearby in 1997.
On Monday morning, a large banner on the Destin Chops sign outside the restaurant informed patrons of the closure and planned relocation