Best Restaurants in Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Alabama

Where to Eat in Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Alabama

Before the holidays, I had the opportunity to visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, AL not once but twice! Chicken Legs and I went down for a visit and two weeks later I went down for a blogger trip. Between the two trips, we ate at 13 different places. We hit up dive bars, fancy white table cloth restaurants and everything in between. Seafood, burgers, nachos, waffles, pizza, Bushwhackers. Spring Break is coming. I am excited to share all of the best spots to eat at when you head down to the beach in a few weeks!!

This was Chicken Legs’ very first time going to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach. He has lived in Alabama for a very long time but never been to the Alabama beaches. He had an AMAZING time! He LOVED our condo at Turquoise Place. He also loved all the delicious restaurants.

Check out everything we ate below. Have you ever been to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach? Did we eat at your favorite spot? If not, leave me a comment with your favorite spot so Chicken Legs and I can check it out on our next trip.

Don’t miss our previous Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, AL restaurant post:
https://www.plainchicken.com/2019/01/where-to-eat-in-gulf-shores-orange.html


Where to Stay in Orange Beach:
https://www.plainchicken.com/2019/01/turquoise-place-by-spectrum-resorts.html

Best Restaurants in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, AL

Flora-Bama Yacht Club

Cobalt, The Restaurant

• Cobalt Caviar – A refreshing blend of black beans, edamame, corn, red onion, roma tomatoes, and cilantro tossed in a light vinaigrette and served with corn tortilla chips.
• Cobalt Crab & Shrimp Dip – Hot creamy blend of fresh blue crab & tender bay shrimp with roasted sweet red peppers, Parmesan & Swiss cheese. Accompanied by grilled French bread.
• Firecracker Shrimp – Lightly dusted bay shrimp, fried & tossed in our spicy remoulade sauce. I don’t even like shrimp and I ate a ton of this!

• Creole Cheesecake – housemade Creole cream cheese with a roasted pecan crust, pecan praline & caramel sauce.
• Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee – Traditional French custard with a crisp shell of turbinado sugar

Foam Coffee Shop

Luna’s Eat & Drink

Luna’s has a popular Meat & Three menu for lunch, but we opted to order off the regular menu. We started with the Beer Cheese Dip. A creamy blend of Swiss, cheddar, and dark beer. Served with soft pretzel bites. Those pretzel bites were DELICIOUS! SO was the beer cheese dip. I could have just eaten this and been happy.

Hope’s Cheesecake

Fisher’s Dockside/Downstairs

Fisher’s Upstairs

On my blogger trip, we ate at Fisher’s Upstairs. The upstairs restaurant is beautiful. Decorated in a nice beach theme and white tablecloths. We had a special meal prepared by the chef. They brought out several dishes for us to sample. The delicious food just kept coming and coming.

• Beet Salad
• Seared Jumbo Scallops
• Brussels Sprouts Side
• Fish of the Day

Sunliner Diner

We had breakfast at Sunliner Diner on the blogger trip. I went to Sunliner Diner on my first trip to Orange Beach and loved it. I found out after we left that they were famous for their milkshakes. I didn’t want to miss out on the milkshakes again, so I ordered one for breakfast! LOL! This is the Shake Supreme – Chocolate milkshake spun with hot fudge and a chocolate brownie topped with whipped cream, a Hershey’s bar and a cherry. Have Mercy!

Anchor Bar

Anchor Bar is the number one rated place in Orange Beach on Yelp. I had TONS of recommendations to eat here, so Chicken Legs and I checked it out for lunch.

Since we were on a quest to find the best Bushwhacker in Orange Beach/Gulf Shores we HAD to give Anchor Bar a try, Their bushwhacker is vanilla and delicious! We also tried the Orange Beech Smash – orange vodka, orange syrup, OJ, soda, and Sprite. Very refreshing.

The Village Hideaway

The Village Hideaway is located at The Beach Club Resort & Spa. We stopped in for lunch on the blogger trip. We started with the Loaded Riptide Fries and fried pickles. You can’t go wrong with either one!

The Loaded Riptide Fries were dusted with their signature Riptide Rub and smothered in Queso and Cheddar Cheeses, and finished with Bacon Relish, Candied Bacon, and scallions. I could have made a meal out of these fries!

For our entrees, we got the Macaroni & Cheese – elbow Macaroni Smothered in Sharp Cheddar,
Long Horn, and Provolone Cheeses and finished with Classic White Sauce.

Alabama Slam-Ma – a half-pound beef patty with Tomato Bacon Relish,
Cheddar Cheese and Candied Bacon. Have Mercy!

Ruby Slipper

Next up were some pancakes and bacon!

• White Chocolate Bread Pudding – A breakfast twist on New Orleans’ classic dessert, buttermilk pancakes mixed with white chocolate French bread pudding, finished with a white chocolate whiskey sauce.
• The Seasonal Creme Brulee Pancakes – a homemade creme brulee custard layered on top of their fluffy buttermilk pancakes. The custard is topped with sugar and flambeed to create a caramelized sugar crust, complete with whipped cream and strawberries.

Skinny Migas – A Tex-Mex egg white scramble with onion, tomato, cilantro, pepperjack
cheese & spinach, served with avocado, chipotle sour cream & crispy tortilla chips.

To die for delicious! In addition to breakfast at the Ruby Slipper, we also took a biscuit making class. They shared the recipe for their famous buttermilk biscuits. Stay tuned for the recipe!

Pleasure Island Tiki Bar

Lulu’s

We ate lunch at Lucy Buffet’s Lulu’s on the blogger trip. I was super excited to eat here. I have eaten at the Destin location, but never at the original location in Gulf Shores. We started with some cocktails because it’s 5 o’clock somewhere! Amiright?!

We got basically every appetizer on the menu – LOL!

• Fried Green Tomatoes served with LuLu’s Wow Sauce
• Onion Ring Basket – Hand-breaded and seasoned to perfection! Served with LuLu’s Wow Sauce.
• A Mountain of Fried Okra! – Yep, deep-fried Southern Style. Served with LuLu’s Ranch Dressing.
• L.A. (Lower Alabama) Caviar – Black-Eyed Peas in Balsamic Vinaigrette ~ a LuLu’s Original!

Shrimp & Grits – Shrimp and Andouille Sausage in a Tasso and Tomato Cream Sauce. Served with Gouda Grits. Get in my belly!

Nachos – Fried Corn Tortilla Chips with Tomatoes, Jalapeños, Cilantro, Queso, melted Cheddar Served with LuLu’s Sassy Salsa. You can add pulled pork, chicken, crab, shrimp or beef.

Safari Club

I dined at Safari Club on both trips. It is located at the new Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. The zoo opens on February 1, 2020, but the restaurant has been open for a few months. The menu is HUGE! It has offerings from all the countries and areas that the zoo animals are from. The restaurant is also Alabama’s first certified “Green Restaurant” meaning that they are a leader in conservation, recycling, and reduced waste.

As I said, the Safari Club menu has a lot of choices. There is definitely something for everyone! We sampled several appetizers on our visits.

• Baby Back Ribs – Guava BBQ sauce, apple, fennel, jicama slaw with citrus vinaigrette 
• Crunchy Goat Cheese – crunchy almond crust, fig jam, fresh berries
• Singapore Chicken Satay – Asian spice paste, Peanut satay sauce
• Coconut Shrimp – Gulf shrimp, crispy coconut shell, plum sauce

• Bacon Cheese Burger – wood-grilled half pound fresh ground patty, bacon jam, pimento cheese, lettuce and tomato 

All of their pizzas are cooked in a wood-burning oven. The chef also recommended the pizza. I never turn down pizza!

• Margherita Pizza – tomato sauce, Fresh Mozzarella, Roma tomato, fresh Basil

I could have done with fewer tomatoes, but otherwise, it was good.

Gulf Shrimp and Grits – three-cheese creamy stone-ground grits, jumbo shrimp, thick-cut bacon, tomato and scallion.

Their steaks their uniquely prepared. First, they season and place the steak in a seal in a bag then immersing in a sous vide water bath for tenderness and even cooking. The steaks are then removed from the bag and placed on their wood grill and cooked for a flavorful crusty finish. All steaks are served with house-roasted fingerling potatoes and seasonal fresh vegetable garnish.

• Key Lime Pie – white chocolate macadamia nut cookie dough crust, fresh whipped cream, and lime sugar
• Australian Tim Tam – chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache. 
• House-Made Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Where to Stay at Orange Beach, AL

Beachfront Rental in Orange Beach, AL

Our favorite place to stay in Orange Beach is Turquoise Place. The condos are AMAZING and you can’t beat the view! You get sunrise and sunset!

I stayed in a 3-bedroom condo on both trips this time. I stayed in a 4-bedroom condo on my first trip to the area. You can see photos of the 4-bedroom and the 3-bedroom on this post: https://www.plainchicken.com/2019/01/turquoise-place-by-spectrum-resorts.html

I also have a video tour of the 4-bedroom and the PENTHOUSE! If you stay in the penthouse, invite me!! Pretty please!

Turquoise Place by Spectrum Resorts

Thank you to the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism Board for hosting me on this trip. The tourism board planned and paid for part of the trip. I was not asked to share the trip on the blog. I chose to share the trip because I had a great time and thought my readers would enjoy reading about the trip.