Mobile Bayâs best waterfront dining: Our top 5
As an unusually punishing summer grudgingly gives way to something like fall, the question arises: What’s better than enjoying the great outdoors?
On Mobile Bay, there’s an equally handy answer: Sitting on the edge of the great outdoors and enjoying a splendid seafood meal with a great view.
Here are some of the very best places to scratch that itch. They’re hardly the only waterfront dining options in the area – the beaches and rivers would like a word – but they’re a good places to start. And we’ll get to some of those other environments soon, we promise.
So here you go: The best places to enjoy a view of Mobile Bay over a plate of fish, shrimp or oysters.
Sunset Pointe at Fly Creek Marina brings diners into a harbor with a view to the west.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
5. Sunset Pointe at Fly Creek Marina
831 N. Section St., Fairhope; sunsetpointefairhope.com
“How’s the food?” is one of two questions you’ll get about any place when the subject of waterfront dining on Mobile Bay comes up. The other is “How’s the view?” The view at Sunset Pointe gives you something specific that the other places on this list can’t: Lots and lots of boats. If the wind-driven slap of lines on aluminum masts takes you to a happy place, or the sight of powerboats provokes pleasant seafaring fantasies, this is your place. Also the marina opens to the west so “Sunset Pointe” is not false advertising. “Panini Pete” Blohme and Nick DiMario offer a menu of “small bights,” “bights on bread” and “full bights” that puts an emphasis on bright flavors.
Order this: The Gulf snapper throats are a seasonal treat, and despite the misleading name they’re considered a delicacy by locals. For something more distinctive, consider the “Eastern Shore Bouillabaisse” with fresh shellfish, Gulf shrimp, Gulf fish, leeks, fennel, red and green tomato and fresh herbs in a white wine seafood broth.
The Original House has operated a restaurant on the Causeway outside Mobile since the mid-’80s, though Hurricane Katrina forced a move to its current location.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
4. The Original Oyster House
3733 Battleship Parkway; www.originaloysterhouse.com
The Original Oyster House opened in 1983 in Gulf Shores and a Causeway branch office in 1985. I’ll pause and shed a tear for the pre-Katrina location, which had an inefficient but fondly remembered upstairs-downstairs concept that was more or less two restaurants in one. But the new location is fine: It’s big and open inside, great at accommodating large groups, and provides a fine view northward into the Mobile Tensaw Delta. The menu is extensive, so treat yourself to a cup of gumbo while you look it over. Also, be advised that the salad bar is well worth the modest upcharge as a side dish.
Order this: Let’s not beat around the bush. You’re here for a seafood platter and you’ve got a few options including a “create your own” selection of seafood. If you somehow can talk yourself into something else, make it the “Mahi Down on Da Bayou:” blackened mahi topped with fried crawfish tails and tasso and Conecuh sausage cream sauce.
The Waterfront puts an inviting new spin on a facility once occupied by the Lake Forest Yacht Club.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
3. The Waterfront
1 Yacht Club Drive, Daphne; thewaterfrontdaphne.com
“Panini Pete” Blohme and Nick DiMario only recently opened this venture in the former home of the Fairhope Yacht Club. They’ve brought a beachy feel to a restaurant with a prime Eastern Shore view and a big metal-roofed deck. The menu ranges from familiar staples such as burgers and po-boys to some distinctly adventurous items reflecting culinary influences from faraway shores. Feeling adventurous? Try the Royal sandwich, a messy, spicy take on a cold lobster roll, or any of several highly distinctive appetizers.
Order this: Seriously, keep an eye on those appetizers. “Conecuh Calamari” is strips of Conecuh sausage, fried until they curl up like fried calamari. Street cauliflower will make you rethink an often bland veggie. Chicken & Beignets, a new addition, puts a twist, and some powdered sugar, on chicken and waffles.
RELATED: At The Waterfront, ‘Panini Pete’ Blohme pairs global food, beachy vibe
The Homewrecker is a bacon-wrapped, foot-long hot dog served at the River Shack in Mobile.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
2. The River Shack
6120 S. Marina Drive in Mobile, under the Dog River Bridge; www.facebook.com/RiverShackRestaurant
The classic gag about the Causeway dining of a bygone era is that at some of the more ramshackle joints you could look down through the floorboards and see your supper swimming. The Causeway has gotten a little more polished over the years, but some of that free-spirited feel is embodied in the latest incarnation of The River Shack, perched right at the mouth of Dog River. It’s built to cater to a crowd as likely to arrive by boat as by car, and if you don’t see what you want on the standard menu, the kitchen staff is sure to throw a few intriguing specials on the chalkboard.
Order this: I’m on record as being a fan of the Homewrecker, a bacon-wrapped foot-long hot dog. But the burgers and po-boys come highly recommended as well.
RELATED: This Alabama restaurant’s ‘Homewrecker’ is a bacon-wrapped, foot-long hot dog
Inside Felix’s Fish Camp on the Causeway, gumbo-seekers may find themselves tempted by a unique option. (Press-Register, G.M. Andrews)PRESS-REGISTER
1. Felix’s Fish Camp
1530 Battleship Parkway, www.felixsfishcamp.com
Felix’s was slightly revolutionary when it opened way back in 2002, in an era before Ivan, before Katrina, before Deepwater Horizon. The decision to pair an upscale dining experience with a come-as-you-are dress code was an unusual move at the time, but a cunning one given that the restaurant’s high-visibility Causeway location catered to beach-bound through traffic just as much as to Mobile businessfolk. Twenty years later, Felix’s might seem slightly old hat – but it’s still the go-to option if you have friends in town who are asking you to recommend a seafood place and you want to guarantee they’ll be happy with the food, the view and the service. There are other good places on the Causeway, but if only one of them has a full parking lot, you can bet it’ll be Felix’s. Side note: If you’re looking for a fully casual vibe, check out the sister restaurant The Bluegill a little farther down the Causeway, which puts you right down at water level.
Order this: The famed “One, One and One” soup course gives you a demitasse each of gumbo, crab soup and turtle soup. Follow that with the fresh catch of the day grilled, blackened, broiled or fried, with meuniere, almondine, Greek or Creole topping. Or top it with crawfish Oscar or crab meat Oscar, if you want to go the whole hog.
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