Doc's Seafood

This is no secret discovery, just an update… The food is still excellent at Doc’s Seafood Shack in Orange Beach. On my way back to the beach last week, I was hungry and thinking about the gumbo at Doc’s, and I needed a fix.

Doc’s has been a staple in the Orange Beach area for over 36 years. The gumbo recipe is only 35 years old and is still prepared daily by Beverly, the Gumbo Queen, who has been cooking it since day one. The Schwartz family owns Doc’s, named after Richard Swartz’s dad, who was a dentist.

Doc’s is a local place and always has been. You know the food’s good because the local charter boat captains eat there often. Richard is passing the torch to his sons, David and Jimmy Schwartz, and Cindy Eccleston, who has worked with him for over 30 years and is now the vice president of operations. I spoke with Doc’s Manager, Jennifer Harper Murphy, about what’s going on at Doc’s these days. She’s been there 16 years.

“We have a lot of locals that eat here all the time,” she says. “And we still have the best fried shrimp in the entire civilized nation!” Doc’s uses an old recipe for egg wash and flour batter for shrimp and oysters, but you can request cornmeal too. Jennifer says the angel hair coleslaw is her favorite side dish.  

The Super Seafood Platters are popular. You can build your own platter, or even bring your fresh caught fish to Doc’s, who will prepare it for you. All their seafood is purchased fresh from local fisheries, mostly Bon Secour Fisheries, but also from a few fisheries in Theodore and Bayou La Batre. “We are also the last home-style diner in the area,” says Jennifer. “Our Salted Caramel Bushwhackers are the best. We use a real ice cream base.”

I can attest that the food is great. It was busy at lunch as always, but service was quick and friendly. Dwayne was my server and he certainly seemed to enjoy working with the lunch crowd. In addition to gumbo, I had a fried oyster po’boy and a local craft beer on tap. I left happy.

While Doc’s caters to the locals, it will serve over 800 people daily during the high season. Jennifer says, “During a hurricane, we are the last to close and the first to open. During Covid, we were only closed for two weeks and offered take-out only for a bit. The locals always step up and support us.”  

That seems to be a common theme around the Scenic 98 Coastal area. That’s why we love it here. It's obvious why Doc's was voted as one of the "Top 10 Seafood Shacks in America". I can’t wait to go back, and I’m hungry again.