Our choices for best Mobile Alabama restaurants are local favorites and provide a classic look at Mobile and Gulf Coast culture for US Gulf Coast visitors and residents alike.
This is not a complete list of every Mobile restaurant nor is it a ranking of the best Mobile Alabama restaurants. But eating is one of our favorite Mobile AL activities.
There are well over 100 great places to eat in Mobile Alabama and our goal is to try them all.
8 of the Best Mobile Alabama Restaurants
This list of 8 of the best restaurants in Mobile Alabama is in alphabetic order. Let us know your favorite places to eat in Mobile, especially if they are not included here.
Dauphin’s
One of Mobile’s finest dining experiences, Dauphin’s occupies the top floor of the RSA Trustmark building. Arrive just before sunset for one of the best Instagrammable spots in Mobile.
The tuna poke at Dauphin’s is remarkable. The chef trained in Maui and won at least one tuna poke competition against chefs from around the world. Do yourself a favor and order the tuna poke!
Watch this video of a kitchen tour and chef table at Dauphin’s. Dauphin’s also caters the food on the Perdido Queen cruises.
Dew Drop Inn
A local friend told me the only proper order at Dew Drop Inn—Mobile’s oldest restaurant—is a loaded hot dog and half fries/half onion rings order. I do not mess with tradition.
The Noble South
In the heart of Mobile’s Entertainment District, The Noble South serves creative new Southern cuisine. Chef Chris Rainosek continually changes the menu based on what hyperlocal ingredients are available.
I totally recommend the deviled eggs appetizer and plate lunch special (catfish was my choice). A couple of visitors in The Noble South during its appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives called its cuisine, elevated Southern. Visit The Noble South and decide for yourself.
NoJa
They call themselves a Mediterrasian place but NoJa is all that and so much more. After receiving strong words of encouragement from Chef Alex Perry of Vestige in Ocean Springs that “NoJa is the one place to eat in Mobile” it moved to the top of my list of Mobile Alabama restaurants.
And I can eat at NoJa gain and again. Everything on the NoJa menu is remarkable—I was warned/notified—but I settled on the halibut entree. It was sublime.
I was coached to save room for an amazing NoJa dessert and it was phenomenal.
I must return to NoJa to try more!
Original Oyster House
People love Original Oyster House for the $3.99 salad bar, fire-grilled oysters, and Royal red shrimp—plus a dizzying array of po’ boys and seafood entrees. They sell key lime pie and chocolate chip peanut butter pie by the slice or whole pie.
But I was extremely impressed with the community outreach and sustainability practices of Original Oyster House. A wind turbine generates power for the external lights, solar water heaters operate at both restaurants (there is also one in Gulf Shores), and they recycle their vegetable oil.
Most impressive to me is that Original Oyster House actively participates in restoring Mobile Bay oyster beds—which equates to fresher oysters, cleaner water, and a healthier eco-system.
See also why Original Oyster House is on our US Gulf Coast Seafood Trail.
Southern National
US Gulf Coast Travel note: Southern National has closed. Please support your favorite restaurants so they do not face the same fate.
James Beard nominee (multiple times) and Iron Chef guest Chef Duane Nutter serves creative and innovative dishes to tempt all your senses. This appetizer at Southern National had 10,000 ingredients and I cannot possibly list them all.
Let Duane and his partner Reginald take you on a culinary journey while you enjoy a delightful craft cocktail (or several), as I was coached to do by Chef Austin Sumrall (another James Beard nominee) of White Pillars in Biloxi Mississippi.
See why Southern National is on our list of best US Gulf Coast Restaurants.
Spot of Tea
Enjoy a sit down breakfast in downtown Mobile at a Spot of Tea. For 25 years, people “cannot visit Mobile without stopping at Spot of Tea.” If the weather is nice, opt for outside with a view of Cathedral Square. Seafood omelettes are a wise choice! And as the owner and hostess told me,
“Everyone needs a Spot of Tea in their life.”
Wintzell’s Oyster House
Get your oysters fried, stewed, or nude at Wintzell’s Oyster House. There are three Wintzell’s in and near Mobile but we prefer the downtown location on Dauphin Street.
Wintzell’s serves wild and farm raised oysters, along with a myriad of prep styles. Order them all. Well, to do so, make several trips or bring several friends. I volunteer as tribute.
But oysters is by no means the only thing to order at Wintzell’s.
The West Indies salad is amazing, claimed to be Oprah’s favorite (I will ask her). Fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, seafood gumbo, redfish bienville, and low country boil are just a few other Wintzell’s menu items to tease you. And me!
More Favorite Mobile Alabama Restaurants
Although we only list 10 favorite Mobile Alabama restaurants, there are so many other great place to eat in Mob-Town. Some feat Mobile restaurants we enjoy or hope to visit soon include:
- Moe’s Original BBQ might serve the best Bushwhacker this side of Flora-Bama. And also BBQ.
- El Papi for chips & salsa and margarita meetings in the courtyard
- Chuck’s Fish for the freshest seafood and sushi
- Dumbwaiter, southern heritage cuisine with a Gulf Coast flare
- Squid Ink, eclectic eats and drinks in a gastropub from Chef Panini Pete
- Las Florditas, a Cuban-themed speakeasy with Cuban small plates, sandwiches, and bowls
- Mo’ Bay Beignet Co for a weekday beignet fix while waiting for Squid Ink’s beignets on the weekends
- Cotton State BBQ for classic bbq sandwiches, dogs, baked potatoes, and more
- Loda Bier Garten for great beer but also farm fresh ingredients and locally sourced products
- Ruby Slipper Cafe for New Orleans style breakfast and lunch. You will NOT leave hungry.
- The Haberdasher, The Hab are “purveyors of fine libations.” Amazing craft cocktails.
- Firehouse Wine Bar and Shop specializes in wines from the south—Southern Hemisphere, that is
- Oyster City Brewing Company, the original from Apalachicola Florida comes to Port City
See also our favorite Things to Do in Mobile.
