When my dad heard that my wife and I were heading for a vacation to the shores of eastern central Florida, he gave us a tip on one of the best places to eat in the Daytona Beach / Ponce Inlet area.
I must preface this by saying that my dad and I are fans of auto racing. I’m big into stock car racing, and my dad enjoys racing in almost all forms — especially sprint cars and stock cars.
He heard of a Ponce Inlet / Daytona Beach restaurant called Racing’s North Turn Beachfront Bar & Grille. It was a place highly recommended to him by a guy my dad happened upon who was wearing a cool T-shirt emblazoned with an old stock car flanked by checkered flags.
My dad is well aware of the significance of the racing history in the Daytona Beach area — where auto races were held on a unique course that brought the cars right onto the sandy Atlantic shores.
An historical marker at the front of the restaurant tells the story:
“This is the site of the original North Turn of the famous Ponce Inlet beach road course. The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was formed in 1948 and sanctioned automobile racing on this course from 1948 through 1958. Sanctioned motorcycle racing was conducted on this course from 1948 through 1960. Vehicles racing on the 4.1 mile beach road course would travel north to the hard packed sand beach, turning left through the banked sand north turn, and then travel south on the two lane paved Atlantic Avenue until they reached the start/finish line at the banked sand south turn, thus completing one lap.”
What Makes Racing’s North Turn Beachfront Bar & Grille So Unique?
Aside from its location at one of the most important historic sites in all of Daytona, Racing’s North Turn Beachfront Bar & Grille is located along Atlantic Avenue on a slice of prime shoreside real estate between bustling Daytona Beach to the north and the lighthouse-punctuated tip of Ponce Inlet just to the south.
My wife and I visited the joint for the first time on the second day of our 4-day foray to Daytona Beach in October 2025.
It was a blustery day, with a gathering nor’easter whipping up waves so high they inundated beaches and leapt over seawalls. Few people were on the roads that day, but there were several folks gathering at the Racing’s North Turn restaurant, or so we could tell by the smattering of cars parking across Atlantic Avenue in a parking lot. We made our way across the street and proceeded inside the restaurant.
And that’s where we discovered something else really cool about this place: it has a pseudo museum of Daytona Beach racing history plastered along all the walls and spilling out onto the floor.
It isn’t “just” photos — it’s racing suits, trophies, and even racecars!
And it’s not just “there” for show. Much of it is labeled or associated with information telling you what you’re looking at, why it’s important, and in many cases connecting it to important people, places, or events in racing history.
You can learn a lot about the Daytona racing scene of yesteryear just by perusing the walls (and floors) at the place.
There’s something for just about every kind of auto racing fan there. I could’ve spent 30 minutes to 1 hour just looking at all of the cool racing artifacts!
But we were hungry, so we went to go check in with the front of house staff.
“Table for two, please — outside overlooking the ocean if we can,” my wife kindly summoned.
They delivered, and with a smile to boot.
The weather was windy and intermittently spritzing with some light drizzle from the low, grey skies. But it was a refreshing experience, and the hospitality and good vibes there kept us warm enough anyway.
Our Visits (Yes, Plural) To Racing’s North Turn In Daytona Beach
The menu at Racing’s North Turn was tantalizing — but we ended up splitting the Driver’s Fried Combo Platter, a hearty offering of lightly battered flounder and shrimp, fries, hush puppies, and coleslaw.
My wife ordered coco colada in a really cool keepsake coconut with a carved face, with discounts on future refills. I, the adventuresome drinker I am, sipped on a glass of ice water (hold the lemon).
It was a delightful experience, and on the way out we decided to stop by the gift shop where a bevy of cool and vintage-themed merchandise draws the eyes. We bought a T-shirt with the restaurant’s logo, and a baseball cap emblazoned with the logo for my dad as a thank-you gift for the wonderful recommendation (and to thank him for repairing my wife’s bicycle a couple weeks earlier — he loves fixing things).
Even as we left, we knew we’d be back… My wife wanted to try the Pulled Pork Nachos, and I had my eye on their Fried Green Tomato BLT Sandwich.
We were leaving the area in two days. Maybe we’d come back the next day. The weather was supposed to be clearing up anyhow as the nor’easter wended its way north along the Eastern Seaboard.
The next day comes, and conditions were surely different! The skies were blue, temperatures mild, and not a drop of drizzle to be seen within a probably a hundred miles. We went to pull up, and the parking lot was absolutely packed! And when I say packed, I mean nowhere to park. We saw a guy handling crowd control, and he guided us up to the curb — a place we wouldn’t ordinarily park. You know, tow-away zones and all that jazz. We expressed our concern about parking there.
“Don’t worry,” he consoled, “I run the place.” When we found that out, my wife and I raved about our wonderful visit there the previous day. He introduced himself to us as Brett, general manager; we turned off our car and headed across the street inside the restaurant.
As we waited in the lobby to be seated (again, it was bustling there on our second trip!), Brett came our way again and helped get us seated right along the seawall — which on this second trip was far less wave-swept than the previous day.
Brett and his whole team were simply amazing, just as the servers and waitstaff who saw us the day before. The Pulled Pork Nachos and Fried Green Tomato BLT Sandwich were in themselves worth coming back for — let alone the service, atmosphere, and the glimpses of local racing history!
As we left Racing’s North Turn Beachfront Bar & Grille a second time, we knew we’d have to come back. The overall experience was a highlight of our Daytona Beach vacation. I think their Famous Half Rack of Ribs is calling my wife’s name and I’m pretty sure the Crab Stuffed Grouper is going to be on my next plate there.
Where Is Racing’s North Turn?
Racing’s North Turn Beachfront Bar & Grille is located at 4511 S. Atlantic Avenue in Ponce Inlet, Florida 32127. It’s just south of Daytona Beach. Local long-timers may remember the spot as the former home of Ocean Dock.
Check their hours for operating time and seating availability. And if you like watching your favorite sports team or want to catch live music, contact them to see what’s playing on the screen or who’s playing live — they have quite the lineup.
I’m telling you, it’s worth a trip… at least once. Though, if you’re taking a cue from my wife’s and my dining book, you’ll likely be back again. It’s hands down one of the best local restaurants in Ponce Inlet, Florida, or the entire Daytona Beach area!
