Bud and Alley's Waterfront Restaurant and Rooftop Bar

Last week, my family and I took our first ever trip to Florida.  The vacation meant fun at the beach for my wife and kids.  For me, it meant chowing down on great seafood.  We stayed in the Seagrove Beach area of the Florida Panhandle, so their was no shortage of seafood restaurants in the vicinity.  Before leaving, we solicited the advice of our friends and the Internet wizard known as Google.  One of the places that came highly recommended was Bud and Alley's Waterfront Restaurant and Rooftop Bar.  Several friends recommended this place and it was highly rated on several Internet sites.

Dining Room 

View from our window seat

The restaurant also had a great outdoor dining area

In full disclosure, we actually ate at this restaurant twice.  I am telling you this, because I don't want you to look at all the pictures and start judging my wife and I for being gluttons.  During our two visits, I was able to try one of the best soups I have ever had.  On one visit, the soup of the day was jerk chicken soup.  It reminded me a lot of gumbo, but was much spicier than gumbo due to the jerk seasoning.  Contrary to what my wife says, the soup gets its name from the Caribbean spice used and was not named after me.  We also had the fried crab claws, which were served with cocktail sauce and a very good remoulade.  I could have made a meal of these by themselves and been happy.

Jerk Chicken Soup

Delicious Fried Crab Claws

For main courses, I had the crab cakes one time and the grilled black grouper on another visit.  The crab cakes were good, but not the best I have had.  I ordered a side of blacked eyed peas to go with them and I was very impressed with this side that included large pieces of ham hock.  The grilled black grouper was fantastic. It was served on herbed basmati rice and surrounded by stewed butter peas.  The rice was very good, but the butter peas were very bland.  I also ordered a side of jalapeño cheddar corn bread and it was some of the best cornbread I have ever had.

Crab Cakes

Grilled Black Grouper

Jalapeño Cheddar Corn Bread

My wife ordered the seared diver scallops on the first visit and the lobster tacos on the second visit.  She let me try the scallops and they were perhaps the best scallops I have ever had.  They were served on a bed of grits which were delicious.  As for the lobster tacos, she chose not to share these with me.  I can only assume that they must have been delicious.

Diver Sea Scallops on a bed of grits

Lobster Tacos

Despite being extremely full, we did order the key lime pie during one visit.  It was delicious and quite refreshing.  The tart filling was offset nicely by the graham cracker crust.  During both visits, the service was great, the seafood was fresh, and the views were second-to-none.  It was expensive, but quality seafood.  If you are ever in the Seaside area, I recommend you stop by if you like good seafood with a nice view.

Key Lime Pie

Bud and Alley's Waterfront Restaurant and Rooftop Bar
http://www.budandalleys.com/
2236 East County Road 30-A
Seaside, Florida
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3