Here’s the rundown on all the places we ate at during our stay in Alabama. Being so close to the Florida border, we made several trips to Pensacola where we bought fresh seafood at Joe Patti’s and stopped for lunch at a unique and yummy restaurant (see below).

Panini Pete’s, Fairhope, AL
What’s a visit to the Gulf Shores area without visting to the cute little town of Fairhope. Always a definite must do! As usual, I had my favorite, the Turkey Panini with home made chips ($8) while Rob deviated from the panini’s, trying a Black & Blue Burger with fries ($8.75) instead. Both were excellent!

On that same excursion to Fairhope, we stopped at B & B Pecan to pick up a bottle of our favorite Kinloch pecan oil and a bag of the savory nuts.

Shipp’s Harbour Grill, Orange Beach

Update: 3/2018:

Shipp’s Harbour Grill had a fire in their kitchen in July, 2017, the restaurant has closed and will not be reopening. The good news is that another local restaurant that we like, Fisher’s, has bought the property and will be opening a new restaurant. They plan to offer some of the same menu items from Shipp’s including the Grouper Pontchartrain. 

On another day, we kept with tradition (see our previous post) and went to lunch at Shipp’s with Rob’s aunt and uncle, Linda & Herb. Despite their very varied menu, none of us could resist our usual favorite entree – Grouper Pontchartrain, fresh grouper, shrimp, onions, mushrooms, lemon butter, served with smoked gouda mashed potatoes and green beans. Always lovely ambiance, excellent service and delicious food (although I have to say this time it was a tad less yummy than usual, but I’m not really sure what was different). Also the dock and deck were being rebuilt during our visit so dining outside wasn’t an option.

Big Fish Restaurant, Orange Beach
We had a great time catching up with Jim and Joan during a late lunch at this new to us restaurant. It had excellent reviews so we decided to give it a try.

Located in a strip mall, it didn’t look like much from the outside but wow, what a lovely restaurant inside. We were told that they recently had remodeled and expanded their dining area into what used to be a tattoo parlor. Beautiful decor!

For our entrees, I had one of their luncheon specials – Fresh Amberjack which was delicious and Rob had blackened fish tacos. Excellent! Definitely will return here if we are in the area again. Jim & Joan had the Fish Platter with blackened fish and they both raved about it.

Brick and Spoon Restaurant, Orange Beach
Another new place for us. Only open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., it is a little pricey (maybe a lot pricey) but definitely not your average breakfast/lunch joint.

Like Bloody Mary’s? Well, you can build your own! Check off your favorite items from their Bloody Mary menu pads found on each table – it has an extensive list of vodkas and garnishes including everything from shrimp to bacon to deviled eggs, all types of pickled veggies and even cheese. From what I’ve read, it is served in a “weighty goblet with the girth of a half-gallon milk carton” and almost requires “two hands to hoist the thing”!

Be aware though that anything good comes at a cost, in this case, an expensive one. It starts at $12.50 and it is $.75 to a $1.00 (or more) for each additional garnish. We didn’t indulge (I’d rather eat than drink my lunch) but we saw a few go by – yikes, who needs to order anything else??? Check out this picture!

For my brunch entree, I had a Killer Creole Omelette – Gulf shrimp, tasso (ham), onions, red & green bell peppers & cheddar jack cheese, all nicely decorated with housemade hollandaise sauce and served with fire roasted corn grits ($13.50). A killer it was, as in killer delicious!

Rob indulged in one of their specialties – Shrimp & Grits which was Gulf shrimp, red & green bell peppers, onion, house garlic, cream sauce & fire roasted corn grits, topped with a poached egg & served with toast points ($17). Oh, my, southern cuisine at its best! Yep, we’ll be going back here again (once the checking account recovers).

The Diner, Gulf Shores, AL
After breaking the bank at the Brick and Spoon, we were in search for a more reasonably priced breakfast joint so we thought we could give this place a try. Turned out to be a decent choice, food was good as was the service (except our waiter didn’t bring our toast right away). We both had their Blue Plate Breakfast (bacon, eggs, home fries but only 1 piece of toast) for $5.59. Towards the end of the meal, the owner came over to invite us to their upcoming Customer Appreciation dinner (fish fry) on March 2nd. Darn, we were leaving on the 1st.

Gulf Shores Diner, Gulf Shores, AL
With Early Bird Specials offered Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. this place located in a strip mall was a great find! Very clean, nice decor and good service. We both chose one of their Early Bird Combo Specials for $3.99. Both had eggs and bacon but I had hash browns while Rob had a slice of French toast. Good basic food and very reasonably priced.

Pot Roast and Pinot Restaurant, Pensacola, FL

As mentioned in our previous post, we visited Pensacola twice during our stay at Gulf State Park.

On our second trip there, we stopped for lunch at this restaurant, recommended to us by friends, Betsy and Nancy of RV-A-GO-GO. From the outside it didn’t look like much. We found out later that it actually used to be an ordinary diner. But inside, what a difference. No diner interior here, more like an upscale bistro!

I had the Mac & Cheese ($15) made with cold water lobster, asiago, fontina, and gruyère and Rob had the half order (hate to see what the full order looks like) of Pot Roast served with garlic mashed potatoes and carrots ($10). Really good food – highly recommended!

So that wraps up most of our eating adventures during our stay at Gulf State Park!