The Great Southern Cafe

Seaside, Florida has quite a few restaurants in the downtown area.  During our previous visit to the town, we tried quite a few of them but didn't get to dine at all of them.  The Great Southern Cafe was one of them that we did not get to try on our first trip to Seaside.  We made it a point to remedy that situation on this trip because several friends highly recommended the restaurant.

Covered Patio Area 

Since my wife and I are both fans of collard greens, we started with the Soul Rolls.  They were essentially spring rolls filled with chicken and collard greens.  We both enjoyed the Asian-style take on a Southern-style food.  The rolls themselves were quite good, but I didn't particularly care for the peach chutney or the horseradish sauce that was served with them.

Soul Rolls

I had heard through the rumor mill that their Grits and Grillades was a dish that was not to be missed.  Having never had grillades before, it was a very unique taste and reminded me of gumbo made of beef.  This restaurants version of the dish consisted of slow roasted beef in a Shiraz stew and served over smoked Gouda cheese grits.  I absolutely loved the flavor of the dish and it was unquestionably the best-tasting food item I had on this trip.  It was so good that I almost cried when I shoveled the last bite in my mouth.

Grits and Grillades

My wife decided that she wanted to try the vegetable plate.  When people order the vegetable plate, you assume that they are trying to eat healthy.  This was not the case this time around as my wife chose fried okra, fried green tomatoes, grits, and black-eyed peas.  Everything on the plate was delicious, but the fried okra cut length-wise was absolutely incredible.

Veggie Plate-Fried Okra, Fried Green Tomatoes, Grits, and Black-Eyed Peas

We enjoyed the food at The Great Southern Cafe and were pleasantly surprised how cool the breeze as it was blowing off the ocean while we sat on the patio.  The place always seems to be packed to the gills, but the service was more than adequate despite the large crowd.  This place will definitely get a return visit from me the next time my family visits Seaside!  

The Great Southern Cafe
http://www.thegreatsoutherncafe.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Bud and Alley's Pizza Bar

On our second day in Seagrove Beach, Florida, it rained and we were unable to go to the beach.  My brother-in-law and I were trapped in a house with all the girls.  We had our fill of estrogen and decided to brave the weather to go grab a bite to eat.  We took the short drive to Seaside and were looking for a place to grab a pizza.  We settled on Bud and Alley's Pizza Bar.  Bud and Alley also own Bud and Alley's Waterfront Restaurant and Rooftop Bar, which I reviewed earlier.

The rain kept customers from sitting outside

This joint serves Napoli-style pizza cooked in a traditional wood-fired oven.  I ordered the Prosciutto di Parma, which was made with tomato sauce, prosciutto, arugula, and fresh mozzarella.  My brother-in-law ordered the Margherita & Salami pizza, which was made with tomato sauce, Felino salami, honey, chilies, and fresh mozzarella.  Both pizzas were served up within 10 minutes and mine was perfectly cooked and piping hot.  The prosciutto was very flavorful, but they did overdue it on the arugula.  I expected a little bit of fresh arugula on top, but it was served with enough arugula to make a salad.  A little bit of arugula goes a long way, but apparently Bud and Alley didn't subscribe to this philosophy.  My brother-in-law let me try some of his Margherita and Salami pizza, and it was very good with a spicy kick to it.

Prosciutto di Parma

Margherita & Salami

These pizzas hit the spot and the service was great.  Although they were delicious, they were somewhat small and a little overpriced for the size.  If they would have been a larger, I might have rated this place a little higher.  That being said, this was still a fantastic pizza.

Bud and Alley's Pizza Bar

http://budandalleys.com/menu_pizza_bar.php

Seaside, Florida

Livin The Good Life Rating = 3

Barefoot BBQ

On a beautiful afternoon in Seaside, Florida, my wife and I visited the downtown square after a day at the beach.  On the square, there are several Windstream trailers that serve food.  I had not had lunch yet, so I decided to grab some grub while my wife and daughters went to off spend some of my hard earned money.  One of the trailers that looked good was Barefoot BBQ.  The menu looked good and it had been highly rated on a couple of sites, so I decided to give it a try.

I ordered the brisket sandwich with corn on the cob and mac and cheese.  Figuring this might not fill me up, I also ordered a bucket of ribs.  The brisket sandwich came on toasted white bread.  I had never had it served this way, but it intrigued me.  Sadly, the sandwich was absolutely one of the worst I have had.  The meat was tough and didn't have even a hint of smoke to it.  The sides were terrible as well.  I held out hope for the ribs, but they too disappointed me.  The rub was decent, but they were tough, undercooked, and didn't have any smokey flavor.

Brisket Sandwich, Corn, and Mac & Cheese 

Pork Ribs

Lesson learned.  If you want good barbecue, stick to Texas.  I have had barbecue in other places such as the North Carolina, Kansas City, and St. Louis.  Although some of it was good, nothing compares to good barbecue in Texas.  It was certainly a far cry from some that I recently had on a trip to Austin at Franklin Barbecue, John Mueller Meat Co., and Freedmen's Bar.  Barefoot Barbecue may have been the worst barbecue I have ever had.  It was so bad, it even made Dickey's and Spring Creek seem like good barbecue joints.  There are some wonderful restaurants in the Seaside area, but this is not one of them.

Barefoot BBQ
https://www.facebook.com/barefootbbq
Livin the Good Life Rating = 1

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