Blalock Seafood & Specialty Market is on Gulf Shores Parkway — Highway 59 — in Gulf Shores, not Orange Beach, despite how our listing is filed. That’s a drive up 59 from the Orange Beach condos and a longer haul from Perdido Key, which is worth knowing before you plan dinner around it. It’s a locally owned market that has served Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Foley for more than a decade, and it’s the kind of place people go when they want to cook the seafood rather than pay a restaurant to.
What you get
Fresh Gulf shrimp is the anchor, with fish and crab legs alongside. The “specialty” half of the name is the shelves of gourmet seasonings, dry rubs, and cheeses, plus house-prepared dips — the smoked tuna dip and a shrimp bisque — and frozen hush puppies for rounding out a fish fry. If you’re renting a condo with a kitchen, this is a one-stop for a boil or a grill night, and the seasonings are the souvenir that actually gets used after you’re home.
Good to know
Two services make it worth the drive. They’ll steam your order, so a low-effort dinner is a pound of steamed shrimp eaten on the balcony with a roll of paper towels. And they pack and seal seafood for travel, which is how a cooler of Gulf shrimp survives the ride back to Birmingham or Nashville. They’ve picked up a People’s Choice Award for best seafood market, for what that’s worth — around here that mostly means the locals shop there too.
Before you go
Bring a cooler with ice if you’re heading back to Perdido Key; it’s a hot ride. Check their site for what’s in season and current availability, since what’s on the counter follows the boats and the weather. If you’d rather stay closer to home, our shop guide lists markets on both sides of the state line, and Gulf Shores covers more of what’s up the highway.
