OT: Best places to eat Gulf Shores, AL

[ababyatemydingo]

Bonus for great seafood joints. Family likes to eat local and avoid chains if possible. We usually vacation in Destin so this is our first time in Gulf Shores since mid 2000s and I know a lot has changed.

just go to the source, where all of the restaurants down there buy what they cook. Joe Patti's in Pensacola. You can then prepare literally any seafood dish that you want, and it'll be guaranteed fresher than what you'd get at a restaurant. And their already made gumbo is the best. They'll even steam your shrimp, however you like it, with lemon. Get the jumbo royal reds. You can even get them already peeled and de-veined. That's what we do, and eat like kings every night, and don't have to fight the crowds at the restaurants. We may take the boat to Fisher's or Sunset Grille a night or two, but otherwise, we cook it in the condo and eat way better. +100 on Jesse's steakhouse in Magnolia Springs. It's between Foley and Fairhope, on 98

 

[Digging dog]

Waffle House across from Flora-Bama. Win-Win

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

I have bought a lot of shrimp from Billy's over the years.

 

[fishwater99]

And a MSU Bulldog!

 

[PBDog]

Bonus for great seafood joints. Family likes to eat local and avoid chains if possible. We usually vacation in Destin so this is our first time in Gulf Shores since mid 2000s and I know a lot has changed.

The Blue Gill on the way to GS or drive to Pensacola

 

[Dawgbite]

It really depends on what you want. Best Shrimp and Grits is at GTs on the Bay. Best fried stuff is King Neptunes or the original Docs. Jessie's is excellent, ate there yesterday. Tin Top is very good. Bon Temps in OB has excellent Po Boys and on Thursday nights have a $25 rib eye special that's always good. Sunset Taproom in GS has hanger steak on the menu, any place that even knows what hanger steak is is good. Philly transplant has a bar called The Sloop under 59 bridge, legit cheesesteak and cheesesteak egg rolls. Big Fish is excellent, my go to for sushi. If you want a sports bar atmosphere got The Groovy Goat up at OWA, good food good beer selection and lots of TVs.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

Little under rated but I think fish river in foley and gulf shores is good. Pretty good catfish to not be a ms catfish restaurant.

 

[Dawgbite]

Just an FYI, everyone is under staffed so pack your patience. Some of the southern schools started last week and this week so it isn't quite as crowded but plan your eating accordingly.

 

[HotMop]

King Neptunes and Wolf Bay Lodge.

I'll second Wolf Bay Lodge even though I only ate at the one in Foley during a Volleyball Tournament.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

Yeah it's been nuts, when we go to visit family we have been buying and eating at my wife's grandparents house a lot instead of going out. Just crazy how busy gulf shores has gotten in last 5-10 years. We typically go out more in the off season months when we visit.

 

[Dawgbite]

The place I can't understand is Big Mikes Steakhouse. People will be standing in line at 3:30. I've eaten some high dollar steaks but I'm not standing in line for hours for something that I can cook better at home 95% of the time.

 

[InTheIttaBenaHotSun]

Jesse's is very good and owned by a guy from Vicksburg.

So is this steakhouse owned by Jesse Thomas or Jesse Husky?

 

[mcdawg22]

So is this steakhouse owned by Jesse Thomas or Jesse Husky?

Jesse Tanner. He’s a VBC transplant. Played in a band in the San Francisco area until his wife ran afoul of the law bribing USC to let her daughter in on a scholarship. After that he took up shop in Bovina and played gigs at Beechwood, Mr Nasty’s, the Lo Sto, and the Biscuit Company. When he really needed a paycheck he could be found playing at the Oasis, but that was for the free stay at The Scottish Inn. Fun fact: he has a cameo in the video for Kokomo by The Beach Boys.

 

[chained1]

When I was there in early June Cobalt had gone down a little vs the last few years. Oso at Bear Harbor was the best food we ate that week

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

Have you eaten at Big Mike’s?

It’s fantastic, and surprisingly not overpriced. But I’m still not waiting 2 hours to get in.

 

[threeosix]

Bonus for great seafood joints. Family likes to eat local and avoid chains if possible. We usually vacation in Destin so this is our first time in Gulf Shores since mid 2000s and I know a lot has changed.

Here are the places we would always go:

Fresh seafood - Gulf Shores Steamer (27267 Perdido Beach Blvd #115, Orange Beach, AL) This place is fire, amazing steamed royal reds.
Family style seafood place - Original Oyster House (701 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL) Great food, but gets crowded, usually always some sort of wait.
Local dive pizza joint - Papa Rocco's (101 W 6th Ave, Gulf Shores, AL) Just right down the street from Original Oyster House, cozy pizza place, usually has live music
Breakfast - Duck's Diner (4560 Easy St., Orange Beach, AL) Very solid local breakfast place. Amazing biscuits and gravy.

 

[Dawgtruc]

Pink Pony for afternoon frozen drinks. - probably wouldn’t eat there ??
.

If the Pink Pony still does the softshell crab PoBoys, that's a winner.

Lagniappe in OB upstairs is great for brunch.

 

[Dawgtruc]

I have bought a lot of shrimp from Billy's over the years.

Is Billy's better than Aquilla? They are both right close to each other.

What about Lartigue's on beach road OB?

And Blalock on canal rd GS?

 

[johnson86-1]

When I was there in early June Cobalt had gone down a little vs the last few years. Oso at Bear Harbor was the best food we ate that week

Cobalt was one of the places that convinced me to just give up eating at the beach. Had a dozen people recommend it to me and it just wasn't good and it also had ****** service. This was probably 4 to 6 years ago at this point. Had just spent time in Sandestin for a convention the prior month and had ****** overpriced meal after ****** overpriced meal (granted, I was stuck in SanDestin proper, so that may have been an extreme case) and then had somebody with a condo in gulf shores take me to Doc's (which at that point had already long since sold and as far as I could tell just backed a cysco truck up to the kitchen and dropped stuff directly into the fryer) and then went to Cobalt and just decided if all those people who were regularly in the area couldn't identify a good place, it just wasnt worth trying.

 

[The Peeper]

I just like Bon Secour area because traffic is almost always light and you can walk right up to some of the boats and buy from them direct and save a little. They usually sell to their wholesalers first (like Billy's) but some will hold back some or whatever the wholesalers don't want and sell it to you cheaper. They usually will ice it for you too for free

 

[PBDog]

just go to the source, where all of the restaurants down there buy what they cook. Joe Patti's in Pensacola. You can then prepare literally any seafood dish that you want, and it'll be guaranteed fresher than what you'd get at a restaurant. And their already made gumbo is the best. They'll even steam your shrimp, however you like it, with lemon. Get the jumbo royal reds. You can even get them already peeled and de-veined. That's what we do, and eat like kings every night, and don't have to fight the crowds at the restaurants. We may take the boat to Fisher's or Sunset Grille a night or two, but otherwise, we cook it in the condo and eat way better. +100 on Jesse's steakhouse in Magnolia Springs. It's between Foley and Fairhope, on 98

Avoid the tourists and go to Maria’s on Cervantes

 

[mcdawg22]

Avoid the tourists and go to Maria’s on Cervantes

If you want to pay more for a worse selection. You aren’t avoiding tourist by not going to Joe Patti’s you are avoiding locals too, because that is where we go. The Maria’s restaurant is pretty good though.

 

[PBDog]

If you want to pay more for a worse selection. You aren’t avoiding tourist by not going to Joe Patti’s you are avoiding locals too, because that is where we go. The Maria’s restaurant is pretty good though.

They’re vacationing in gulf shores…..I don’t think they’ll notice the difference

 

[Dawgbite]

Have you eaten at Big Mike’s?

It’s fantastic, and surprisingly not overpriced. But I’m still not waiting 2 hours to get in.

I haven’t. I ate there when it was Diamond Jim’s. I’ll drive to Pensacola to The Butcher Shoppe and buy a couple of Wagyu rib eyes and cook them before I stand in that line and often do. I’m going to eat there this fall before the snowbirds arrive. Bon Temps has a good $25 rib eye on Thursday nights and GTs has a legit steak as well. GTs cooks there steaks in a pizza oven. If you aren’t real hungry but want steak get the Tournados at GTs, they’d have been fantastic every time I had them. It’s basically a couple of 3-4 ounce filets.

 

[catvet]

The Original Oyster House is still very good with the best salad bar on the Coast:most women like that. King Neptune's for shrimp, Docs is very good and Cosmos and Cobalt are good, not great. The Gulf is a tourist trap as is Tacky Jacks. The Crab Trap in Perdido just past the Florida line has the best Amberjack in season and best Grouper and Mahi in the area. Acme for PoBoys and Chargrilled Oysters

 

[Smoked Toag]

The Original Oyster House is still very good with the best salad bar on the Coast:most women like that. King Neptune's for shrimp, Docs is very good and Cosmos and Cobalt are good, not great. The Gulf is a tourist trap as is Tacky Jacks. The Crab Trap in Perdido just past the Florida line has the best Amberjack in season and best Grouper and Mahi in the area. Acme for PoBoys and Chargrilled Oysters

Every bit of that is a tourist trap. But I will say this about Tacky Jack's, it is consistently good (not elite) with good service. You won't ever get a bad meal in there.

 

[Bigleachguy24]

There is a place called the Oyster House. One of the better seafood places I have ever had.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Cobalt was one of the places that convinced me to just give up eating at the beach. Had a dozen people recommend it to me and it just wasn't good and it also had ****** service. This was probably 4 to 6 years ago at this point. Had just spent time in Sandestin for a convention the prior month and had ****** overpriced meal after ****** overpriced meal (granted, I was stuck in SanDestin proper, so that may have been an extreme case) and then had somebody with a condo in gulf shores take me to Doc's (which at that point had already long since sold and as far as I could tell just backed a cysco truck up to the kitchen and dropped stuff directly into the fryer) and then went to Cobalt and just decided if all those people who were regularly in the area couldn't identify a good place, it just wasnt worth trying.

Take it from someone who lived on the Florida coast, you are spot on. You have to wade through the mountains of **** to find the very few good places. And ever since COVID, even those are hit or miss. An owner/manager here or there makes all the difference. What used to be good doesn't always stay good.

I generally laugh at these lists. Bottom line, I just recommend everyone buy and cook at home unless you just want a dining out experience.

 

[mcdawg22]

Every bit of that is a tourist trap. But I will say this about Tacky Jack's, it is consistently good (not elite) with good service. You won't ever get a bad meal in there.

Yeah, I like going to the Crab Trap, especially on Okaloosa, but it has 3 locations (used to be 4) and literally has trap in the name.

 

[eckie1]

Most people I know that go to the AL coast cook their own food…

Bonus for great seafood joints. Family likes to eat local and avoid chains if possible. We usually vacation in Destin so this is our first time in Gulf Shores since mid 2000s and I know a lot has changed.

They have some nice condos with nice views, but it doesn’t have a good restaurant scene.

 

[Mr. Cook]

Chronic Tacos

 

[Mr. Cook]

Because every great night ends at a Waffle House....

 

[BigBully]

I live in the area full time. A couple of solid "locals" recommendations:

Duck's Diner for breakfast.
Tin Top
Fisherman's Corner - PK
Louisiana Lagniappe -- probably the best on the coast
The Original Point - PK
Hub Stacy's -- sandwiches

Places with Kids:
The Gulf -- I don't like having to order in once cargo container and get my beer in another
LuLu's -- Surprisingly decent food.

BB

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

Filet O fish from McDs.

 

[johnson86-1]

I live in the area full time. A couple of solid "locals" recommendations:

Duck's Diner for breakfast.
Tin Top
Fisherman's Corner - PK
Louisiana Lagniappe -- probably the best on the coast
The Original Point - PK
Hub Stacy's -- sandwiches

Places with Kids:
The Gulf -- I don't like having to order in once cargo container and get my beer in another
LuLu's -- Surprisingly decent food.

BB

Out of curiosity, how is living in a touristy area full time? Do you do beach and touristy stuff regularly, or is that old? Do you basically have to spend your time north of the intercoastal to avoid ridiculous crowds and traffic?

 

[aTotal360]

Great post. Alaskan pollack is 1000x better than any grouper, snapper or any other trash fish caught in the gulf.

 

[BigBully]

Out of curiosity, how is living in a touristy area full time? Do you do beach and touristy stuff regularly, or is that old? Do you basically have to spend your time north of the intercoastal to avoid ridiculous crowds and traffic?

I live in Perdido Key so we don't get the overall volume of GS or OB and I avoid that area like a plague in the summer months. From Memorial Day to Labor Day we call this period the 100 days of hell when all of the tourist / vacationers are here. During the summer, we usually don't go out to eat -- typically grill or cook at home, or go to downtown P'cola for dinner and Gallery Nights. We go to the beach a lot, but usually are out on the boat going to Sand Island, Robinson Island, Pirates Cove, etc, or biking, shelling, fishing, etc. Still a lot of people, but you understand that when you move to a resort area.

BB

 

[johnson86-1]

I live in Perdido Key so we don't get the overall volume of GS or OB and I avoid that area like a plague in the summer months. From Memorial Day to Labor Day we call this period the 100 days of hell when all of the tourist / vacationers are here. During the summer, we usually don't go out to eat -- typically grill or cook at home, or go to downtown P'cola for dinner and Gallery Nights. We go to the beach a lot, but usually are out on the boat going to Sand Island, Robinson Island, Pirates Cove, etc, or biking, shelling, fishing, etc. Still a lot of people, but you understand that when you move to a resort area.

BB

Perdido Key is extremely underrated. I guess it's slightly less convenient to get to than Orange beach and the condos tend to be a little older, but we've stayed a couple of times on the east end close to or past where Perdido Key Drive turns north and it's great. If you do need to leave the condo, you can just shoot north and for the most part not have to deal with bad traffic. And we've just popped up to Publix each day and gotten either cooked or ready to cook meals so we didn't have to really cook and also didn't have to deal with crowds.