Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Restaurants Shrimp Testing

SeaD Consulting has been randomly testing Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Restaurants to determine whether they are serving Gulf shrimp. Below are the test results for the restaurantsfound to be serving Gulf shrimp.

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One thing to know is they do not share the restaurants that failed the DNA shrimp testing. Those results are sent to local law enforcement to investigate if the mislabeling is at a restaurant level or supplier level.

Shrimp DNA Testing was also done at the 2025 Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores to make sure vendors were serving Gulf shrimp.

We will update this post as we receive news releases from SeaD Consulting Testing.

October 2025 Shrimp Testing Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Restaurants

Fifty percent of restaurants from SeaD's initial March 2025 Gulf Shores testing were randomly selected for follow-up. Of the 22 restaurants retested in October 2025, findings show that:

• 10 out of 22 were serving imports (46%) vs 19 out of 44 (43%) previously tested in March 2025.

• 3 restaurants that previously served authentic American wild-caught shrimp are now serving non-domestic shrimp. The findings will be shared with the Alabama Department of Health.
• 2 restaurants that had previously been identified as serving non-domestic shrimp are now verified to be serving wild-caught domestic shrimp. As those new restaurants have multiple locations, the switch to domestic is significant economically.

Restaurants in the Sample Found to Be Authentically Serving Wild-Caught American Shrimp (as of October 12-14, 2025 Retesting)

1. Acme Oyster House- 216 E 24th Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
2. Blalock Seafood - 1911 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
3. De Soto's Seafood Kitchen - 138 W 1st Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
4. Fish River Grill #3 - 1545 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
5. Fresh Market Seafood - 15849 AL-180, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
6. Gulf Bowl & Captain's Choice - 2881 S Juniper St, Foley, AL 36535
7. Lartigue Seafood - 23043 Perdido Beach Blvd, Gulf Shores, AL 36561
8. Lulu's Gulf Shores - 200 E 25th Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
9. Moe's Original BBQ - 25603 Perdido Beach Blvd, Orange Beach, AL 36561
10. Picnic Beach Bar & Grill - 128 E 1st Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
11. Shrimp Basket - 301 AL-59, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
12. Tacky Jack's - 240 E 24th Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542

April 2025 Shrimp Testing Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Restaurants

From March 23-27, 2025, SEAD Consulting, commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), conducted genetic analyses on shrimp dishes from 44 Gulf Shores & Orange Beach area restaurants.

- 25 out of 44 establishments (57%) served authentic Gulf wild-caught shrimp.

- The remaining 19 restaurants (43%) offered imported, farm-raised shrimp while implying or claiming they were locally sourced.

-All seven "boil houses" a type of restaurant where customers select raw seafood from a display to be cooked, were found to be authentically serving wild-caught Gulf shrimp.

The following 25 Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Foley restaurants, including 7 boil houses, were found to be serving authentic Gulf wild-caught shrimp: 

1. Acme Oyster House , 216 E 24th Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
2. Baumhower's Victory Grille , 2601 S McKenzie St Suite 308, Foley, AL 36535   
3. Beach House Kitchen & Cocktails , 1154 W Beach Blvd, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
4. Blalock Seafood & Specialty Market, 1911 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542   
5. Bubba's Seafood House , 24621 Perdido Beach Blvd, Orange Beach, AL 36561
6. Cotton's Restaurant , 26009 Perdido Beach Blvd, Orange Beach, AL 36561 
7. Coastal Orange Beach , 25722 Perdido Beach Blvd, Orange Beach, AL 36561
8. De Soto's Seafood Kitchen , 138 W 1st Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
9. Doc's Seafood Shack & Oyster Bar , 26029 Canal Rd, Orange Beach, AL 36561
10. Duck's Diner , 4560 Easy St, Orange Beach, AL 36561
11. Fish River Grill , 608 S McKenzie St, Foley, AL 36535 
12. Flying Harpoon , 112 Windmill Ridge Rd, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 
13. Foley Fish Company , 321 S McKenzie St, Foley, AL 36530 
14. Fresh Seafood Market , 921 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 
15. Gelato Joe's Italian Restaurant & Bar , 202 E Michigan Ave A, Foley, AL 36535 
16. Gulf Bowl & Captain's Choice , 2881 S Juniper St, Foley, AL 36535
17. Gulf Shores Seafood , 921 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 
18. King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant , 1137 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 (closed)
19. Lartigue's Fresh & Steamed Seafood , 23043 Perdido Beach Blvd, Orange Beach, AL 36561 
20. Local and Company Food+Drink, 812 N McKenzie St, Foley, AL 36535 
21. LuLu's Gulf Shores , 200 E 25th Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 
22. Moe's Original BBQ , 20733 Miflin Rd, Foley, AL 36535 
23. Picnic Beach Bar & Grill , 128 E 1st Ave, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 
24. Rouses Market, 1545 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542 
25. S & S Seafood Market , 1154 W Beach Blvd, Gulf Shores, AL 36542

The 19 restaurants found to be misrepresenting their shrimp offerings received notifications from SEAD Consulting and the SSA, urging them to align their practices with Alabama's labeling laws. Follow-up testing is planned to monitor compliance.

Alabama's Seafood Labeling Law

In May 2024, Alabama enacted the Seafood Labeling Law, mandating that restaurants and retailers disclose the country of origin and whether seafood is wild-caught or farm-raised.

HB66 ENROLLED, went into effect October 1, 2024. It states:

1. Seafood Product Labeling: The act mandates that food service establishments must notify consumers about the country of origin or importation status of seafood products offered for sale.  It also requires differentiation between farm-raised and wild fish and shrimp.
2. Consumer Rights: The act emphasizes the consumer's right to know the origin of the seafood they are consuming, with specific requirements for how this information should be displayed in food service establishments.
3. Regulatory Compliance: The act outlines the responsibilities of the Alabama Department of Public Health in enforcing these requirements, including the investigation of complaints and the imposition of civil penalties for non-compliance.
4. Exemptions: The act specifies certain exemptions, such as hospitals and groups of 10 or more people who preorder their food items, from these labeling requirements.
5. Penalties for Violations: The act details a graduated scale of civil penalties for food service establishments that violate the labeling requirements, ranging from written warnings to fines up to $1,000 for repeated offenses.

The Alabama Department of Public Health is tasked with enforcing this law.

About SEAD Consulting

SEAD (Seafood Development) Consulting works with diverse stakeholders - seafood producers, academia, governmental agencies, and environmental organizations - to foster innovation and sustainability throughout the sector, bridging commercial fishery science with testing and processing technologies to combat seafood mislabeling and substitution fraud.