Perfect for our Party of Four. We did a layover in Mobile, on our way to Panama City Beach. We drove by a number of restaurants on Saturday, then later checked Urbanspoon for recommendations. We picked 3, and decided on Felix's as the parking lot wasn't too full at about 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. We were told it would be a 30-40 minute wait, but after 10 minutes, we were at our table. Just enough time to study a menu with two boys who don't necessarily like seafood.
We had a coupon for a free appetizer soup, so we ordered 1 gumbo, 1 crab soup, 1 turtle soup, and sampled each around the table. Each person was very satisfied with the choice they made, and the turtle soup was delicious! I'd never had it before, not being from the South, so I didn't even know you could make soup from turtle. Not knowing how much sherry I was supposed to add, I added only about 5-6 drops, and it was fine.
We also ordered the crawfish tails appetizer. I have two sons who will try anything once. These were a HIT at the table, and no sauce was really needed to make them taste "better". Not heavily breaded a good size portion for an appetizer.
The presentation was very interesting. 4 servers came out, one being Pete, our server. They each had our soup/appetizer and on cue, each laid down the food in front of one of us. I did not notice if this was particular to Pete's section, or if they did it for everyone.
My husband ordered the Causeway Platter, to give him a variety of things to eat. I ordered Crawfish Etouffee. Son #1 ordered the Seafood Po'boy and Son #2 ordered a Caesar Salad. He really hates shrimp. I think he's a changeling.
My Etouffee was not overly spicy, but had a taste that kept me wanting to eat more. There were a LOT of crawfish in this dish; they did not short me on meat. The Causeway Platter was loaded with food. The fish was very clean, and not overly breaded to make you feel like a big fat pig later. The fish was firm, and not mushy. The fried oysters were perfectly done, and still crispy. They did not have an over-squishy texture, which was my husband's fear. It also came with fried shrimp, which had a nice flavor (he said to tell you that). We both ordered green beans as our "side" which were just green beans. Nice, not overly flavored, just nice.
Son #1's Po'boy was "awesome" and "I never knew you could make a sammiche like this". His words. He had a generous helping of french fries, but once he started in on that Po'boy, he didn't stop to eat them. It was so full of stuff, the sandwich actually came open-faced and he ate it with a knife and fork.
Son #2's Caesar salad was good, not dripping in salad dressing, which some places do. As an after thought, Son #2 asked Pete, our server, if he could get an order of hush puppies on the side, which were promptly brought out and laid beside his salad.
Water and iced tea were promptly refilled, and extra lemon wedges were brought quickly when asked. We loved the presentation, which was repeated for our lunch entrees. Our view was LARGE - we got a table at the window. While we waited for our entrees, we searched the marsh for alligators. The pelicans were coming in to rest on the posts, too.
After we ate, we were offered dessert, and we were going to say no, but the Key Lime Pie was too tempting to pass up. I'm glad we didn't pass it up. The pie was a perfect pallate cleanser. We were even offered "to-go" cups for our drinks, which we politely refused.
All of that food (with our free gumbo) came to just $66.xx; add back the $5 and it was $71. Not bad for 4 people. We knew this was a "big" meal out (we allowed 2 in our budget), and set $100 as our limit. This far exceeded our expectations, and left us with a little extra for a good tip!
If you go, please ask for Pete's section, by the window. He was so pleasant, very attentive to our needs, and made sure if he was busy with another table, he had someone else clearing and refilling for us.
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