Sometimes you find yourself thinking of that old game, “one of these things is not like the others.”
When Southern Living recently presented its list of “The Best Places to Eat in Gulf Shores, Alabama,” it had a little bit of that vibe. There was a pattern, and there were some outliers. The pattern tended toward big, bright places engineered to serve tourists by the thousands: Bahama Bob’s Beachside Café, Lulu’s, the Hangout, the Original Oyster House. Perch, at Gulf State Park’s lodge, is also part of a big institution. The Sunliner Diner, while smaller and quirkier, is part of the Hangout empire.
The exceptions were Mikee’s Seafood Restaurant and DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen. I resolved to check out at least one of them while attending the recent Hangout Music Fest, since both are within in easy walking distance of the beach where the fest takes place. DeSoto’s turned out to be closed for the festival weekend, so lunch at Mikee’s it was.
Fortunately, Mikee’s revealed itself to be just what the doctor ordered for a sweaty festival refugee blinded by the sun and stunned by the sound of half a dozen stages. Which is to say, it was cool, dark and quiet.
That’s not to be taken for granted, and right off the bat it illustrates the old-school charm of a place that’s been owned and operated by the same family for more than 30 years. The modern model for a beach destination calls for the room to be as big and bright and open as possible, and that’s fine.
Mikee’s is not a small place by any stretch of the imagination, but the dining space is broken up so that things feel a little more intimate. The interior walls are decorated with old photos, paintings and memorabilia such as vintage Shrimp Fest posters. It lends a different character to the experience, one that hearkens back a couple of decades, when Alabama’s coastal communities weren’t quite as commercialized.
Note, however, that I’m not using “character” as a euphemism for “run-down.” Mikee’s may be 37 years old, but the furnishings and fixtures don’t show it. The place is shipshape.
“We opened in 1987. My brother Mike and I did. I bought him out in 2005 and he had other ventures going,” owner Eddie Spence later told me. “It’s been family owned ever since. We try to keep the nostalgia of old Gulf Shores. We still have the fish place mats. We’ve had those on our tables for 37 years or so.”
I had to laugh. Even before I placed my order, I had noticed those paper mats depicting various Gulf fish and their average weights. I don’t know if I ate at Mikee’s in my youth, but they certainly triggered a feeling that I’d seen them way back when.
I started with a cup of gumbo ($5.99), which had excellent flavor, and ordered the fried shrimp and oyster plate ($22.99) with hush puppies and potato salad on the side.
And then something crazy happened.
When the plate came out, it was heaped with fried shrimp, with big fried oysters atop those. I assumed that this was all resting atop a bed of French fries, for maximum visual effect. That’s the common practice nowadays. I take it for granted.
But that was not the case. This pile of shrimp was shrimp all the way down. The shrimp weren’t the largest, but they were bigger than popcorn shrimp and they were piping hot. So were the large oysters, which remained moist.
This might cost me my Gulf Coast man card, but I have to confess that I left a few fried shrimp behind. It’s not that I absolutely couldn’t eat them all. But I knew was going to spend the next few hours back at the fest, tromping from stage to stage in the afternoon heat, and I didn’t want to die. So drew a line in the sand, so to speak. I violated the sacred principle: Leave no shrimp behind.
$22.99 might seem just a smidge high for a lunch plate, but the value was absolutely there. And there was more to the meal than just the seafood. The hushpuppies were fine. The tartar sauce, made daily in-house, was distinctive both in its appearance – it’s studded with carrot and parsley – and in its smooth, mild flavor. The potato salad was also a standout, with a hearty flavor that clearly involved some sour cream. “It’s kind of like a twice-baked-potato potato salad,” said Spence.
Spence said that over time, he’s become a connoisseur of long-lived, family-run restaurants. It’s what he looks for when he travels. It’s what he’s proud of Mikee’s for being.
“We pride ourselves on Southern hospitality and being operated by second generation family,” he said.
His son, E.J. Spence, ran the place “wholeheartedly” for a decade up to his death in late 2022. At that point Eddie Spence’s daughter Kellie Spence, who’d worked alongside E.J., took over.
“I’ve got four grandkids, and I hope one of them will step into the shoes of my daughter,” Spence said. In the meantime, Mikee’s will stay the course. Though Mikee’s offers steaks, chicken and pasta as well, that mostly means meeting peoples’ expectations for an old-school seafood house.
“We pride ourselves on our fresh fish,” Spence said. “We all try to eat healthy, in this world. But people come to Gulf Shores and they want fried seafood.”
Mikee’s Seafood is at 205 East 2nd Ave. in Gulf Shores, just a couple of blocks from the main public beach. For the menu and other information, visit mikeesseafood.com.
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