top 5 restaurants in Sowal area

Mphoto :welcome: Check out the Dining sub/ forum and you will see lots of opinions. My top 5 are:
Cafe Tango
D & K's
Shades
Angelina's
open
looking forward to next trip to try Gravel Road which will probably become number 3 on my list. We will see.

And the top five are

D & K's (softshell crab and coastal cajun)
Stinky's Fish House (dinner)
Old Florida Fish House (sushi and crab salad on apps menu)
Hibiscus (vegetarian breakfast and smoothies)
Seagrove Village Market (awesome lunch)

My current top 5 are:
Borago (fine dining)
Caf? 30-A (fine dining)
Bud & Alley's (fine dining)
Wild Olives (casual dining)
Shades (casual dining)

I have the most funn (and the food is grayt) at the Red Bar for lunch. I don't care for their dinner menu. Special mention goes to Hibiscus for breakfast.

My top 5:
Borago's (fine dining)
Amore (casual & takeout) - REAL italian pizza!
Bud & Alley's - good food in the restaurant (fine dining) and the open air bar (casual) is one of the few places w/ an ocean view and tapas
Red Bar/331 (casual) - best crab cakes & mashed potatoes ever in a funky atmosphere
Vintij (fine dining) - great food and wine (you just pay a cork fee) w/ an everchanging menu

Mphoto :welcome: Check out the Dining sub/ forum and you will see lots of opinions. My top 5 are:
Cafe Tango
D & K's
Shades
Angelina's
open
looking forward to next trip to try Gravel Road which will probably become number 3 on my list. We will see.

If Shades is one of your top five, you need to get out more. :floor:

My top one is Borago.

Don't forget Amore for outside casual dining!

We have so many grayt restaurants...it's hard to narrow it down to 5.

D&K's Cafe
Yianni's
Borago
Red Bar - lunch / 331 Cafe - dinner
Don Pedro's (super casual: BREAKFAST!!, Lunch, Supper)

If Shades is one of your top five, you need to get out more. :floor:

Shades is a good solid casual place to eat. If you had bad food it was you (They probably found out where you live:funn🙂.

They do it up very well and are open for menu suggestions if you want to change things up like order extra shrimp or ?. Best Tap beer selection in the area too. As long as Sweetwater 420 is on tap we will be there;-). Only thing not good there is the service but I really don't expect it at Shades (great service that is).

I will amend my 5th slot from open to Blue Orleans, another place that has a very good casual menu.

• Red Bar is a must - casual and a SoWal classic
• D&K's because I've heard so much about it, though I haven't been there myself - if the Coastal Living editorial staff thought it was worth going there for their 10 year magazine anniversary, it must be darn good
• Cafe 30A - upscale
• Yianni's (the location itself isn't impressive, but the food is quality - you can bring your own wine)
• Boragos (more

Italian) or Basmati's (more Asian)


Casual:

• Wild Olives (I heard the cheese plate is awesome and they have a Friday evening wine tasting with appetizers) - also great place to stock your vacation pantry with specialty pastries, cheeses, sandwich meats, wine, other fine foods/drinks (it's a very upscale deli-type place)
• Angelina's if you go with kids/family for Italian Food and pizza
• Amore Pizza, especially if you plan to sit outside

Cafe Tango
D&K's
Nick's
Cafe Rendevous
Onano (esp. brunch, at least until Kat gets on that Jazz Brunch she teased us with!)

Cafe Tango
D&K's
Nick's
Cafe Rendevous
Onano (esp. brunch, at least until Kat gets on that Jazz Brunch she teased us with!)

Yes, Punzi, I'm bad about teasing! :floor: BUT, I do have some upcoming news!!!! :clap: :clap: Shish for now :popcorn: :roll: That news will come out in a few days;-)

Kat :wave: :wub: :wub:

BTW I don't mean to disparage D&K's. We haven't been there since the re-opening in April 2006. That's not a fair assessment. We'll be Bach ( and you can be Beethoven).:lol:

More upscale:
Borago
Fish out of Water
Basmati
Onano
Cafe Tango

Casual:
Amore
Bud & Alley's
Cafe RDV in Seaside
Fabrice
Summer Kitchen / Wild Olives

Add 331/Blue Bar to the list. Also, The Bait House at WaterColor has a good breakfast and is open to the public, not just WC guests.

Shades is a good solid casual place to eat. If you had bad food it was you (They probably found out where you live:funn🙂.

They do it up very well and are open for menu suggestions if you want to change things up like order extra shrimp or ?. Best Tap beer selection in the area too. As long as Sweetwater 420 is on tap we will be there;-). Only thing not good there is the service but I really don't expect it at Shades (great service that is).

I will amend my 5th slot from open to Blue Orleans, another place that has a very good casual menu.

They do have the best selection of tap beers in the area ............. good place to take kids.........nothing else about the place would put it in my top 5 (or 20).

I forgot to list Blue Orleans and Basmati's as my alternates for top 5!

Shades is a good solid casual place to eat. If you had bad food it was you (They probably found out where you live:funn🙂.

They do it up very well and are open for menu suggestions if you want to change things up like order extra shrimp or ?. Best Tap beer selection in the area too. As long as Sweetwater 420 is on tap we will be there;-). Only thing not good there is the service but I really don't expect it at Shades (great service that is).

I will amend my 5th slot from open to Blue Orleans, another place that has a very good casual menu.

I respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it ;-)

IMO, Shades is a sports bar that happens to serve food. If the topic had been "best bar/restaurant combos," then I could see it.

In no order nor consideration for the 'fine dining' factor:

Amore'
Cafe Tango
Borago
Basmati
Nicks

*I have never been to D&K's, but I am certain they belong here!

I like Shades very much, in part because it's on the east end of 30A which is convenient for us, but even moreso I LOVE their oyster po boys. And they have wireless so if I'm in the area by myself, I can go there, get a very good lunch, and relax and get online if I want to. The service I find to be so so. But I don't mind that when I'm eating my oyster po boy.

I was very skeptical when I went to Shades for the first time, since I had heard nothing but rotten reviews.

I ordered the chicken nachos and they were the best I have ever had! I am not a sports bar kinda girl, but Shades atmosphere isn't too sports ab-ish. I like the outside patio if it is not too hot.

While I wouldn't include this place in my top 5, it is good basic food, easy to go to with kids, and not too bad on the wallet. It serves its purpose.