Restaurants in Daphne

At Blind Mule, cooks infuse the flavors of the South into their casual menu of burgers and bar fare. They infuse extra smokiness into Cajun classics such as shrimp and grits and red beans and rice with the addition of Conecuh sausage, and they jazz up sandwiches with flavorful flourishes such as blackening spice and house-made sauces. A sudsy selection of domestic, imported, and intergalactic brews is also available to temper the spiciness of their Southern specialties.

Blind Mule also boasts an upstairs stage that hosts live blues, folk, and fusion melodies on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. As guests' toes tap, they can bask in the eye-catching splendor of the venue's vintage music memorabilia and local art, which Mobile Bay magazine described in its list of great destinations for a night on the town.

Inside the olive-hued dining room, Bangkok Pad Thai Restaurant’s chefs serve up dishes derived from many influences. Within traditional Thai cuisine, one can see the imprint of Szechuan-style cooking, the creamy coconut bases of South Indian curries, and the exotic flavours of Malaysia. The house special, pad thai, exhibits this merger of taste profiles with stir-fried rice noodles tempered by scrambled egg, bean sprouts, and crunchy peanuts. A slew of curry dishes add to the menu, along with vegetarian mains and traditional Thai soups such as tom yum goong, a spicy lemongrass broth filled with shrimp, mushrooms, and kaffir-lime leaves. After their forays into spicy territory, guests can cool off by sharing a slice of ice-cream peanut pie or pouring their complimentary ice water over their head.

The terms “coward” and “brave” are neither insults nor compliments at Bangkok Place Thai Restaurant; rather, they signify the level of spiciness a customer can handle. Chef Keo Phannavong and his wife Ann helm the casual eatery, where Keo brings 20 years of experience—and a slew of his mother’s recipes—to the kitchen. Using fresh ingredients, such as basil leaves, lemon grass, coconut milk, and chili, the master chef concocts a wide range of authentic Thai dishes that pack as little or as much spice as the patron desires or can trick his date into eating. The restaurant offers familiar Thai favorites, such as pad thai and tom yum soup, as well as some more obscure entrees, such as pla jien—a steamed fish topped with ginger and baby corn.

Tucked behind Leinkauf Elementary School, La Pizzeria has been lauded by Press-Register food editor David Holloway as "one of the best-kept secrets" in town. He praises owner Todd Henson's balance between Italian classics—pastas with housemade sauces and calzones among them—and creative menu contributions. A list of character-inspired gourmet pizzas includes the garlic-infused Bela Lugosi and the Sherlock Holmes, a mystery order whose toppings are chosen by the chef and cooked beneath a carefully aimed magnifying glass. Strewn with white tablecloths and still-life paintings, the low-lit interior features one private table, where Henson wagers "we've had a hundred proposals of marriage … over the years."

Sunlight glitters through Chappy's in Point Clear's wide-paned windows, illuminating chefs as they lightly fry trout fillets and drape shrimp hollandaise sauce over pork chops and tender milk-fed veal. From the kitchen, they'll hand over their gourmet surf 'n' turf entrees to a wait staff who then arranges them atop crisp white tablecloths where flower vases, napkins folded into fleur-de-lis, and life-size replicas of the Lusitania adorn place settings.

One could say that the only thing husband and wife team Mark and Mary Beth Bentz love more than cooking is their hometown of Pittsburgh. When the duo opened their pizza shop in 2006, they decided to create a space dedicated to providing quality American eats to go or while catching the night’s Steelers game. The pair man the kitchen seven days a week, packing dough into a menu full of pizzas, calzones, and hoagies. To give clients a bit more of their Pennsylvania homeland, the pair also pour pints of local Iron City beer and sell cookbooks of classic Pittsburgh recipes divided by category and the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers.