What to Eat in Gulf Shores, Alabama!

This post is sponsored by Alabama Gulf Coast CVB. All opinions are my own.

I loved my visit to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach last fall so much and sitting here in cold and rainy Ohio – I’m longing for those beach views again! Besides the views – the food was so good! I shared with you my favorite lunch and brunch places but there’s more than that – I also have great recommendations for dinner and drinks!

We went to such a wide variety of places – from fancy to tacky – we explored them all! I even have a copycat recipe from this batch that I’ll be sharing in a few days! You’ll have to tell me if you have any favorites!

Flora-Bama Yacht Club – 17401 Perdido Key Dr – Pensacola FL

We started at the Flora-Bama Yacht Club! It’s a historic place that has stood the test of time and a few hurricanes. Our tour guide Eva started us out Bacon & BBQ Fire-Roasted Oysters ($14 – half dozen). Now I’m not much of an oyster fan but when they’re char-grilled – I can definitely try them. Well I did more than try them – I killed them! The topping was Sriracha-cured bacon, butter, New Orleans BBQ sauce and cheese – but to me – as a Cincinnati girl – it tasted like Skyline Chili! I’m not sure how the combination got there – but it really tasted like an oyster topped with my Cincinnati favorite – these were delicious!!

I got the Greek Shrimp Nachos ($13) – buried underneath all of that goodness are fried wonton chips smothered in a spinach-feta cream sauce and topped with plump Gulf shrimp, tomatoes, feta, Kalamata olives, peppadews, banana peppers and onions. Holy moly were these delicious!!! Such an interesting take on nachos!!!

After all of our dinners – we got Beignet Fries ($11) – man oh man – I just discovered beignets on my recent trip to New Orleans and they’re so delicious! But the Flora-Bama made them into little fries and they were crispy, sweet, fluffy and delicious!!! A must-have!

Tacky Jacks – 240 E 24th Ave – Gulf Shores AL

Tacky Jacks was practically made for me! I saw it as we drove by and my eyes lit up and I said, “Are we going there??????” – I was like a 5 year old at DisneyLand! It’s so bright and colorful and TACKY! I loved it! We started out with drinks – I got a Margarita – but one of their specialties is the Bushwacker (it’s everybody’s special really). The Bushwacker is basically a chocolate shake with a lot of rum – not for me – but everybody else loves it!

We started out with some Firecracker Shrimp which is battered, fried and tossed in an Asian Chili Sauce. (Very similar to Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill) This was delicious and probably my favorite menu item at Tacky Jacks! You gotta try it!

I got the Mexican Garbage Nachos – they come in a foil cake pan and are just loaded for bear! Chips, cheese, olives, taco meat, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream and more. Be sure to check out my copycat recipe! Yum!

My girl Plain Chicken got a burger and it looked amazing as well! We had so much food and loved every bite! Plus – we got a piece of neon duct tape and left our mark – it’s a thing you do there! It’s a really fun casual dinner spot!

Red or White – Wharf Parkway – Orange Beach

One night we had a progressive dinner that was voted on by fans of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and one of the stops was Red or White – which is a wine bar at the Wharf. The Wharf is a really cute and fun shopping & dining district – I would definitely love to spend more time there!

Our favorite item on their menu were there bruschetta – we had two kinds: one with housemade boursin cheese, fresh tomatoes and olive oil and the other with pimento cheese and bacon ($12). Let me tell you – that Pimento Cheese Bruschetta was AMAZING!!! It literally might be one of my favorite bites of the whole trip!

Perch – Gulf State Park – 21196 East Beach Blvd – Gulf Shores

A couple of nights we did a fancier dinner and Perch was one of them. It’s a really nice restaurant actually at the Gulf State Park! The building is really unique and I like the location – not something you usually see.

We started with these Vidalia Onion Rings with a tempura batter and served with a tomato bacon jam ($10). They’re huge and super crispy! Definitely a favorite!

I chose the Double-Smoked Pork Belly ($17) – this was served with a Chimichurri sauce (which I’m now obsessed with after I tried the Kroger Prep + Pared meals!). Everybody at the table instantly started drooling and got really jealous of my order choice. First – it was a beautiful plate – second – I think this might have been the only time I shut up the entire trip! Once I started eating – I didn’t stop. They all said “Wow – that MUST be good!!! You stopped talking!” hahahahaha – so mental note for everyone out there – you wanna shut me up? Feed me pork belly. 😉

Playa – 27842 Canal Road – Orange Beach

If you’re starting to think – did you guys just eat the whole trip? Yes – we ate at least 3x a day – hahaha – we had a lot of ground to cover! Playa was a fun spot – it’s very beachy and I even came home with a couple of items from the gift shop because I loved the feel so much!

I got the Red Fish on the Half Shell ($26) – which was roasted red fish topped with a tomato & avocado
salad. I’d never had Red Fish but really liked it – it was a thick white fish with a mild flavor – and having it grilled like this was so delicious – you just really enjoy the flavor of the Red Fish without anything distracting you from it.

Voyagers – 27200 Perdido Beach Blvd – Orange Beach

On our last night – we enjoyed a fancy dinner at Voyagers which is at a resort. It was a really pretty restaurant with an amazing beach view. We started with a charcuterie board that was so delicious and filled with cured and smoked meats, tomato chutney, marcona almonds and honey mustard. I might have cornered this one to my side of the table. 😉

They had so many delicious items and steak was one of their specialties like this bone-in filet mignon with a side of decadent bacon topped macaroni & cheese ($37). No – this wasn’t good at all.

Cosmos – 25753 Canal Rd – Orange Beach

The night of our progressive dinner ended at Cosmos for dessert – again voted on by the fans of Gulf Shores and there were definitely some decadent desserts – like this Peanut Butter Pie ($6)! It had a pretzel crust and was topped with chocolate sauce – oye so yummy!

My favorite dessert though – hands down – was their Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie – oh man – I loved this! Steph and Eva might have even gotten a few more minutes of silence because I couldn’t stop eating this!

Shockingly – I didn’t even gain any weight on this trip! From walks on the beach and to the zoo – we were always on the move!

You’ll have to let me know your favorite spots down in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach because I already know that I’ll be back! So where else should I go? What of the treats that I enjoyed do you want to try first? (The pork belly – right?!)

And how can anything be bad when you go to sleep with this view?! Turquoise Place by Spectrum Resorts was our hosts for the trip – and man oh man – it was perfection! I’ll tell you more about them in another post.