Drayage Brokersin Mobile, AL

Whether you like a savory breakfast with eggs and bacon or something sweeter, like pancakes or French toast or waffles, you don’t have to go far to find it in Mobile. Most coffee shops offer treats to go along with your morning Joe. And while there are plenty of chain restaurants that know how to do breakfast – from Waffle House to Cracker Barrel and from Ruby Slipper to Brick and Spoon to Maple Street Biscuit to Big Bad Breakfast – we like to keep it local whenever possible.

All summer, AL.com has been bringing you Alabama’s best foods: barbecue, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, meat and threes, ice cream and doughnuts. This week, we’ve been on a quest to find the best breakfasts in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and statewide (coming tomorrow).

My mission was to take you along to the best breakfast restaurants in the Mobile area. I’ve tried to serve you a variety, from a gas station to a beautifully restored bistro. Wake up, everybody, because it’s time to eat.

5. SATSUMA CHEVRON BREAKFAST AND BBQ

6105 Hwy. 43, Satsuma, facebook.com/satsumachevron

Just off I-65, north of Mobile but still in Mobile County, you’ll find a Chevron gas station that serves a delicious breakfast in a spotless setting. Starting at 2:30 a.m. daily, breakfast is displayed near the register – fluffy biscuits, strips of bacon, Conecuh sausage links, scrambled eggs, grits, hashbrown patties and much more. If you’re on the go, take it with you. If you have a few minutes, there are tables for you to sit down and eat. And if you can’t make up your mind what to eat, just order the ever-popular breakfast gumbo (see below).

Order this: World Famous Breakfast Gumbo was created years ago by owner Bill Beasley, who grew up in Louisiana. It’s a bowl of cheese grits topped with scrambled eggs, Applewood-smoked bacon, Conecuh sausage, diced sausage patties and sliced green onions.

READ: Why customers love breakfast gumbo at this gas station

4. BOB’S DOWNTOWN DINER

263 St. Francis St., Mobile, bobsdowntown.com

I love a funky diner, and that’s just what you’ll find at Bob’s, located “at the corner of Fat Street and Happy Avenue,” as chef/owner Tony Sawyer likes to say. Bob’s is actually at the corner of St. Francis and North Jackson streets, just slightly off the beaten path in downtown Mobile. Diners sit at the bar or around the walls of the restaurant, looking out the windows at the goings-on; when the weather is nice, there’s alfresco seating on the sidewalk out front. Bob’s offers breakfast and lunch only, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week. Open since 2014, Bob’s has a loyal following – so much so that many of the items on the menu are named for customers.

Order this: Mrs. Ann’s Breakfast, which is low on carbs and big on taste, comes with grilled fish, two eggs however you want them, bacon and sliced tomatoes and avocados.

3. RISE BREAKFAST & BAKERY

10198 U.S. Hwy. 31, Spanish Fort, facebook.com/halfbaked251

When you enter this takeout-only establishment in an unlikely location on Highway 32 in Spanish Fort, just north of Highway 181 and just north of the Eastern Shore Centre, the affable owner, Tony Luna, also known as “Taco Tony,” will greet you from behind the cash register. If it’s your first visit, he’ll ask you to choose a sticker to place anywhere you want because it shows him how many people have walked in the door in the past year and two months since he opened. Also, after growing up too fast in northern California, he has now given himself permission to be a big kid. RISE serves breakfast and lunch daily. Breakfast favorites include burritos, bowls, quesadillas, Tony’s own variations of eggs Benedict, a decadent Bananas Foster French Toast and more.

Order this: Bubba Gump bowl, with scrambled eggs, shrimp and Conecuh sausage over Gouda grits topped with Creole cream sauce and green onions.

2. SPOT OF TEA

310 Dauphin St., Mobile. spotoftea.com

Spot of Tea, which is directly across from Cathedral Square in downtown Mobile, has evolved over the years since Tony Moore opened a quaint tea room in 1994, with his mother, Ruby Moore, as hostess. It’s become a booming spot for brunch, which is offered daily starting at 8 a.m. Expect a long line on weekends. The restaurant has a large dining room as well as tables on the sidewalk and even on the other side of Dauphin Street. Brunch specialties include Blackened Shrimp and Cheese Grits with Andouille, Seafood Eggs Benedict, Sunny Avocado Toast and a Monte Christo Sandwich; lunch offerings include a variety of sandwiches, salads and soups. If your server asks if you’d like strawberry sweet tea, yes, you would.

Order this: Eggs Cathedral, named for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception just across the street, is the most popular item on the menu at Spot of Tea: grilled English muffins topped with crab cakes, scrambled eggs and a seafood sauce with blackened grouper, crawfish and jumbo shrimp, served with crispy cubed hashbrowns.

1. BISTRO SAINT EMANUEL

165 Saint Emanuel St., Mobile, fortcondeinn.com/bistrosaintemanuel

This elegant restaurant is in historic Fort Conde Village, which sat vacant and boarded up for decades. Now it’s a thriving community anchored by the Conde-Charlotte House museum and the Fort Conde Inn, which once offered its guests breakfast in the dining room. When the inn ran out of room, its owners opened Bistro Saint Emanuel, which serves brunch Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Friday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant also serves dinner. Be sure to make a reservation, even for brunch, because seating is limited. The renovation is remarkable, with great attention to detail. It’s a lovely spot for savoring brunch and a cocktail.

Order this: The cleverly named A la Bamian omelette is filled with jumbo lump crab, diced Conecuh sausage, bell pepper, onion and Cheddar cheese along with a side of breakfast potatoes. Pair it with a bloody Mary.

More Mobile area food stories:

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said authorities believe a defrocked Catholic priest “groomed another couple of young girls” in addition to the 18-year-old woman who accompanied him to Europe.

Burch, speaking on Fox Nation’s “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,” said Alex Crow had a previous association with a female who was “best friends” with the woman who left with him.

He also said there could be felony warrants against Crow “this week.”

“There was a young girl that he was previously acting inappropriately with, and he was ordered to stay away from her, and she’s ... we’re trying to get her to come on board but she’s not exactly cooperating at the moment,” Burch said.

“(She and the 18-year-old) went to the same school, same grade.”

Crow, 30, was stripped of his duties by the Archdiocese last month after he reportedly “abandoned his assignment” and engaged in behavior “totally unbecoming of a priest.”

Crow and the female, a recent McGill-Toolen High School graduate, were located in Italy by a member of the young woman’s family, who said the young woman had traveled with Crow of her own accord.

Letters written by the former priest indicate he believes he and the 18-year-old female who accompanied him to Europe were told by Jesus to leave Mobile.

The nature of the relationship between Crow and the female has not been confirmed, nor has the purpose of their trip, although speculation has centered around the possibility of Crow performing an exorcism.

Burch said it is not proven that Crow intended to perform an exorcism on the young woman.

Speaking to Grace, Burch said the acts with the other female occurred when she was a minor.

If confirmed, he said, Crow could be charged under Alabama laws that prohibit sexual contact between school employees and students.

“Different people are starting to come forward, telling us some things that they didn’t necessarily think a lot of time at the time, but that now....pieces of the puzzle are being put together,” he said.

According to the sheriff, during a school trip approximately two months ago, the other student was seen coming from Crow’s hotel room at about 1:30 a.m.

“You can’t prove what happened behind that closed door, but certainly, a young girl who would have been 17 at the time, coming out of a male adult’s hotel room is certainly something to inquire about,” Burch said.

Burch said investigators are still waiting on texts and information from the female’s phone.

The young woman’s family, who went to Italy and unsuccessfully attempted to bring her back, were able to retrieve an iPad with the help of Italian law enforcement. Burch said FBI forensic investigators are now looking at the device for any kind of messages.

The sheriff also said he spoke with the 18-year-old by phone “several times,” attempting to convince her to come home. Crow was present for the conversation, he said.

“I actually spoke to her, several times, week before last, and pleaded with her to come home,” he said.

“I said, if he loves you so much, come back and do it right. She wouldn’t hear anything of it.”

According to Burch, Crow would not allow the woman’s parents to speak to her alone when they went to Italy to meet with her. Burch intended to send investigators to Italy to question the young woman, he said.

“The next day, I was told if our guys were to land in Italy to interview anybody, they’d be arrested by the Italian officials. So we had to back off of that,” he said.

He went on to say that the FBI has helped facilitate further questioning.

Much of Crow’s theological background involved the study of demonology and exorcism, with Crow saying in a 2022 podcast a “minor exorcism” had been performed on him by a priest several years ago.

Crow wrote a thesis on demonology and exorcism while in seminary.

The letters, released Monday by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, make it clear Crow has no intention to return to Mobile.

Burch told Grace that his hope is to get the young woman to return home.

“I don’t care if he wants to live as a fugitive the rest of his life,” he said.

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The humble hot dog occupies a unique place in the American culinary scene, and it’s not a place everybody cares to go. Let’s be realistic about that.

I mean, the common hot dog isn’t even a sausage, really. It belongs to a class of products known as emulsified forcemeats, and that alone is enough to send some people screaming in the opposite direction.

But aficionados know that if hot dogs are on the menu, you’re usually somewhere where people are having a good time. And even if you’re not eating one in a ballpark, they’re usually a filling option that gives you a lot of bang for the buck in a quick easy handful of food, so you can get on with your business.

Here are the best hot dogs you’ll find in Lower Alabama.

READ MORE: Alabama’s best pizza: Our Top 10

5. ‘The Homewrecker’ at the River Shack

6120 S. Marine Drive, under the Dog River Bridge; www.facebook.com/RiverShackRestaurant

The only reason this place comes in at No. 5 is that it’s not really a hot dog place. It’s a funky waterfront hangout that offers burgers, seafood and tantalizing specials. But that’s not to say that hot dogs are an afterthought. In fact, The River Shack menu features the nuclear option. Named “The Homewrecker,” it’s a footlong dog with the payload wrapped in a spiral of thick-cut bacon, topped with jalapenos and other goodness. This may be the first time in your life you order a hot dog and have to take half of it home for later.

Order this: The Homewrecker. That’s it. And don’t say you weren’t warned.

READ: This Alabama restaurant’s ‘Homewrecker’ is a bacon-wrapped, foot-long hot dog

4. The Dew Drop Inn

2407 Old Shell road; www.facebook.com/DewDropInn.Mobile.AL.

Oh, I’m going to take so much heat for not ranking this one No. 1. And I probably deserve it. Is this Mobile’s most iconic hot dog? Absolutely. Does it literally have generations of fans, with grandparents introducing grandkids to “Mobile’s oldest restaurant” on a daily basis? Again, absolutely. It’ll win the people’s choice voting hands-down. And I’ll say that when you order a Dew Drop Dog you know exactly what you’re going to get: A smallish dog loaded up with chili, sauerkraut, mustard, ketchup and pickle, for the agreeable price of $4.25. And you know that if you look, you’ll find the meat has imparted a pinkish tint to the bread it touches. To order and eat a Dew Drop Inn hot dog is to be reassured of the pleasant fiction that there are some constants in this life.

Order this: If you want to mix it up, order it “upside down” to get the wiener on top of the toppings, or “female” to get the toppings with no wiener. Lighten up, culture warriors, they’ve been doing that for eons.

READ: Mobile’s Dew Drop Inn is where regulars rule

3. Redd’s Hotdogs

21925 S. Milwaukee St., Robertsdale; www.facebook.com/reddshotdogs28

Let’s face it, the essence of the hot dog experience always has and always will involve a hot dog cart. In 1989 Chris Redd’s dad threw off the grind of his career as a boilermaker, moved his family from Connecticut to Baldwin County and opened a roadside hot dog stand. “From that point on,” Redd says of his father, “he always had a huge smile on his face, I’m gonna tell you.” Chris took over the business in 2009 and usually seems to have a smile on his face too, as he serves a line of customers from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. If you’re passing down Ala. 59 on the way to or from the beach, bear in mind this isn’t just an opportunity to grab a quick roadside snack – it’s an institution.

Order this: Whatever dog you choose, get the chow. A variant of the relish more commonly known as chow chow, the proprietary recipe is so tasty that Redd has to cook up something like 50 quarts a week.

READ: Beach bound? Don’t miss this Baldwin Co. hot dog stand

2. Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods

4701 Airport Blvd.

Another Mobile institution, another worthy No. 1, another personal favorite. 25 years ago, Al’s occupied a spot off Bienville Square, where it was one of the few reliable lunch spots a slowly rebounding downtown had to offer. “If you are what you eat,” said the sign by the counter, “we’re fast, cheap and easy.” And they were: You always left feeling you’d gotten a little more than your money’s worth. The no-nonsense Chicago wit and wisdom of the owner, Al Kay, was another big attraction. Somewhere along the way, Kay relocated the sign and the rest of the business to an Airport Boulevard shopping center, and Al’s has continued to operate on a takeout-only basis since the beginning of the pandemic. But the magic is still there, and you’ll still come away feeling like you got more than your money’s worth.

Order this: You can get an authentic Chicago Dog here, a treat virtually unknown in the South, with toppings that include tomato slices and a dash of celery salt. But it also pays to explore the non-hot-dog treats on the menu, which includes burgers, gyros and chicken-and-sausage gumbo.

1. The drunk at 1 a.m. on Dauphin Street Dog

Location varies, but Cathedral Square is a good starting place

It’s after midnight on a weekend and kitchens are closed throughout the Dauphin Street entertainment district. Meanwhile, you’ve been on a liquid diet for the last five hours and you’re in need of ballast. Fortunately, professionals are ready to help. On a recent Friday night I found two of them: Nazear Williams at King Dogs on Cathedral Square, and Wendy Clanton, who was operating out of her Lil Red’s Cart trailer at 22 N. Jackson St., where there’s a small food truck food court with seating. King Dogs has been a fixture on Cathedral Square for at least a decade. Clanton is a newer addition: A couple of years she decided to make a jump after 23 years with the Mobile County Public School System. She went from assistant principal to chief cook and bottle washer, and clearly enjoys the change. “These are my people now,” she says of her wildly eclectic clientele. As she said it, a crew of partiers were piling out a heavily customized pickup truck to see her, and just behind them was an older couple dressed for a square dance convention being held in town. That’s Dauphin Street for you.

Order this: My mission was hot dogs, but Clanton nearly sold me on her Conecuh nachos, which she says are her most popular item. I’ll try that next time. King Dogs has some innovative hot dog presentations and I tried the Frito Pie dog, topped with chili, cheese, Fritos, fried onions and a drizzle of barbecue sauce. It was crazy good.

More on Alabama food:

Summer is officially here, and it’s hot, y’all. It’s already downright stifling hot in Alabama, and that’s all anyone seems to want to talk about. Wherever you go, folks are commenting about how hot it is. There’s only one thing to do about it: Cool off from the inside out by eating something nice and cold and comforting, like ice cream.

Down in Mobile, where we’re absolutely sweltering, there’s a diverse array of places to beat the heat with a tasty frozen treat. Here are five of al.com’s picks for the best ice cream in the city.

As we eat our way through the summer, we’ve already brought you our choices for the best barbecue, pizza and burgers. Here’s the scoop on ice cream in Birmingham and Huntsville.

5. Peppermint Gelato & Café

5951 Old Shell Road, facebook.com/peppermintmobile

Located in a cozy house across from the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center, Peppermint is a new addition to the ice cream scene in Mobile. Its menu is simple: You choose from 12 daily flavors of gelato (pistachio, raspberry white chocolate and peach cobbler were recent offerings), and you decide whether you want one, two or three scoops. The friendly staff is happy to give samples. There’s also a case filled with fresh pastries like baklava, walnut cupcakes and brightly colored macarons, Turkish coffee and an assortment of teas. You can take your selections outside to the covered porch, or enjoy them in the serene inside dining room, where you might linger over a chess match. Proprietor Mahin Ghavamian, whose family has operated the nearby Food Pak International market since 1991, named Peppermint after her adorable granddaughter, Pepper.

Order this: Sample what looks good and order at least two scoops of two different flavors of gelato.

4. Sno DASH

3240 Dauphin St., facebook.com/SnoDashMobile

Lan Nguyen opened Mobile’s first rolled ice cream shop in 2017, with plans to offer several locations. But today, Sno DASH – named for Nguyen’s son, Dash – and its sister business, DASH Poke Co., operate in one spot in a busy strip mall on Dauphin Street near I-65. Watching the rolled ice cream being made on an ice-cold plate is a mesmerizing process that’s part of the fun of getting a frozen treat here. The thin slices of ice cream, expertly rolled and stacked in a cup, can be blended and topped with cookies (like Oreos and Nutter Butters), cotton dandy, Nutella, cheesecake, fresh fruit, candy bars (Snickers, Reese’s and more) and cereal (Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Puffs, etc.) – in other words, all the good stuff, in seemingly endless combinations. Sno DASH also offers soft-serve ice cream and ultra cheesecake milkshakes as well as a variety of shaved ice.

Order this: S’mores, with graham crackers mixed into rolled ice cream topped with more graham crackers, a Hershey’s chocolate miniature, toasted marshmallows and chocolate syrup. It’s like camping, only much cooler.

3. Jefe Paletas

5301 Cottage Hill Road, facebook.com/JefePaletas

Fabian Leon, who grew up working in his parents’ Mexican restaurants in Mobile, opened Jefe Paletas (“popsicle boss”) almost two years ago. Specializing in artisanal popsicles, this colorful spot has since built a cult following. Available in 40-some-odd flavors, the popsicles are either cream-based (such as Mexican cinnamon chocolate with Nutella filling, arroz con leche and others) or water-based (think strawberry basil, watermelon mint and many more). In addition to popsicles, Jefe Paletas offers homemade ice cream and sorbet as well as savory snacks like chicharrónes and esquite. One of the most popular items, the sweet-spicy mangonada, is also available in other fruit flavors like strawberry, watermelon and lime. Don’t miss the creative crepe combinations, which typically sell out on the weekends.

Order this: Jefe Strawberrynada with strawberry sorbet, bits of fruit, lime juice, chimoy and tajin topped with “a little extra”: an assortment of gummy candies and a popsicle of your choice. There’s a lot going on in this one.

2. TraePay’s Café

3295 Bel Air Mall, Unit B, facebook.com/TraePaysCafe

TraePay’s isn’t an ice cream shop as such, but stay with me for a minute. Named for owner Crista McCants’s sons (whose likenesses are featured in the logo), TraePay’s is a success story that started with a food truck and evolved into a brick-and-mortar restaurant at the Dillard’s end of Bel Air Mall. They referred to themselves as “gluttony corner” on Facebook, and it’s the delicious truth. Specializing in all kinds of unapologetic junk food – nachos, fries and tater tots topped with pretty much anything you could want, sno-ball-flavored pickles, pickled eggs, grape salad and deep-fried candy bars are among the offerings – TraePay’s also has an amazing assortment of New Orleans-style sno-ball flavors as well as gigantic sno-bowls that combine finely shaved ice with fruit, cheesecake bites, syrups, whipped cream and much more.

Order this: The Strawberry Crunch Sensation is a bestseller for a reason: It’s a strawberry and wedding cake sno-ball topped with diced fresh strawberries, strawberry shortcake ice cream pieces, drizzled with sweet cream.

1. Cammie’s Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe

2511 Old Shell Road, cammiesolddutch.com

Twenty-five years ago, Cammie Wayne bought the former Widemire’s Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe from Edwin Widemire, who’d been her boss at her first job when she was 16 years old. She has reigned as queen of the ice cream scene in Mobile ever since, making 700 gallons a week with the help of her husband, Larry Wayne, at their creamery on Halls Mill Road, where she has opened a second location. But that original, cheery yellow building at the corner of Old Shell Road and Florida Street in Midtown, a former Texaco station before Widemire opened his ice cream shop in 1969, has become a Mobile icon. Cammie offers some 47 flavors in the shop (Creole Praline is the most popular) and supplies 25 other shops and restaurants as well as 25 local grocery stores with her products.

Order this: The Banana Split is a classic on Cammie’s menu, and on Sundays she sells 60 to 100 of them.

MORE: Ice cream from Cammie’s is the best thing I ate last week

More on Mobile food:

Brianna Burrell, Miss Alabama 2023, is an avid cook who’s quick to praise the food in her hometown of Mobile.

“It’s amazing to have such fresh cuisine, when they literally catch it in the back of the restaurant and put it straight to your plate,” Burrell, 25, said in an interview with AL.com.

READ: Miss Alabama 2023, the state’s third Black woman crowned: ‘I’m proud to represent the South’

We asked the new Miss Alabama to name some of her favorite restaurants in the Mobile area, and it’s no surprise that most of them specialize in seafood. Here’s what she said:

Where: 263 St. Francis St. Mobile.

Menu includes: Seafood omelets, alligator sausage and pancakes, breakfast tacos, French toast, biscuits and sausage gravy, shrimp and smoked gouda cheese grits.

Miss Alabama says: “Bob’s Downtown, the most amazing breakfast you can ever imagine.”

Where: 455 Dauphin St., Mobile.

Menu includes: Chargrilled oysters, shrimp and grits, crab and shrimp dip, Oceans (made with salmon, shrimp, scallops, crawfish gravy).

Miss Alabama says: “(Erica Barrett is) a hometown chef who was emphasized on the Food Network. Her establishment is delicious. She also has an establishment in Birmingham and in Atlanta. It’s always amazing to see her spread that Mobile cuisine to other places.”

Where: 104 N. Section St., Fairhope.

Menu includes: Fried calamari, crab meat pie, escargot, snow crab legs, BBQ shrimp, blue crab claws, gumbo made with oysters, shrimp, crab and crawfish.

Miss Alabama says: “I love Tamara’s in downtown Fairhope.”

Where: 203 Dauphin St., Mobile.

Menu includes: Redfish, shrimp and grits, Chesapeake Bay scallops, pickled shrimp, fried catfish, fried oyster Benedict.

Where: 102 Dauphin St., Mobile.

Menu includes: Seafood pasta, shrimp scampi, fried calamari, tuna poke bowl, fresh fish sandwich, shrimp po’ boy.

Miss Alabama says: “I love The Noble South, Squid Ink — all of these are seafood places. So if you don’t like seafood, I’m sorry, but they do have other options. But I am a seafood girl. I could eat it every day.”

READ MORE: Squid Ink happens: Downtown Mobile gets new flavors

More on Mobile food: