Try These Scrumptious, Shoes-Optional Seafood Shacks

Come as you are and dine on the day’s catch at these standout shanties
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SeafoodShack

Illustrated by Anna Simmons

 

CABBAGE KEY

Pineland, Florida

Accessible only by boat, this eighty-acre, palm-lined island is home to an irresistible 1930s open-air tavern. Enjoy peeling fresh shrimp and cracking stone crab claws as gopher tortoises mosey past. Don’t miss the views from the sixty-five-foot water tower.

 

Elivs Booth at Bluegill
Elivs Booth at Bluegill

Bluegill

BLUEGILL

Spanish Fort, Alabama

This family-friendly dive on the Mobile Bay Causeway serves up Gulf coast classics, from shrimp loaves to New Orleans–inspired flaming oysters. Try the shrimp and chicken gumbo, a favorite of one-time regular Elvis Presley (request to sit in his favorite booth!).

 

OLE BILOXI FILLIN’ STATION

Biloxi, Mississippi

Housed in a 1920s service station, this small operation orders fresh ingredients daily for its inventive dishes with bayou roots (think baked Cajun oysters in New Orleans barbecue sauce). On summer weekends, guests line up for crawfish boils.

 

City Seafood
City Seafood

City Seafood

CITY SEAFOOD 

Everglades City, Florida

Diners pack the dockside tables at this cafe and market to feast on pressure-steamed stone crab (Everglades City is the Stone Crab Capital of the World), as well as perfectly seasoned conch, frog legs, and alligator.

 

INDIAN PASS RAW BAR

Port St. Joe, Florida

A commissary until Hurricane Kate devastated it in 1985, this iconic cafe off Highway 30A is regarded as one of the best raw bars in the South. Flip-flops are welcome, drinks are self-serve on the honor system, and the oysters are never fried. indianpassrawbar.com

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