Baudean's Seafood Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Fairhope

Wait staff was incredibly rude on a recent visit. I watched every table around me get drinks, place food orders, get their drinks, get their food, get refills on their drinks, get checks, pay checks, etc.... All the while I couldn't even get the wait staff to look at my table. I went 45 minutes between visits from my waitress. I expressed my concerns to her and asked if she could stop by more frequently. Her response was to send her manager over. I told the manager the same thing, and her response was to hand me my tab and told me to pay at the front kiosk. I had been here a couple of times before, always very polite, and always tipped very generously. I'm not overly demanding, I don't ask for special treatment, I don't customize my orders, everything is straight off the menu, and I don't think it's unreasonable to be asked to be treated as well as everyone else. But, I'm not a local, so I guess equality was too much to ask. It is Alabama after all.

When I arrived at this restaurant the parking lot had three other vehicles in it. Inside there were two other tables with people at them. Shortly after I arrived there was a flood of people coming through the doors. The wait staff proceeded to seat every single table in the restaurant even though they knew they didn't have enough staff to handle all of those tables at once. That they were 'slammed' with too many tables was a problem of their own making. They really need to learn how to stagger and delay the seating of tables to level they can handle.

Oh, and this is more of a general comment on how poor customer service handles adversity; if someone states a fact, like "it's been over 45 minutes since my waitress last stopped by." The wrong response is, "I'm sorry you feel that way...[insert plethora of excuses and a defensive attitude here]" 45 minutes isn't a 'feeling', it's a fact. Clocks don't care about my feelings. A response that more directly addresses the concern would be much more appropriate. Something like, "OK, I understand 45 minutes between visits is not good. We can do better. Can I get you anything else right now, otherwise I will personally stop by in 10 minutes to make sure you're taken care of." Baudean's, I hope you're reading this.

Also, the moment someone says, "I can't find enough employees [blah, blah, blah]" my BS-detector immediately goes off. I don't know of any employers who pay well and have trouble finding help. "Pay well" isn't a specific dollar figure. It's a value that's relative to the market. Don't give me that BS about not being able to find help. Pay your employees well, raise prices if you have to, and the customers will still be there and be happier because they're well taken care of. I don't know anyone who goes out to eat, looks at the menu, and notices a difference of $0.50. None. Pay your employees well you...

Ok, now all you wanna be food critics, listen up: this is a place that is laid back. Not a fast paced area, nor is this restaurant. If you want authentic, enjoyable local people serving you, come here. Yep, there's no young gentleman or lady all dressed up to greet you and seat you. There's the friendly barmaid to your right that will get to you after she's finished mixing a drink or two. Don't get uptight if she just waives you to an area to be seated, she's simply busy, not rude. Know the difference... Once you are seated, once again, if you want to complain about tables or service, you might as well go on up to Mobile and eat somewhere else. They are great people, but sometimes they do get busy and the tables will be wiped down when they can get there. Otherwise, I suggest you take care of this minor issue yourself. Seriously, this isn't a big deal. If you aren't from the area, you are on vacation and my bet is the place you are staying at is probably looking worse. Ok, so the ladies who served us were awesome. Our main server made us feel as a part of her family. Took care of us like she would be taking care of her 3 kids. Attentive to us and our needs. Took time to show us a few pointers to my son on how to eat snow crab and showed us what "southern hospitality" is all about. Love her lots. Great service and a great story to boot. Food. Um, yeah. This is the 2nd time in three years I and my family have eaten here. Shrimp, crab, gumbo, gator tail, deserts, crawfish tail, all excellent. You want to go to RJ Gator's and eat gator tail, fine. This is way better. Suggest the grilled gator tail app. You won't be disappointed. I did the "shrimp lovers" platter. Had just the right amount of food not to feel stuffed, but was totally satisfied when I was finished. Catfish was excellent. Stuffed soft shell crab-excellent. Do I need to say more? Cost. Pretty average for any seafood restaurant in the area. Not too high, nor a cheap joint. Just right. Final thought. Love this place like you love your momma and it will love you right back. These people are authentic, people who know their regulars and love them, but love the vacationers when they drop in. Go...

Stopped here on the way back to MS from Dauphin Island. There's not much in the way of food options once it gets past 8pm especially during the week. This is a little seafood restaurant with good food and pleasant staff. Arrived about an hour before they closed, and while the main area wasn't full, they had a large party in the separate dinning room. Service was initially slow, understandably, and we sat at the bar and had drinks while we waited to take our order. Several of the items are market price so be aware and ask(more on that later). We ordered crab claw app, 1/2dz raw oysters and split what was initially a steamed seafood platter with 1lb ea crab/reds/shrimp but they were out of reds and we just got shrimp and crab legs. Again there was a large group when we showed up so things were a little slow to arrive. The claws were good, we ordered the spicy sauteed ones, but they were not spicy at all. Oysters were excellent, sweet and salty if not a little on the small side. The crab and shrimp were fresh, very large head on shrimp and large snow crab clusters. They were slightly over cooked, but nothing horrible. The food was all fresh and well prepared for the most part, my only complaint was the pricing and lack of notification. We saw it was market price for our entree and appetizer and asked for the price of the entree. It was reasonable for what they offered and we ordered to split. Should have asked about the crab claws, cause oh lawd talk about sticker shock. Did not realize 1/2lbs of blue crab claws was gonna run me $30+. The entree was $40 for 2lbs of seafood, $30 for 1/2lb didn't add up in my head. Again make sure you ask first. The servers were friendly, we talked and joked the whole time, but no heads up on the $30 app?! I'm not too upset, and would go again, but I'll be sure to...