UP BAR!
UP BAR!
(the sounds you will likely hear when you are "Upstairs at Bud & Alleys" - It's the "Down Bar" calling the "Up Bar" to tell them they need something from upstairs!)
This review is for the UP BAR - otherwise known as the Bud & Alley's Waterfront Bar, the Tarpon Club, and, most recently, The Roof Deck Bar. Â Call it what you wanna call it - I call it damn good beach fun, and a trip to Seaside is NOT a trip to Seaside without a few stops at the bar that occupies the space above Bud & Alley's restaurant. Â
Being the single waterfront bar on 30A for many years (until that Disney-esque place came on the scene in 2000), this was the PLACE TO BE. Â It still IS the place to be in my mind. Â There is nothing as wonderful as enjoying a post-dinner cocktail concocted by Moe, my favorite beach bartender (i have followed Moe all around Santa Rosa Island for many years!)
You can enjoy those same cocktails in the middle of the day when you need a respite from the hot sun AND add some snacks to go with it. Â A few of my faves (this menu makes a perfect afternoon meal for three or four people. Â I can attest to the portions!):
Smoked Tuna Dip (a staple not to be missed - creamy and yummy) Â with Lavosh ($15)
Sweet Potato fries w mustard dipping sauce ($8)
Hummus with Nan ($9)
If you want something a little lighter, try one of the salads - I like the Nicoise ($16) and the Caesar ($10) and I like to add a crabcake to that - you can also add shrimp or chicken for a small up charge.
For sandwiches, the Grilled Chicken Portobello Melt is my favorite - that will run ya about $14. Â They have lots of other selections, if you have picky eaters in your crowd, and they have an ample and inexpensive kid's menu too.
In the summer, this place is definitely teeming with the who's who of Birmingham, Nash, Atlanta and points west - so wear your pretties. Â Great for people watching. Â If you're feeling lucky, try your hand at the old steam roller bell game: Â Every day, the bell is rung to celebrate another gorgeous sunset (the sunsets on the gulf are breathtaking) - if you can guess the time of the sunset (all the names and times are posted on a chalkboard) you get a mouth watering prize :)
Aside from the food being great, the atmosphere is spectacular - laid back beach bar, great bartenders, cool breezes and pretty near perfect scenery! It doesn't get much better than this!
CHEERS!
Had a great bowl of a seafood gumbo, Â flavorful, hardy, full of good stuff. Then ordered the catch of the day. Â A simply prepared, few capers, broiled whole flounder cooked perfect. Couple of tasty scotches, Â hey I call that a great meal, Â and the service was attentive from the greeting to server to the "thanks come back". Â And of course I will return.
Review Source:Great evening! Had the perfect table by the window overlooking the ocean.. Service was spot on. Food was delicious!! Poached beet salad was the best non-traditional salad I've ever eaten. Diver scallops with grits were excellent and the grouper with butter beans was perfect! Would definitely eat here again.
Review Source:My boss recommended this place and I am so glad he did. I have to say that parking in this area was a nightmare (maybe because of a holiday weekend?). The food more than made up for it though! Jodi was our server and she seemed a little awkward, but she was very nice and remembered things we asked for. I ordered the salmon, which was the best salmon I've ever had, hands down. I sampled my friend's chicken salad sandwich and it was very good too. I would absolutely go back! I am going to recommend this place to my coworker when he goes down next month.
I've heard this place is great for watching the sun set, which I regret not doing. The day time beach view from the downstairs outside area was pretty awesome though.
Went to Bud & Alley's twice this week- Â this review is for the upstairs bar only. Â We did not eat at the downstairs restaurant. Â The bar upstairs is the perfect spot to start your vacation along 30-A. Â We went for lunch and cocktails one day and then to watch the sunset on another day. Â With tall bar top tables overlooking the most gorgeous beach in the US, we were able to watch dolphins swim and jump as well as watch the helicopters from the neighboring air force base fly by. Â The atmosphere is very casual & laid back. Â For lunch we had the sweet potato fries, which were tempora battered and fried. Â We also had the BBQ Shrimp- head and tail attached, but otherwise peeled, served in a white wine butter sauce with Andouille sausage. Both the shrimp and sausage were very tender and light. Â
Watching the sunset at Bud & Alley's is a must for any trip to 30-A. Â But get there early- it fills up fast. Â We got a great table around 5pm, and had some cocktails and the smoked tuna dip (YUM!). Â Tuna dip was served with thin white crackers- I asked for celery instead of the crackers but was denied. Â You can write your sunset guesstimate on a chalkboard for the chance to win a drink. Â The sunset did not disappoint!
Can't wait to return next year!
The pizza bar is terrible. Â Though it seemed to be a popular place, the pizza was soggy, tasteless; the onions and shallots have no flavor, the cheese was very little clumps and the sauce was bland at best. Â The prices were high for this terrible food with seltzer water at $3.50. Â Worst experience in area.
Review Source:This was truly a subpar effort. Very lackluster service, friendly but inefficient, and a long wait despite a reservation. The menu was uninspired. Whole fish and "simple" grilled grouper (apparently meaning bland, tasteless and undercooked), crab cakes and a selection of chicken and steaks, and that's all they can come up with? We had a big group of 12, total bill was $478. For that I expected much more. This is a case of a restaurant truly resting on its laurels. We come here every year, but we will be trying other good restaurants in the area now. Definitely NOT worth it.
On the bright side, the view and ambience at the upstairs bar is pretty great!
We were able to easily get an ocean view table at 6:30 on a Tuesday evening in the porch area. The service was prompt and the bus staff moved very quickly removing plates and filling water glasses. The waitress explained that the restaurant would not debone the fish of the day upon my request. Â My romaine salad, the bread basket, and my mother's salmon were all delicious. Despite the prompt service, delicious dinner, and ocean view, I am dinging Bud & Alley's for price (everything is a la carte and all in about $5 too expensive per meal) and the bizarre interaction with the waitress. For a $30 plus entree, the chef can debone my fish.
Review Source:I have eaten at Bud and Alley's(dining room) before and thoroughly enjoyed my food and drinks. Â This time, everything was completely different. Â Our waiter was odd. He never introduced himself. He never asked what we wanted to drink. It took forever for him to bring our drinks to us once we asked for them. Â He wasn't personal. Never gave us the specials until we asked. Â And on top of all of that , the food was blah. One of the girls had the fried crab claws and they were tough. Â Another had the grouper and the meat was more like a swordfish steak than a mild, flaky grouper. The shrimp dish was overcooked and tough, but the one saving grace was the chicken dish that I ordered. It was quite delicious and I was able to share it with my friends at dinner. Â
Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant because our entire experience was pretty terrible.
Sandestin, Water Color, Santa Rosa Beach, why go to the Cayman's, Barbados, why go to Nassau! These treasures have a miss mosh of terrific restaurants, But the upstairs Bar at Bud and Alley's, tops them all, and not just in ambiance alone.
However, I did have vast discrepancies in my two martini's that I ordered, as the first was a proper one and a half ounce measure served in a two ounce glass and the other was a one ounce measure, a one ounce measure just doesn't look appealing, even with the olives, you look short changed. So there were apparently two different bartenders who made my drinks.
Our server was great, she was patent with us and our food came out quickly. Our order of appetizers only was also very good. The tuna dip was very tasty and the BBQ shrimp was also very good.
The ambiance, well your on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, your surrounded by some interesting talent and your outdoors. Gee, that's a tough call for me!
Like I said my only disappointment was the martini measure, am I wrong about that?
Bud & Alley's Pizza Bar:
Of the pizza places on 30a, Pizza Bar probably comes closest to an authentic, crispy thin crust, Neapolitan-style pizza. It's pretty good pizza, and the menu options are interesting and unique. The beer selection is good too, with several Italian beers available.
I'd give them 3.5 stars on food alone.
Unfortunately, we've been 4 or 5 times this year and the service has been very poor every time. In fact, at times it's almost as if they intend Pizza Bar to come off as one of those silly restaurants where the waitstaff is purposefully short and inattentive with patrons. Of course, Â I am pretty sure it's unintentional in this case. They just act as if they'd rather be somewhere else, and it reflects poorly on the quality of the restaurant.
As a new local, I really wish they improved this part of the restaurant, as it would definitely make for a better experience, even if their primary audience is tourists that may not return again anyway.
This place is all about the view! Â We went here Saturday (roof top bar) for lunch and stayed for hours sipping on cold beers and enjoying the view. Â The food was good (BBQ shrimp and smoked tuna dip) but not particularly memorable. Â Very laid back and casual. Â Staff was nice enough but extremely knowledgeable. Â On food and drinks only this place would be two stars but it's all about the view.
However, if I'm ever back in Seaside this would be my first and probably also my last stop.
I agree with some other reviewers that Bud & Alley's has seen better days. The food is mediocre at best, though on this visit we had great service. I've been coming here for almost 20 years and it's simply not worth the money these days. For a meal that costs in the neighborhood of $100/person, I expect more. It's simply "meh" in every aspect but the view.
Review Source:While I have to agree with some of the too pricey comments, I am certainly still a Bud and Alley's fan. Â It always helps that I am generally in a good mood anyway just because eating here means I'm back at Seaside.
On this visit, I had the whole roasted fish (Pompano) and it was just awesome. Â Split, stuffed with thyme and lemon slices, well seasoned and roasted to moist perfection. Â The service was professional and precise and the atmosphere was quite conducive to a nice anniversary trip dinner.
Really disappointed. Â NOT worth the money! Â Had tuna which was cooked fine but was swimming in salty soy, everything but the tuna was inedible. Â The black grouper was ok, overcooked as the rice was overcooked. Â Unimpressed.
Overall, really a poor showing and I think it is way-way overpriced for the caliber of food being produced.
We will never go back. Â I suggest you look elsewhere unless you are looking for weak food and over inflated prices.
Bud and Alley's is kind of a bucket list place to hit. We knew that going in, and the three stars is representative. Pretty decent food. Definitely doesn't offer bang for the buck, as food was priced on par with other restaurants in the area but delivers a B grade. Spirits selections are also somewhat lacking; a lot of focus on fruity/sweet drinks and our server was not overly trained on other spirits options.
Rooftop bar is a fun diversion and the view and ocean sounds help elevate this to a place you should go, but the prices and lack of overall comparative polish keep this from being a place we would consider for multiple repeats.
Would I recommend this for visiting friends? Yep. Would we hit it up over a long weekend? Probably not. Location is a huge plus, and with a few small tweaks, it could turn that around.
Happened upon this place during a day trip to Seaside. Â Beautiful view and ambiance. Â The service was excellent, we arrived around 6PM so the not too busy. Â
For starters, I went with the Italian salad, avocado, fava beans, egg and house dressing. Â Very light, refreshing salad.
For Dinner, I went with the Pepper crusted #1 Tuna, nicely spiced, generous portion, pan-seared, quality ahi. Â I sampled the oven roasted wild salmon, the dish was excellent. Â Salmon cooked to perfection, nice blood orange-ginger butter sauce. I would definitely recommend this dish!
For dessert, we went with the wild berries crumb cobbler, very good. Â
All in all, a nice dining experience.
BEAUTIFUL view from the patio of this second story establishment. Â The food was mostly fish and sandwiches. Â I was kinda disappointed that they didn't serve fries, but that doesn't take away from my experience (I spent all week at nice restaurants and I kinda just wanted a sandwich and fries for lunch that day). Â Lots of cool stuff to do with in walking distance of this restaurant.
Review Source:What a beautiful view from the outdoor patio of the sunset! If this place hadn't been full of yuppies and the typical high school spring-breaker (ugh), I would have returned. I loved the pain killer - some kind of coconut concoction and the oysters on the half shell - OMG!
What did spoil the mood though was the clientele. Uppity richy-rich older people and then young immature too-tanned high schoolers taking shots at the bar. I'm more of a "I don't wear my fancy heels to a neighborhood bar" kind of girl. Â
Keep it real, folks. It's a bar, not a five-star white tablecloth type experience.
o  O
 __
7 word review: SWEET location, good drinks & desserts. ;)
Located right on 30-A in Seaside across the street from the ampitheater.
Sweet views of the gulf!
For dinner we had the red snapper with rice and haricot verts and for dessert we split a slice of key lime pie. The snapper was overcooked and dry and the rice and sides were nothing special. But you don't come here for the food, you come here for the ambiance and spectacular views of the gulf.
Their drinks were good and the key lime was delicious - as long as you like your pie a little on the tart side.
PS
Get reservations!
Good food- I enjoyed the scallops. Â But they did not plan for enough servers to accommodate the crowds during the Songwriter's Festival. Â The guy providing most of the service to the people in the tent was clearly stressed out and tended to bark at the customers. Â When you pay $30 for an entree, you expect decent service from a pleasant server.
Now about the Pizza Bar which seems not to have a separate listing in Yelp although they have a separate space in the Bud and Alley's complex, bland and uninspiring.  You expect a trendy looking place like this to offer an authentic take of some sort- nice blistered Neapolitan or a spicy thin new york style .  Or possibly something completely unique and appealing like mesquite smoked chicken and peppers. The Margarita was nothing to write home about and the seafood pizza  just didn't  work.  Here we have a bland crust with a bland red sauce. Very disappointing.
This restaurant has seen better days. Neither the food, nor the ambiance nor the service were on par with the prices.
We arrived a few minutes early for our reservation and were showed out to the outdoor pavilion. Wrapped in plastic sheeting that left the place entirely too cold and drafty, the crackling sounds as the sheeting wafted in the gulf breeze was a perfect accompaniment for the plastic chairs and tables. (It took a folded napkin under one leg and a coaster under the other to stop our table from rocking.)
Service was very slow and overly casual. Our server knew absolutely nothing about the wine, and instructed us to order by the number. All this could be forgiven if the food had been outstanding, but alas, it rounded out the trifecta of mediocre. My seared ahi tuna appetizer was overseared, rubbery and not very fresh. My husband had roasted oysters that were utterly drowning in their greasy breading. My grilled grouper was fresh but overcooked and paired with a very pedestrian white rice and haricot verts. The one bright spot was my husband's whole snapper, which was fresh and correctly prepared.
Everything about our dining experience was a disappointment -- not the least of which, the $190 bill. We visit Seaside regularly and will not be returning to Bud & Alley's until they are under new management.
I love this bar for enjoying an afternoon glass of wine while watching the ocean, any time of the year. Â It really is an incredible view and worth it. Â The wine list is extensive and always has a great selection of white wines that are perfect for sitting by the ocean. Â I adore the atmosphere here and will return every time I'm in FL just to enjoy a great glass of wine by the ocean.
The food here is okay, yet pricey. Â I wouldn't write home about our shrimp po' boy or sweet potato fries, especially when considering the price of both ($13 for the po' boy, $8 for the fries - and these are the lunch prices!). Â Both were fine and hit the spot, but they weren't the best I've ever had by any means. Â We agreed that next time, we'll hit up one of the food carts across the street for a snack and then head here for drinks.
Definitely skip peak lunch and dinner times, especially during summer, as this is one of those bars where kids run rampant during lunch.
The appeal of this restaurant is the proximity to the beach. You can literally walk straight from the sand to sitting on the patio overlooking the water. Aside from the convenience and outside dining atmosphere, I don't really find a ton of redeeming qualities.
The food was perfectly fine, however it is too expensive for what it was. The service was also extremely slow and it took way to long for our drinks to be served. The restaurant is more of a "scene" than a place to dine; subsequently I'll opt for one of the other restaurants in the area next time.
Sometimes all the hype just doesn't add up.
This is definitely the case with Bud and Alley's.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the location, layout, and new deck area as the space is quite fantastic.
However everything else is just... meh. Nothing totally distracting or offensive but certainly nothing to write home about or to warrant another visit during my stay here in Seaside. The crowd on Thursday night really wasn't my bag either.
A highlight of my visit was actually the side of Portabello mushrooms ($5) that had the same flavors and similar texture to finely sliced peppery steak.
The Pita and Chickpea Hummus appetizer ($8) was also quite scrumptious.
Care to imbibe with frothy martinis? The Key Lime Martini is a nice refreshing adult beverage to add to your evening. For $11 you get a glass concoction of Bacardi Key Lime Rum, sour, fresh lime juice, and a hint of cream. This is not the key lime pie that your mom made while you were growing up!
This was my first visit to Bud & Alley's....and I can definitely say that it was the first of MANY to come. I loved this place. The upstairs bar/patio wasn't open yet when I went there for lunch (was a little rainy out), but the view from the inside was still gorgeous! The dining room has huge windows on all sides, offering a expansive view of the gulf.
The staff was very friendly, and the food phenomenal! I had the crawfish linguini, and my boyfriend had the shrimp po' boy sandwich...and both were fantastic.
My boyfriend has been there many times and says it's his favorite place to eat, especially when he can sit upstairs. I'm so glad he introduced me to Bud & Alley's and I can't wait to return to Seaside to eat there again! Next time I'll be sure to go when I can sit outside on the rooftop patio upstairs and take in the sound, sight and smell of the gulf as I dine. Can't wait!
The bar upstairs is a fantastic place to watch the sunset, although the drinks are over the top expensive. Peel and eat shrimp and the sweet potato fries are great, but as I said, nothing is cheap. The drinks and food are 3 stars, but the view and atmosphere are 5 stars.
The restaurant downstairs is good. When the wife and I ate there, we had a fantastic meal, and the homemade Key Lime pie was the best I'd ever had. The next time, the pie wasn't as good, but it was still better than most. I'd probably rather go to Cafe Thirty-A than Bud and Alley's downstairs, but it's more about price than anything. At Bud and Alley's, you sort of feel like you're a tourist, paying a lot of money for decent, but not five-star food.
If you're staying in Seaside and on foot, by all means, try Bud and Alley's (or even The Great Southern Cafe across the street), but know that B&A's is not cheap.
This place used to be really yummy...unfortunately the only thing I go there for is the sweet potato fries...the best ever!!
I also used to go for the marinated crab claws....they are no longer though, replaced with the fried version...an injustice to the shellfish of the world!!!
The tuna dip is tasty as well...I like it best of all the ones in nearby establishments.
Upstairs is the place to be, especially at sundown...I have been to many countries and beaches and the view of the crystal white fine sand and the emerald green beauty of the sea here is unparalleled anywhere!!
We got here at 5 minutes after 3. Â They stop serving lunch at 3 and don't serve dinner till 5 so we got the little bar menu of tapas and sat out on the upstairs deck. Â The view was amazing. Â The service was barely adequate. Â The food was pretty descent and the drinks were run of the mill (certainly nothing special enough to justify $10 a pop).
It's hard to leave a place feeling satisfied during normal happy hour menus when you had one drink a few snacks and dropped over $70 with tip. Â This place is okay and I can see why the hype is there. Â Maybe the prices are par for the course in this town and I could see that, everything is pretty pricey.
We had lunch here on the upper deck outside near the bar. Â First off, it was pretty gross up there - dead bugs everywhere and it wasn't that clean. Â They need to get on that. Â But the al fresco dining and the view made up for it!
I ordered the Cuban sandwich. Â When it arrived, I discovered it wasn't really a Cuban sandwich - it was actually a Cuban-style panino. Â Everything was the same as a standard Cuban except for the bread (which is critical!) - it was basically a thin baguette that was grilled on a panini press instead of regular Cuban bread. Â Despite the minor misrepresentation and lack of authenticity, I have to admit that it was a really tasty sandwich! Â It was a little too greasy, but otherwise quite good. Â The salad that came with it was pretty decent, but very simple. Â I also tried the fish (grouper?) sandwich and it was one of the better ones I've tried in the area. Â
I thought the prices were a little steep for lunch, but I didn't really mind with the outdoor dining and the view. Â I would suggest lunch over dinner here as the dinner prices seem way over the top even with the typical beach markup factored in. Â $36 crab cakes? Â $32 chicken linguini? Â Really??? Â
Anyway, I'd recommend this place for lunch on the deck or maybe pricey evening drinks but nothing more.
3
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