A must stop and eat at place is King Neptune’s Seafood Restaurant. The prices can’t be beat. But more important, the cuisine will tantalize the taste buds of every seafood lover. The corn and crab bisque is sensational. The West Indies salad offers a refreshing zest of flavor with its marinated jumbo lump crabmeat.

Unique to the area is royal red shrimp. It is sweeter than other shrimp and literally red. Another must have are the fried crab claws.

I Have Three Words For You
ROYAL RED SHRIMP

     After my crawfish and bread pudding extravaganza, I swore I'd eat on the lighter side for the rest of my trip...that lasted until dinner when I was introduced to bless'em - Royal Red Shrimp at King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant.  Served with their scarlet bodies intact, piled mil-high on a plate, you literally attack the shrimp.  I never fought so hard to eat as I ripped the heads off and struggled to peel off their tough shells.  Royal Reds have a delicious shrimpy-crabby taste and texture.  I ate so many Royal Reds, I lost count.  I relished in them, I indulged in the, I ravished them.. I am a Royal Red Shrimp!

     After I was done making a spectacle of myself, I dug into none other than that great Southern dessert-bread pudding. I never learn.

     Specialty No. 2, Bon Secour farm-raised oysters are a big deal.  And throughout the Gulf Shores, they don't get much bigger. Lovingly cared for by Bon Secour Fisheries the little pearl-carriers are hatchery-raised on platforms above the Gulf floor - an experimental process developed within the past five years.  Because they're open to water on all sides, these more rapidly maturing oysters are not only larger and plumper, but cleaner and sweeter.

     The Gulf Shores pay equal homage to the oyster's crustacean cohort, the way-offshore shrimp.  Royal Reds are cagey little deep-sea swimmers that not many boats can reach.  These succulent shrimp are indeed regal not only in name but in color and taste.

     The interiors are on the rule unpretentious, but I've never had better seafood - from shellfish like the succulent shrimp, crabs and oysters, to red snapper and grouper and blue marlin.

     But the real attractions unusual local finds available at many Gulf Shore eateries.  Two trademark specialties bring crowds flocking to King Neptune's, an informal, unimposing seafood restaurant whose formica-topped tables are surrounded by hanging plants, fish netting and walls straining under the weight of a variety of seafaring memorabilia.

    Owners Al Sawyer and Diane Bush have taken their combined knowledge of seafood, gleaned over years of travel and working in business, and created what is surely the best find in the area.

     Located in what appears to be an old convenience store, King Neptune's offers some of the best oyster, shrimp and fresh-catch dishes anywhere. We took home as much as we could eat.