Wentzell's Oyster House

I remember when there was only one Wentzell's in Mobile, AL. It was downtown and I heard great things about it. Then, they decided to put one in the west side of town, on Airport Blvd, across from Providence Hospital. I have fond memories eating there every now and then when visiting Mobile and as a student at the University of Mobile. I had the chance to eat at the Airport Wentzell's once again a couple of weeks ago, 8/24/13. I drove down there with my brother, to help him move in, as he just got hired to a teaching position in Mobile. My one day there we ate at that Wentzell's for old time's sake. So, Wentzell's is a seafood restaurant. It serves all sorts of local Gulf seafood in a variety of ways. Here is what we had.

We started with a dozen raw, fresh shucked oysters. The oyster's were good and of good quality. The thing about oysters is that their flavor can change from day to day, and even hour to hour, depending on the water they are located in. Sometimes they can be salty. Sometimes they are sweeter. These were a little bit on the sweet side and were perfect as is or with a little hot sauce or horseradish. I was so happy to have some fresh oysters, as I can't get them of this quality in Michigan.

On of my favorite dishes of all time is the Gulf Coast specialty seafood gumbo. Once again it was nice to have a real, good, seafood gumbo. The shrimp were perfectly cooked as was the crab. The base was super flavorful and the rice was perfectly cooked. The veggies were also well done. I couldn't have been much happier diving into that cup.

Here is my basket of fried shrimp. The shrimp were perfectly fried and avoided being over cooked. I squirted a little cocktail sauce of ketchup and horseradish on to the basket to dip the shrimp in. Once again I was incredibly happy to have fresh fried shrimp along the Gulf Coast. There is simply nothing like it in the world. The batter coated the shrimp nicely and was very flavorful. Close to a perfect basket of fried shrimp. The hush puppies were good as well, but seemed like there were left in the fryer just a touch too long. The fries were cooked well, but were plain, salted, fries. The coleslaw was good, standard slaw in the tater sauce was pretty good too.

My brother, Brent, chose the shrimp po' boy. It was a bun loaded with fried shrimp, some pickle, tomato, onion, and cheese. Once again the shrimp was fried well with a good batter. The bun was buttered and grilled so it held everything without breaking down as well as adding flavor. It was a really good po' boy.

It was a fairly simple meal of good, quality seafood. And that is the key, the seafood. It was also a great meal because I got to spend it with my brother, who I won't be seeing for a while. I do have to note that there are now many Wentzell's as they have been franchising out, but from what I have heard the first two, downtown and Airport, are still the best ones. If you are ever in Mobile, AL I highly recommend eating at Wentzell's Oyster House.