So many choices! Whether you were hankering for a breakfast, lunch or dinner, comfort food, fast food, a quick meal or a fine dining experience, the choices in the Foley/Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area were endless! During our stay, we revisited a few restaurants that we’ve been to before and found a few new ones that we quickly added to our favorites list.

Mile Marker 158 Restaurant at The Wharf, Orange Beach
Thank goodness for Google search, otherwise we might not have found this restaurant!

Although they offer dockside waterfront dining with beautiful views of the adjacent marina, it was too cold to sit outside. Instead we opted to sit inside in a booth by the window when we went there for lunch with Rob’s aunt and uncle.

Oh, my, what a great deal! On the table was a placard listing four $10 lunch specials between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Can’t get much cheaper than that!

Rob and I both had their Potato Crusted Flounder which was pan seared flounder, hash brown potatoes with string beans and a lemon beurre blanc. Oh, my, it was absolutely delicious!

Linda enjoyed her shrimp scampi while Herb had 8 Baked Oysters with Garlic Butter ($18) and Calamari ($14). Service was excellent and everyone loved their meals!

We returned several days later with our other friends, Jim and Julie. Although they have brunch on Sundays until 2 p.m., the lunch specials were still available. This time Rob and I had the Shrimp Scampi which was delicious!

On the Sunday before we left the area, Rob and I returned by ourselves one last time for brunch. Ahead of time, I had planned on having the Shrimp and Grits but once there, instead we both chose the Eggs Benedict Oscar ($16) which was two poached eggs atop crab cakes on English muffins, brie cheese and asparagus, all smothered in Hollandaise Sauce and served with Sweet Potato Hash. And cool that they offer a $.25 Mimosa (one per customer) during brunch. Another delicious meal!

Duck’s Diner, Orange Beach
We had stayed at Bella Terra in 2011 on our very first RV trip south in our 2006 Fleetwood Discovery. During our stay we ate at Duck’s Diner, which we enjoyed but for some reason, never returned there. After a night without much sleep, spending several hours in the clubhouse due to the tornado warning, we went to Duck’s Diner for brunch. Creole Shrimp & Grit Cakes ($14) which was grilled shrimp served over fried grit cakes infused with gouda cheese, topped with chopped grilled tomatoes and smothered with homemade creoles sauce and served with garlic toast. Oh, my, it was delicious! My mouth is watering just writing about it!

Rob had their Meat plus 2 Southern Special ($8.95), served with corn bread. For his meat, he chose Country Fried Steak with Country Gravy and for his two sides he had potato casserole and green beans. It was good but I think he was jealous of my meal!

Guess we liked our meals so much, we returned a week later for lunch, both of us choosing the meat with two sides ($8.95). For the meat, Rob had the fried pork chop with mashed potatoes and green beans while I had fried chicken breast with mac n’ cheese and corn (not pictured).

Wolf Bay Restaurant, Foley
With locations in both Foley and Orange Beach, this restaurant is seems to always be busy. Not sure why we had never been there before but sure glad that Stu and Cindy asked us to meet them there for lunch. We liked it so much that when Jim and Julie wanted to get together prior to our departure, we suggested going there again. One of the big selling points is their enormous salad bar with the usual green salad fixin’s as well as deviled eggs and any other kind of salad (potato, chicken, tuna, etc.) you can think of. Most of their entrees, sandwiches, luncheon specials and pasta dishes include one trip to the salad bar.

On both visits, I had the Small Mix Luncheon Special ($18) which included fried Gulf shrimp and oysters, the salad bar and roasted Brussel sprouts (delicious) as my one side. On our first visit, Rob enjoyed the Cajun Whitefish Lunch Special ($16) which was grilled whitefish over rice pilaf with Cajun cream sauce. He chose hushpuppies as his side. On his second visit he had the Small Mix Special as well. Both meals were excellent! Added to our favorites for future visits.

After lunch on our second visit, we visited the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market next door. Lots of local items for sale.

Tamara’s Downtown, Fairhope
Normally when we visit Fairhope, we have had lunch at Panini Pete’s. sitting outside in the courtyard. But on this particular day, it was too cold to sit outside in the courtyard – sitting inside didn’t appeal. Plus Rob was reading some recent reviews and found a review with this in the photos.

Yuck, that certainly doesn’t appeal! How on earth could someone have served this? Since neither of us like our rolls covered with bluish green mold, we decided to find an alternative restaurant in the area.

After spending some time researching we finally decided to give Tamara’s Downtown which had a Google rating of 4.6 a try. Oh, my, as soon as we walked in, I knew that this was an excellent choice! On their website, it is described as “offering casual fine dining in an elegant Tuscan, inspired atmosphere with an expansive menu.”

At the suggestion of our server, we ordered two $5 Bloody Mary’s. The cool thing though was that .diners could customize their basic drinks with horseradish, a variety of hot sauces, pickled green beans, okra, baby corn, olives, lime and more offered at their Bloody Mary Bar. To accompany our drinks, we had 1/2 dozen baked parmesan oysters ($12) followed by a Fried Soft Shell Crab BLT ($15) for Rob and Cheesy Shrimp & Conecuh Grits ($14) described as cheesy white stone ground grits, crispy fried green tomato, heirloom tomatoes with bacon meuniere sauce served with sweet potato fries for me. As if that wasn’t enough, we topped it off with their homemade bread pudding ($8). Guess we were comatose from the meal and neglected to take photos of the dessert! Oh boy! Delicious food, wonderful ambiance and excellent service! We both wanted to go back before we left the area but never found the time. Unfortunately it was a long 45 minute drive to Fairhope from Bella Terra.  Oh well, maybe next time! Definitely deserved a spot at the top of our favorites list! Highly recommend!

Gulf Shores Diner, Gulf Shores, AL
We had been to this small diner located in a strip mall on Gulf Shores Parkway for breakfast in 2016. Back then we thought that they had good basic food but it was more the $3.99 price of their early bird special (7 a.m. to 10 a.m.) that impressed us. On this visit, no sign of an early bird special on their menu which didn’t really matter since we were there after 10 a.m. Instead we paid $11.99 for Rob’s Corned Beef Hash and $8.49 for my Simple Start breakfast (bacon, eggs and hash browns). Although it was a cute and very clean restaurant, it was a pretty average breakfast.

Sunliner Diner, Gulf Shores, AL
The beautiful chrome exterior, the retro-looking sign and several vintage cars in the parking lot (note these are available to rent) showcased this diner as a symbol of the 1950’s. Inside a replica of a bright red Ford Sunliner convertible which functions as a booth, a jukebox playing tunes from the Everly Brothers and Little Richard, wait staff dressed in retro uniforms, the turquoise and white striped booths, the black and white checkerboard floor immediately transported customers back to that gone by era. No plastic menus here. Instead designed to look like a newspaper, the “front page” of the Sunliner Daily (“Taking You Back In Time”) is dated March 5, 1958.

Rob had the Corned Beef Hash ($14.99) and I had their Combo Burger ($9.99) with a side of Onion Rings.

Fun place with decent food!

East Shore Cafe, Daphne, AL
To stock up on supplies, we made an excursion to Sam’s Club in Daphne, AL. On the way, we stopped at a restaurant we had visited in the past – East Shore Cafe. We both enjoyed a Cottage Sandwich ($8.95) which was a scrambled egg with bacon (our choice), ham or sausage topped with cheese on a grilled buttery croissant. Very good!

Peg Leg Pete’s Restaurant in Pensacola, FL
As mentioned in our previous post, we met our friends, Betsy and Nancy, here for lunch. Rob and I shared an order of 6 Baked Parmesan Oysters ($11.49), then I had a Shrimp Basket ($13.99) and Rob had a Grouper Nuggets Basket ($13.99). Delish! We were so busy enjoying the great conversation with our friends that we neglected to take any pictures!

On March 5th, it was time to leave Bella Terra RV Resort and Foley behind. Good thing, after all this eating, maybe it’s time to diet!