“Location, location, location” is a real estate adage that doesn’t really fit the restaurant business. But a hot new spot in Orange Beach does call it to mind.

I recently voyaged to Perdido Key to investigate suspicious reports of UFMs (unidentified flying mullets), and despite the tempting abundance of food at the Flora-Bama, I opted to leverage the trip into a stop someplace a little more upscale.

I had something specific in mind: CoastAL Orange Beach, an open-air dining experience that opened just a few months ago right on the beach. And there we are, right back at location.

The beginning of the CoastAL story is all about real estate: A Gulf-front parcel right where Ala. 161, coming down from the direction of The Wharf and the Beach Express, tees into Ala. 182, aka Perdido Beach Boulevard. When you think about it, it’s kind of amazing the spot didn’t become the foundation of a high-rise condo tower long ago. But it was headed for that fate.

Instead, unprecedented circumstances opened the way for something else to happen. Something that involved a partnership between the city of Orange Beach and Orange Beach Land Co. – a company that is owned by John McInnis III and Cameron Price, who also are among the owners of the Flora-Bama entertainment complex.

“We were blessed to be able to acquire that property, it was eight acres, in the heart of Orange Beach, and the only reason we were able to acquire a piece of property that was zoned for 700 condos was COVID was going on,” said McInnis. “So the economy allowed for us to be able to afford to get it, and the city – including me and all the residents down here — would probably rather not have as many condos as we have, these days. So the city rezoned the property from residential to commercial, we got rid of 700 [planned] condos at the main intersection of the city, and so instead of now a concrete wall at our entrance, you’ve got a beautiful, large, piece of beachfront property that’s available to the public forever.”

It sounds simple. But if this kind of deal was that simple, deals like this would have happened in the past.

“The city of Orange Beach, actually, until now, did not own a beach,” said McInnis. “All we had was state park or federal park. This presented the opportunity to have the first city-owned beach and so we partnered with them, we bought half the property, they bought half the property. They allowed us to use their parking lot and we allow all the citizens of Orange Beach to use our beach. And it worked perfectly.”

What McInnis calls Phase 1 opened in November. From the parking area there’s a boardwalk heading to the beach and a ramp leading to the open-air bar and restaurant. From there you can see both the beach and the retail side, CoastAL Clothing Co. On the east side is the Phase 2 indoor restaurant that will open any day now. It’ll have a bigger menu and, according to promotional materials, it’ll add 20,000 square feet of dining space, bringing CoastAL to a total of 1,200 seats.

CoastAL certainly isn’t hard to find, since it’s at the biggest intersection in a small city. The deal with the parking lot is that access is shared between local residents, for whom it is free public parking, and CoastAL patrons, who also get beach access. As I pulled in, I explained to an attendant that I was there to dine and I was waved right in. (I’d venture to guess that if you wheeled in with Louisiana plates and made straight for the beach with a cooler full of Bud Light, things might not go so smoothly.)

McInnis said that he and Price wanted CoastAL to combine some of the best elements they’d found in other beach bars, and it’s a subject they know a thing or two about.

“My partner Cameron and I have been in the beach bar business now for almost two decades,” said McInnis. “We grew up both loving beach bars. I grew up down here at the beach and in the Virgin Islands and Cameron grew up partly in Hawaii and in California. When we got that property, the property’s so rare, because most beachfront property is developed now, we decided we would take all the best things from every good beach bar we’ve loved.”

In addition to the various Flora-Bama properties, they also have businesses in Florida’s 30A corridor, he said. “We combined them all into one new place and one new concept. We feel like it’s a little bit of everything.”

Does that sound like a mishmash? CoastAL definitely is not that. From the ground up, its light décor and open layout are tuned to make you feel like there’s as little as possible between you and the Gulf. (One exception: screens that can be lowered to put a little something between you and the sun. A staffer was dropping some of these as I took my place at the huge expanse of bar, and I was grateful for the reduced glare. But if you want full sun, there’s true al fresco dining outside the main pavilion.)

I’m only one man, but the Phase 1 menu isn’t huge. A few appetizers, including fried crab claws and yellowfin tuna dip; a couple of salads, which you can top with various protein sources include shrimp and Gulf grouper; a few sandwiches, including a burger; baskets and “signature island tacos;” and a couple of dessert choices including bushwacker tiramisu. If those last two words didn’t make your mouth start watering, you may be dead.

I was especially pleased to see that the kid’s menu includes grouper pieces, not just chicken nuggets and popcorn shrimp. Start ‘em right.

On McInnis’ advice, I ordered the grouper tacos ($20) following the tuna poke nachos appetizer ($18).

The appetizer was way to big for one person but I have no regrets about what I did and I’d do it again. The menu describes it as an amalgamation of “Yellowfin Ahi Tuna, spicy mayo, CoastAL slaw, avocado, mango cubes, toasted sesame seeds, won-tons, micro cilantro and sesame glaze.” That sounds like a lot going on, maybe too much, but it all works together.

The chips are more in the light, crispy mode of wonton crisps than standard, garden-variety tortilla chips. The toppings provide a rainbow of flavors and textures but the quality of the tuna stands out despite everything else going on. The sesame glaze in particular is maddeningly good. Left to my own devices, I’d have drowned the dish in it. But the folks at CoastAL are smarter than that and used a light hand. That left me coming back to the dish, always looking for the next little sesame flavor rush.

They’re pretty, too, topped by a flower blossom. I was assured I could eat it without experiencing visions on the drive back to Mobile, but opted not to. Whether you eat the flower or not, you could do a lot worse than to order this app as an entrée.

As for my main dish, I opted for fried grouper in my tacos and was pleased to see the same light, clean approach carry over. You can make a fried fish taco with virtually any fish, and people do, but if you’re going to use something really good, you want it to pay off. CoastAL’s tacos weren’t overloaded with toppings and sauces. They weren’t bare, by any means: the fish sat on a bed of slaw and had a topping of pickle relish and tartar sauce. But everything was calibrated to embellish the grouper, not cloak it. You won’t bite down on these and think it might as well have been tilapia.

Truth be told, I drew the line there and opted to save the bushwacker tiramisu for another time. And next time, I’ll remember to bring a beach towel. Because at CoastAL Orange Beach, the food – as good as it is – is half the attraction.

CoastAL Orange Beach is at 25722 Perdido Beach Blvd. in Orange Beach. For information and updates, visit www.coastalorangebeach.com or www.facebook.com/COASTALOBA.