cobalt, the restaurant

excellent atmosphere/location. greatplacefor a date. just get there early. food was very good too though the portions tend to leave something to be desired. drinks were very good and has a great wine selection. service the last time was terrible and she was very easily confused and only had two tables to care for. with any luck you won't get her and your experience will be great. food was very good though and will be returning i'm sure.

if only the service were better.... we went to cobalt after seeing all the great reviews. we got there and were seated pretty quickly. our server was quick to get our drink order, and we were thinking it'd be a great meal (great view, great ambiance). then things went downhill. it took a while to get our drinks. they were good, but took a while. when our server finally took our food order, we'd been there a while. we never got bread; our server disappeared, and we literally had to flag her down for anything; and we even had to ask other servers for items. the food was pretty good. i had the ribs, though they were cold by the time we got them (45 minutes after ordering), the flavor was great, and they fell off the bone. the shrimp my sister had was average; the pizza my brother in law had was good - but very rich; and the oyster poboy my husband had was pretty good. we thought about ordering dessert, but since we'd already been there two hours, we figured we'd cut our loses, and just go on and go. we didn't feel like waiting another hour for dessert. thisplacehas potential, but just needs to work on service.

may 2011. tuna avacado stack was a good appetizer. i had the blackened redfish over wildrice w/ tabasco hollandaise- fish was near perfect. food and drinks were good.
a note of constructive encouragement. we came in on a monday and had to wait for over an hour on a table and theplacewas literally half empty. management should work on ensuring theplaceis properly staffed to handle influx of people. especially when there are 40,000 extra people visiting for a music festival in town.

this is always a favoriteplaceto go for us. atmosphere and views are great, especially at sunset. this time is was a long wait time but that is to be expected on memorial weekend. had great band andplaceoutside to sit while waiting on your table. my personal favorite is the bbq gulf shrimp, it is an appetizer but i make it a meal by getting a salad and mashed potatoes with it for very reasonable prices. my husbands favorite is the peppercorn steak. definitely at the top of our list!

worth it!. we were in the orange beach area on vacation and went to cobalt on a recommendation from a local. it was delicious! i got the filet, and let me tell you, it was the best i've ever had! i am from the okla and have had many filets in my life, even beef we raises on our farm. but this was the best by far! i would definitely recommend it to anyone. in reference to other reviewers, you get what you pay for so obviously the steeper prices = better quality food. also, how could you look at thisplaceand not know it was a slow, sit-down restaurant? when we entered the restaurant, i knew we'd be there for a while so i feel like time isn't a legitimate complaint, especially if the restaurant was busy... we had a great server. we will definitely come back!

we went to cobalt again on our visit to orange beach this week and, as always, were glad we did! the view of the marina and waterway was beautiful as the sun set, making the outside seating area a greatplacefor our family to spend the evening. the food was terrific - shrimp and grits, ahi tuna salad and bison burger all got heavy compliments from the people in our party who ordered them. the spicy marinara sauce on the spaghetti had more kick than any of us have ever seen in marinara at any other restaurant, but the spicy food lovers at the table loved it! we decided as the meal ended that cobalt will be a consistent stop on all of our future visits to the orange beach area!

why?. worst. service. ever. food marginal at best. the only thing this restaurant has going for it is l.o.c.a.t.i.o.n. our waitress actually told us she could not get to the bar to get our wine that never came w/ dinner! the pizza was a soggy joke, the fish was grossly overcooked, and the grits were dry as sawdust. we sat early and were all but ignored by our waitress. it was one of the only times i can remember where i considered not tipping. i could not imagine for the life of my why thisplacewas so packed; unless they were all there for the brilliant sunset.

thisplacehas great food, and i've always had really good service. the view is outstanding, but you'll probably have to wait for it because thisplaceis quite busy. they have great happy hour specials. my biggest complaint is that it is really loud when you eat inside.

30th anniversary dinner. i had the blackened red snapper that was simply amazing, and my wife had the grilled shrimp and grits. the waiter insisted i try some "oscar sauce" on the side with the snapper so i did, i could hear him ''pushing'' it on others around our area also. didnt know until i got my check that he charged me $7 extra for it (and it was horrible). my wifes grilled shrimp were not deveined as i thought they should have been for their size at aplacelike this. overall a good meal and we will probably return next year.

overrated. my catch of the day came to the table as a 4 oz. piece of fish..it looked like a swordfish medallion...lol..i showed the manager and she agreed it should never had come out of the kitchen like that. the rest of my portion was sent out 15 minutes later...i assume the kitchen staff has no real culinary training...skip thisplaceon your trip...

girls trip. well....thought we saved the best for last. walked in, and we were all smiles. what a beautifulplaceto have dinner. sat outside, very beautiful. music coming from bar, let's just say that he should have kept with the instrumental version. nothing that special about the food. maybe it was the head chefs night off. shrimp and buttery grits. did not even taste like grits. oysters on the half shell were the smallest oysters i've ever seen.
very nice pretty young waitress.

how rude!. went here, was given a pager and told it would be 20 minutes. was also told that the tables in the bar were first come first serve. after a 20 minute wait, a couple left one of the bar tables so we went to sit down and gave the pager back. then the rude hostesses came over to seat another couple and ran us off, not even letting us have ourplaceback in line. thank you, cobalt, for saving us $100 tonight. we are now back at the condo eating our delicious big fish leftovers. we are locals and over the years we have always recommended cobalt, but after tonight i will never recommend thisplaceagain. besides after you got rid of the lobster bites, there really isn't anything on the menu that is all that exciting.


-----26 jul, 2013-----

great meal!. we've been here a few times before over the years and it's always been good. tonight i had the chargrilled oysters with the garlic-parmesan butter, the crab dip and a cup of the crab bisque. the oysters were on par with the ones from wintzell's and bluegill (which is a good thing to me), the crab dip was cheesy and had a lot of crab meat in it and the bisque also was good with plenty of crab meat. my wife had the tuna & avocado stack and the margherita pizza. both were really good. theplacewas packed, but with as many people working there we were in and out in less than an hour. overall we always have a great meal here.

while the food was allright, i wouldn't call it exceptional and the overall experience was negative. the bartender was uninterested, cocky and borderline rude. theplaceis large with poor acoustics - remember your highshool cafeteria??? i could not communicate with my guests across the table without raising my voice significantly.
the waitress "forgot" to bring the bread and -a minor detail- our candles were never lit. she could not figure out that a dozen of the oyster combination is the same as two orders of the half dozen... i cannot recommend unless service improves significantly...

overrated. ate here twice this week while staying at caribe. after reading so many great reviews, i was really disappointed on both of my visits. fortunately for me i wasn't the one paying. the food was simply not that good. i had a ny strip the first night and it just wasn't a very good cut of meat. the second night i had a fish dish, and the fish had a strange taste to it; i could barely finish it. kinda makes me sad to think that so many people actually think this stuff is good. tourist trap, no doubt. and stay away from the cupcakes -- they basically sit there until they are sold, no matter how old they get.

-----17 oct, 2012-----

great brunch buffet. huge, beautiful establishment located right on the water with an amazing view. you'd never know theplacewas there unless you're in the know. went for sunday brunch buffet ($17/pp) and it was one of the better brunch buffets i've had. extensive selection including eggs benedict, prime rib, and omelet station. have heard mixed reviews about dinner, but i highly recommend the sunday brunch.

what a greatplaceto eat and enjoy friends and family! we sat outside with a beautiful waterfront, sunset view. there were 8 of us and we all had something different. our meals ranged from perfectly cooked filet, a fresh catch of the day, to a suberb rack of ribs and delicious grouper. this dinner was worth the hour wait!!! between the excellent service, the wonderful food and the atmosphere, you can't loose! highly recommend


-----22 may, 2013-----

excellent service. excellent food. the menu items were priced appropriatley and the food out-preformed the price! i had the fresh catch and it was spectacular!! can't wait to go back again and again. always something different on the menu:)