The Pelican Reef Restaurant — Restaurant in Dauphin Island

So, me and my girlfriend drive an hour to go eat crab legs for her birthday dinner...well we get there, and the first thing we hear is "hi, we are sorry, we are all out of crab legs." yeah it was like 7:15pm when we got there! What a joke! How can you be out of your main menu item at 7:15pm on a day that there is supposed to be an all you can eat special??? This is only the beginning unfortunately...So we look over the "buffet" if that's what you want to call it, there were like 5 things to choose from. Not kidding. PLUS, the waitress sat us down and said "so there will be no more food brought out to the buffet for the rest of the night. What's out there now, is all that there is." Are you serious right now? So, get ready for this, my girlfriend goes to the bathroom and I ask the waitress if they do any kind of birthday thing for people... like a drink or something. And she said "of course we do! We give out a piece of our birthday pie!" I said "wonderful" and then she said (that's right, you guessed it) "But I'm sorry, we are all out." I couldn't believe it...I still cant. So, me not expecting much from this place at all anymore, I get up and cautiously walk up to the buffet. Let me tell you, the food had been sitting in the dish for HOURS!! It had to have been! Listen, I go to get shrimp, and it turns into goo when I pick it up! Then the next one, and the next. Don't ask me why, but I tried it just to see if I was crazy...YUCK!!! I've never actually had to spit food out of my mouth and back on to my plate before. It tasted like chlorine!! I apologized over and over to my girlfriend for how embarrassing this hole was. We must have heard "WE'RE SORRY!" like 70 times while we were there. I'm dead serious. It's all they could say. So I get up to try the crawfish for some reason, and sure enough, goo!! You can tell that they were all dead before they were even cooked! Fell apart as soon as I picked it up. So, we were not offered anything more than apology after apology. Which wasn't cool at all considering they didn't deliver on anything. They could have said " We really are sorry about everything. So much in fact, that we know you must have drove a while to be here, and its her birthday and you chose us, of all places, to bring her and the food was atrocious. So here, lets take off of your bill, or here, lets give yall a reason to come back....but nope...just sorry! So I always leave $100 as a tip for my waitress...ALWAYS!....I gave the waitress 5 bucks. Hopefully, that says something. And here's another tip: If you call yourself a restaurant, you should probably have food for people to eat. Yall might not be aware of this, so I'll help ya out. People eat food at restaurants. That's why they come there. Not to see how many times the staff can say "SORRY" and then not compensate you for any of the trouble. Not only will we not be back, but I will do all in my power to let everyone that I know not to go there! My mom recommended the "Sorry Shack" to us and she is in total shock at how bad and disgusting it was. I've never wrote a review before in my life, so this is my first. Meaning, I'm very easy to please. You can give me my water and my bread and I'm happy. So, for me to come on this review thing and write this, says a lot! Yall need to get it together! I hate that I had to leave you a star! AND another thing....Shrimp alfredo should never take 45 minutes to serve when your "restaurant" is as slow as it was. Unbelievable!!! Worst eating experience...

Tonight my party of 7 plus my Federally fully Certified, ADA Recognized, and Registered SERVICE DOG (not ESA) were denied access to the dining area inside of this restaurant. My dog was fully identified and wearing his vest and credentials. I also have all of his paperwork on my person at all times. Federal Laws and Laws governed by the State of Alabama prohibit any public business, such as hotels, stores, restaurants etc to deny me access.

As a 100% Disabled (PTSD) and ADA registered Service Dog handler, this was degrading. I was told by a waitress in the crowded dining area that "dogs aren't allowed inside, and I had to eat outside if he came in." I asked her if she was joking, because he was clearly marked/identified and by Law they are only allowed to 1) ask if it is a Service Dog and 2) what tasks the dog performs, which are both easily obtained by asking but they didn't ask or care. She even consulted who I assume was the manager who told her to send me out to the back deck (outside).

They then put two flimsy tables together outside, in 100 degree heat, on the rear deck where flies and mosquitos bit us and got in our food. Boats in the marina blew air horns while another boat slapped the dock with every wave coming in. Let me tell you, it did wonders for my PTSD and my Service Dog to be on high alert the ENTIRE TIME.

Before you tell me that I should have left, there are no other local dining options this late at night. And I have NEVER been denied access by any other restaurant in this area or anywhere else. Yes, I could have left. Yes it is a private business, but that does not allow them to discriminate against me or allow them to not accommodate my disability.

You can google search "is it legal to deny access to a service dog in alabama" and get the State and Federal Laws and statutes regarding this. I am following up with a report and discrimination complaint with the ADA for their treating me this way.

As for the food and service, my review is irrelevant because I would NEVER return or recommend anyone else support a business that would treat anyone this way. I payed 150.00 for a meal (with tip) that was served to me on a hot patio, with flies and mosquitos and boats blowing airhorns and banging against the decks. They aren't even humane enough to let someone like me dine inside with the other people. They should be ashamed...

We were there last night. Granted, it is the South. But we had to experience the White Trash Cabaret. The mother constantly smoking, which was lovely during our dinner, and ignoring her child. Listening to her prattle on, quite loudly, about her bad relationship with her mother-in-law was even more special. She was everything that epitomizes the worst of southern women.

Now, on to the restaurant itself. We are vacationing in Dauphine Island. We traveled to this restaurant based on the reviews of the restaurants from others on Google. Quite frankly, the reviews of any restaurant on Dauphine Island are about bad service, long wait times and bad food. I wish I had read them before I booked our vacation site.

The Pelican Reef's location is quite lovely. But it stops there. The hostess was confused and befuddled. The waitress was adequate at taking initial orders, but there was no follow-up after meals were delivered. Two of six meals were delivered wrong. Blackened shrimp somehow translated itself to broiled shrimp with no seasoning. Oysters miraculously turned into fried shrimp. The hamburger our daughter ordered was so over done and burned, it rendered it inedible. And as our waitress was no where to be found, corrections could not be made unless we wanted to endure the White Trash Cabaret even longer and wait while others were eating. The buffet looked disgusting when we walked by. I asked if my special needs daughter could have mac and cheese as opposed to french fries, and that accommodation was not met. When our waitress finally decided to check to see how our experience was, she refilled my mother-in-law's water with sweet tea. Speaking of sweet tea, it is the south for Pete's sake. Get it right. Ours was watered down and had no flavor. Even a Northerner can get it right.

If you decide to visit Dauphine Island, do yourself a favor and decide to go to Skinner's and get your fresh seafood and plan on cooking for the week. Better than getting sub-par food at a greatly...