At the moment, your best option for buying groceries is the Piggly Wiggly that you see as soon as you get on the island. It just looks like a little convenience store, but they actually have a pretty good selection, with fresh produce, good meat, seafood, and deli meats.
There is larger Piggly Wiggly in Apalachicola.
Captain's Corner is another convenience store that also has breakfast sandwiches, lunch items (convenience store lunch) and a deli.
Castaway Liquors is next door to the Piggly Wiggly on Franklin Blvd. (the road bringing you onto the island from the bridge). Castaway seems to have a pretty good selection, but there is another liquor store in Eastpoint: 98 Liquors (191 US-98, Eastpoint, FL).
Restaurants
We'll give you our opinions, but a lot of these places change, so don't necessarily take our word. If you're looking for Michelin stars, you won't find any, so realize that if we say something is "good," that means good for where you are.
Beach Pit - BBQ, seafood, American fare. We've been here twice and both times it was underwhelming. We have heard a lot of good things about it recently, though (May 2024).
BJ's Pizza and Subs - Typical pizza place with good pizza, subs, salads, etc. It can get busy during the summer, so calling ahead and picking up your food is a good option - 850-927-2805
Blue Parrot - Seafood, American fare. Oceanfront spot with good seafood, burgers, etc. There is a bar with a great ocean view, but you cannot eat food at the bar. This place gets busy during the summer, especially for dinner.
Harry A's - Seafood, American fare. This place seems to change ownership every so often, so it has been opened and closed a few times over the past few years. When it is open, it has good food and a good atmosphere. Usually there is live music, trivia, karaoke or something going on at night.
Mango Mike's - Seafood, American fare, bar food. Cool open-air pavilion atmosphere with a big bar you can eat at and good food.
Paddy's Raw Bar - Good oysters, shrimp, American fare. Picnic table-style eating on the bay side. Gets very crowded, but usually doesn't take that long to get a table. There is a bar you can eat at, and there is typically live music or something.
If you go across the bridge to Eastpoint, there are a number of restaurant options there. We haven't been to all of them, but here are the names of a few: 98 Eats, Mangia 850, Eastpoint Beer Company, El Jalisco, Pollywhogs, and Red Pirate.
There are a number of restaurants in Apalachicola as well.
Ice Cream, Coffee, etc.
Adventure Island Ice Cream - Good soft serve ice cream, homemade ice cream sandwiches, homemade waffle cones, floats, etc. Located in a kitchen supply shop on Pine Ave. Closes at 9pm.
Aunt Ebby's - Good, typical ice cream shop, located on the second floor of the building. Closes at 9pm.
Coffee and Cream - Located next to St. George Island Trading Company. Never been there, but I hear they have Starbuck's coffee and ice cream. Closes at 8pm...and opens at 9am if you want coffee.
Island Espresso - Good little coffee spot (in a trailer) on Pine Ave, across from Adventure Island Ice Cream.
Sugar Kingdom - Tons of candy of every kind. This place is insane. Kids will go crazy in there. The one time I went in there, it seemed really expensive, so just tell your kids that they sell encyclopedias if you want to avoid it. The name of the place might give it away, though.
Weber's Little Donut Shop - Open 7:30-10am...I think at least Wednesday thru Saturday. We have not eaten these donuts, but there is typically a line 20-30 miles long (hyperbole) when they open, so if you want them, get there early; or just don't tell your kids about them and skip it.
Shopping/Rentals
I can't really go into much detail about the shopping because I haven't really done much. Most of the places seems like normal touristy beach places where you can get t-shirts, hats, sun glasses, etc.
St. George Island Trading Co., Island Adventures, and Island Outfitters are on East Gulf Beach Drive, between 1st and 3rd Streets. Island Dog Beach and Surf Shop, and Island Dog Outdoors, are on Pine Ave, near 2nd St. Journeys is on Pine Ave. in the Paddy's parking lot.
You can rent fishing gear, bikes, golf carts, kayaks, etc. at Journeys, Island Adventures, Island Outfitters, and Island Dog Outdoors. They all might not have everything, but you can probably find anything you need if you check all of them.
We have rented bikes from Island Dog Outdoors. Their bikes are in the best shape of all the rental places, in my opinion.
If you happen to need anything else, there is a Dollar General and a Family Dollar in Eastpoint, on Highway 98...but don't expect too much from these two.
Plus there is Taylor's Building Supply, a really good hardware store...they have fishing gear, beach gear, coolers, plus all the other building supplies that you hopefully don't need on vacation.
Fresh Seafood
Doug's Fresh Seafood is a (yellow) trailer that is on the island from 9am to 5pm Monday thru Saturday. He is typically parked at 61 East Gulf Beach Drive, near the big ice machine...though he used to be down farther, past the lighthouse. Just look for the yellow trailer. Good shrimp and fish.
These are the main ones we have gone to. Don't forget Piggly Wiggly has seafood as well. You can find other places in Apalachicola and Eastpoint and Carrabelle, but I'll just let you Google those.