White Cap Restaurant — Restaurant in Gulfport

Restaurant Review: White Cap Restaurant

I recently visited White Cap Restaurant, drawn in by its reputation and coastal setting, but the experience was more of a mixed bag than I expected. The location offers a picturesque view, which is easily the highlight of the visit, but the food and atmosphere left much to be desired.

Starting with the gumbo, I have to give credit where it's due. It was rich, flavorful, and easily the best thing I tried. The flavors were well-balanced, with just the right amount of spice and a nice blend of seafood and sausage. If the rest of the menu lived up to this dish, it would have been a completely different experience.

Unfortunately, the shrimp appetizer was a disappointment. It was essentially just thawed-out baby shrimp thrown into a bowl with no real effort to make them appetizing. They lacked seasoning, texture, and presentation. This seemed like a rushed, careless dish.

Moving on to the seafood platter, it was bland and uninspired. The fish, shrimp, and other seafood items tasted like they had been overcooked and under-seasoned, a far cry from the freshness and flavor you'd expect from a restaurant near the coast. Honestly, it reminded me of a lackluster meal from Red Lobster on an off day. The sides didn’t do much to elevate the plate, either, leaving the entire dish feeling flat and unmemorable.

As for dessert, the slice of key lime pie was underwhelming, both in portion size and taste. It was barely three bites, which might have been forgivable if those bites had been exceptional, but the pie was just okay—nothing that justified the portion or price.

The restaurant itself, despite the beautiful view, has an unfortunate odor that detracted from the experience. The smell was strong and unpleasant, reminiscent of sitting on a hot oyster bed at noon during low tide. It hung in the air throughout the meal and made it difficult to enjoy the food, especially when combined with the less-than-stellar dishes.

In summary, while the gumbo and the view are worth a stop, the rest of the menu falls short. There’s potential here, but unless improvements are made to the food and atmosphere, I can’t say I’d recommend White Cap Restaurant for anything beyond a quick bowl of gumbo and a glance at...

The customer service was awesome. Our Waiteress, if my memory serves me correct, her name was a french name, Jeanvenay (I probably mispronounced and mispelled her name), was AWESOME!!! Her customer service was SUPERB!!!

The atmosphere was all of that and then some. It is nice and clean and is permeated with lingering smells of oysters being steamed, zesty seasonings, gumbo being prepared, and other tatalizing, tempting smells that would incite hunger. We were seated near the windows. We had a perfect view of the Mississippi Sound/Gulf Of Mexico.

The red fish was prepared to perfection. I had it prepared medium-well. The seasoning was directly on point for me. The savory taste is one that will be indelibly forged on my taste buds forever. Oh yeah, don't let me forget the potatoes, they were prepared to perfection. Be sure to order some. I do not eat everyone's coleslaw but I did try the colewslaw and it was definitely good!

My girlfriend loved her fish which she was suprised that it was actually an ENTIRE Fish!!! Please forgive me for not remembering the name of the dish she ordered. However, I included images of both her and my dish.

Let me mention that we went to the restaurant during the week about 5:30 in the evening. There were not alot of people at the restaurant during the time we went. However, about 6:15, people started trickling in a few at a time. There was not much traffic during this time of the day at that particular end of Highway 90. We were there on a thursday.

The parking lot is pretty big with adequate parking space. A small wooden staircase with railing on opposite end precedes the entrance to the restaurant.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND dining at this...

We use to eat here everytime we came down and sometimes twice before we left. The last time it was just okay but this time it was terrible. My husband said he will take this restaurant off his list. The waitress forgot about us also. I had to ask another waitress for some tea and I had to tell the cashier where we were sitting to get our bill. The cashier apologize profusely, although I simple told her and I was not upset. (Update October 2022). My husband and I had some friends with us and they wanted to stop somewhere for a drink. It was mid to late afternoon and I knew White Cap had a bar so I stopped there. The bar stools were full so we sat at a table and ended up ordering. My husband ordered a 1/2 dozen grilled oysters, we ate one a peice and he ate 3, they were good. He ordered a roast beef po-boy for his meal, he ate all the meat, none of the bread, and only a few fries. I ordered a shrimp po-boy with fries and slaw. The fries were good, I didn't like the slaw. The shrimp was popcorn shrimp, a little over cooked but was edible. The bread was tough to eat so I didn't eat all of it, and it didn't have enough lettuce or mayo but for one bite. I ask for tarter sauce to add but I didn't like it either and the tea was average. Our friends got the jumbo shrimp plate and it looked like they enjoyed theirs. It did look good, I wish that was what I had ordered. The jumbo shrimp plate came with fries and a side. One order slaw and didn't eat all of it. The other one ordered a salad and gave it to my husband. He did eat all of that. FYI, The bar only had straight...