Doc’s Seafood Shack and Oyster Bar

Best seafood dinner we had during our whole stay in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores! Their gumbo is to die for We’re going back to get a container to-​go and bring to our family back home! Great service, no wait, quick and delicious. We’ll definitely be back and would tell anyone else to go!

Pros: fresh fish, entertaining bartender, compassionate waiter. Cons: limited menu, long wait for table AND for food! We were sent home with two slices of pie for free since we had to wait so long for our meal. Not vegetarian friendly at all! I ordered the only items that I could eat; a mixed greens salad (only lettuce and tomatoes), green beans (which were cooked in bacon!) and corn on the cob. Thoroughly NOT impressed but my father-​in-​law said the fish was really fresh and good. I’ll have to take his word for it.

Went to the Sunday brunch today. This was first day, so it wasn’t advertised. Brunch was delicious! I had the eggs Benedict with crab cake. Awesome! Amanda was gracious waitress! There was a very talented guitar player for entertainment. We will be back to Docs!!!

Decent food. Filthy bathrooms. Absolutely awful service.
The food would have been excellent, if only it were hot.
Bathrooms smelled and needed cleaned.
Service was a D– at best. Slow and had to wait for a fried chicken salad and a fried crab sandwich for over 40 minutes. Needless to say we were baffled as to what took so long. Not to mention the fact that we sat with empty drinks for half of that time before we flagged our waitress down to get refills.
Not impressed. Better options are plentiful.

Food was great if you like fried food. We arrived at 6:00pm and were seated within 10 minutes. Server was very attentive.

Avoid this place! Service is bad and the food is worse! I ordered the fish tacos per the waiters suggestion and they were the most bland fish tacos I’ve ever had. The fish obviously wasn’t seasoned and the chipotle sour cream and spicy salsa were a joke. The gumbo isn’t anything to write home about, and the fries are clearly from the frozen isle at Walmart. My husband ordered a virgin strawberry daiquiri and the shrimp and grits. The shrimp and grits were actually good, but the daiquiri was awful, watered down, and over priced. The server kept brining things to the table, but never took anything away. The table and chairs also weren’t cleaned prior to seating is, they were sticky and the chairs had food in them. When I wiped my seat with a paper towel, it was black. I should have known to walk out then…

Service was fair, but the food was lacking flavor, texture, and taste. Our group had shrimp tacos (tasted as if the had been frozen), fish tacos (no flavor outside of the salsa on the side), and undercooked onion rings. I’m sure there are better choices for seafood in Gulf Shores!

As advertised, the best fried shrimp I have put in my mouth! We return every year and always receive great service and excellent food. I got the choose two friends shrimp and fried fish and it was more than I could handle. The fish was average but the friend shrimp was out of this world. Also you get to make your own cocktail sauce and spice it up the way you like it… How fun is that?!!

Best seafood ever! Fish cooked to perfection. Great service! Great huge oysters! The price was reasonable, and key lime pie was great.

Never heard of a seafood restaurant that asks the customer to make your own cocktail sauce? Simply NOT «the best fried shrimp in the entire civilized world» as advertised.

Thank you, Amanda, for so much fun the night before the night we have to go back north. Best shrimp in the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area. Long Island Iced Teas aren’t bad either. Life music great drinks great food and super server Amanda!

We went on a Friday night at 6:30 pm. There were very few customers and now we know why! This place is awful and should be avoided. All the food served is either frozen, from a large bag or from a bottle. Nothing is fresh! I had the shrimp tacos and they were the worst tacos I ever had. The tortillas were cold and gooey, the shrimp were tiny (frozen variety) with an odd-​tasting dressing that tasted like bottled Thousand Island with a dash of bottled hot sauce. This was topped with a little bit of bagged iceberg lettuce and some pre-​shredded cheddar. The $ 3.00 side salad was chopped pre-​bagged iceberg lettuce, a small bit of chopped tomato and covered in the cheddar, that’s it! My husband ordered a very pricey fish called Cobia which was supposed to be the «Fresh Catch of the Day,» however, our waiter later told us that all their fish is frozen. He got one little piece of the fish and it was covered with a slimy Hollandaise sauce which was bad. This came with frozen fries and mushy hushpuppies and a small tub of pre-​made coleslaw… and this cost $ 18.95! No bread basket or salad. All the food we got was cold or lukewarm at best, not hot. It was WAY OVERPRICED. Nothing special at this place. Very much needs a new, fresh menu. This might have worked years ago but it is definitely NOT worth it now. Lousy overpriced not fresh food! One of the worst places we’ve been and would highly NOT RECOMMEND!

This place seems to be long on hype and short on substance. Food was average at best, I’ve had better at Captain D’s.
Prices are steep for the portion sizes. Fried oysters were watery and gooey right from the kitchen, which I couldn’t understand.
I was charged an automatic 20% tip on a takeout order, and it wasn’t posted anywhere.
Don’t believe the hype.

Great food, the seafood is cooked perfectly. Amanda the bartender is funny and engaging. The manager makes sure everything is as it should be. Atmosphere makes you feel welcome.

I can’t believe this place has 2 ½ stars. Fried shrimp is lightly battered but crispy with meaty shrimp, crap claws on point and the gumbo out of this world. Service is amazing and bar drinks are perfect and reasonably priced, prob the best and strongest drinks on the beach! Love this place, read this review and run here now. You’re missing out if you don’t.

Oh boy Doc’s was great. Me and my wife shared the steamer platter. It was more than enough for both of us and tasted great. Next time I will try the fried shrimp everyone keeps talking about.

Food was overpriced and sub par. A fly was found in one of our drinks, they did bring us another but that started the meal off on a bad note. Service wasn’t bad but the atmosphere was dead, and now I understand why. Would not go again.

The food was really great. My husband and I both had a «pick two» combination with grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, blackened fish, and fried flounder. All of it was cooked perfectly and tasty. The service here was a bit lacking. We finished our meal and waited 15 mins to get a check which was then followed by another 10 min wait to pay at the register by the door because the hostess was also the bartender and the person checking customers out. They definitely need to work on their staffing organization.

Very mediocre food and VERY expensive! $ 55 for lunch! Really?! Not impressed at all. They got our money this time but NEVER again. Our waiter, on the positive, was competent. Although, he was a little too friendly with my husband! ;)

Good customer service and that’s about it!
The Oysters on the Half Shell were small and actually not good at all.
The food was bland and the restaurant needs a much need facelift.
Better dining options available in Gulf Shores, probably wouldn’t go back any time soon.