This was our first time eating at Playa's and we loved everything about it!! The Fried Grits appetizer was so good and Island Shrimp with ginger slaw and coconut rice was delicious!! We will be recommending it to our friends and definitely come back when we are in orange Beach again. We give it a 10+!!
Philip
Playa has been a favorite of ours for years. The food was not very good this time around. Our server was extremely polite but not very experienced. We ordered drinks and the crab toast appetizer. It took more than five minutes to get our drinks, which was no big deal, but a little surprising as the restaurant was not busy. When we were almost done with our drinks, our server stopped by to see if we were ready to order dinner. We said we would wait to order when our appetizer arrived. The server forgot about the appetizer. The appetizer arrived and it was unremarkable, crab salad on toast, served with a dish with a large chip on the rim of the dish. Another surprise to see food served on damaged dish ware. The crab salad did not have much flavor. For entrees, we ordered the seared tuna with coconut rice and the fried grouper. The rice and tuna was ok. Not very favorable. The group was overcooked and tough, and served on another dish with a large chip. Chipped dish ware is not very sanitary. Overall, a big disappointment for $170. Doubt we will be back. Great location and beautiful to sit outside to enjoy the weather and scenery. The food just wasn't good and certainly not worth the price. There are plenty of better restaurants in the area. We hope they can turn things around.
MarlaP
This is not a good Dining experience for the money. The restaurant was not crowded, but we sat at the table for the longest time just waiting for water.  I finally went back to the hostess table to ask for water. There were two hostesses at the restaurant, and they were both sitting down in an adjacent room chatting with one another. They had no idea what was going on in the restaurant, and since there were two of them we felt that one of them should've kept an eye out to see if any of that wait staff needed help. ... The bathroom trash was a mess... Two of the six dishes we ordered were good... The rest were poor (pork chop and Playa salad) or mediocre (coconut shrimp). We had very high hopes and were disappointed. We will not go back nor will we recommend it to anyone.
Meri Catherine Brasfield
This has been one of our “go to” favorites since we moved down 4 years ago. Sadly, last night was our last visit as our whole experience was horrible! We ordered drinks which were all good. We ordered our food as we got our drinks. Our appetizer was fine, fried grits with goat cheese and pepper jelly. Our reservation was at 6:45. At 7:50 our server asked if we wanted the “good news or bad news”. He had somehow missed the button to submit our order (bad news after an hour), but our meal would be taken care of he said (good news). About 15 minutes later the manager informed us that our meal would not be taken care of as they “can’t do that”. So we had our food finally about 8:30. It was just “ok”. We were celebrating my husband’s and my best friend’s birthdays so they said they would take care of dessert. See pic of what came out… The server set it down and said “it usually looks better”. What??!!! Food is about presentation and this would not have left my kitchen! And it tasted as bad as it looked. We are highly disappointed in our entire experience and will remove Playa from our list.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
SherryD
I really liked the ease of making the reservation, online process. Loved our meal Happy hour prices very good!!! Great service. Appreciate more variety on menu for non-fish lovers.
Greg
Sat at the bar to get a drink before we were seated. The bar top was a mess, and the bartender was frazzled because she was by herself. We were seated after 10 minutes or so, but we finished our drinks and left to go eat somewhere else. The noise level was so high, the lighting so bright, we felt like we were in a cafeteria. The food may be good, but the ambiance was absolutely awful.
BradleyY
The experience was overall poor. on arrival, there seemed to be confusion on our reservation. We were then seated on a very busy thoroughfare. further, the waitstaff could not have been worse. one drink was ordered, and came out incorrect, 2x, and then it was just given up on. the staff came to the table 4 times in total (waiter) when the food came out, there was no awareness of who ordered what, and it took a long time. given the quality alternates available in the area- i would avoid this in the future. probably the worst dining experience during our stay in OBA.
BuddyC
This was our second visit to Playa and we enjoyed our visit. We got the Coconut Shrimp as an appetizer and it was very good. We also had the coconut grouper and the chicken taco bowl. Both meals were very good. We finished the meal with the Turtle Cheesecake and it was delicious. Our only disappointment was we made a reservation for outdoor dining with a table on the porch, but we were seated at a high top on the deck. We were told the other tables were reserved, but no one ever came during our time there. I would recommend Playa as a great place to eat a good meal with a nice view of the harbor.
The food was just ok. We expected better since this restaurant is related to Fishers. Definitely not worth the money we paid for all of it. Won't be adding it to our rotation of must-dos when we come back next year.
RichardD
The food was good and the service was excellent. Isabella was great. Was short handed in staff but they all did a great job. The noise was terrible. The acoustics in the building needs help. We asked to be moved outside in the heat. Heat was better than the loud noise. We noticed other tables followed suit. Not sure I'll be back. Thank you, Richard Davis.
Overall, we came back to Playa because of the food. The atmosphere is super cute & we felt the location was really nice. We got the Poke bowl & the Coconut Grouper - both exceptional! Definitely recommend!
Olena Johns
My husband and I spent great Independence Day lunch here . Nice water front place with good food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Our server, Lou, was energetic and helpful with our food and drink selection. The Redfish and Coconut Grouper were amazing. The noise level where we were seated made it difficult to have a conversation but not impossible. Would be difficult for anyone with hearing issues. Overall very enjoyable evening. The stroll around the dockside was a nice way to end the evening.
Ashley
Food was subpar. The chicken was very dry and rubbery. The drinks were not great. Just overall not great. The view is lovely, sad to be let down with the food/overall sour skinny margaritas.
Service was good. Limited entree menu. Food presentation was nice; however we were disappointed in the flavor of the food. Swordfish was dry and had no flavor. Needed some spices or something to add to the taste. Island Shrimp was good but served on a bed of bland steamed white rice. Generally a disappointing evening.
This was our first time eating at Playa's and we loved everything about it!! The Fried Grits appetizer was so good and Island Shrimp with ginger slaw and coconut rice was delicious!! We will be recommending it to our friends and definitely come back when we are in orange Beach again. We give it a 10+!!
Playa has been a favorite of ours for years. The food was not very good this time around. Our server was extremely polite but not very experienced. We ordered drinks and the crab toast appetizer. It took more than five minutes to get our drinks, which was no big deal, but a little surprising as the restaurant was not busy. When we were almost done with our drinks, our server stopped by to see if we were ready to order dinner. We said we would wait to order when our appetizer arrived. The server forgot about the appetizer. The appetizer arrived and it was unremarkable, crab salad on toast, served with a dish with a large chip on the rim of the dish. Another surprise to see food served on damaged dish ware. The crab salad did not have much flavor. For entrees, we ordered the seared tuna with coconut rice and the fried grouper. The rice and tuna was ok. Not very favorable. The group was overcooked and tough, and served on another dish with a large chip. Chipped dish ware is not very sanitary. Overall, a big disappointment for $170. Doubt we will be back. Great location and beautiful to sit outside to enjoy the weather and scenery. The food just wasn't good and certainly not worth the price. There are plenty of better restaurants in the area. We hope they can turn things around.
This is not a good Dining experience for the money. The restaurant was not crowded, but we sat at the table for the longest time just waiting for water.  I finally went back to the hostess table to ask for water. There were two hostesses at the restaurant, and they were both sitting down in an adjacent room chatting with one another. They had no idea what was going on in the restaurant, and since there were two of them we felt that one of them should've kept an eye out to see if any of that wait staff needed help. ... The bathroom trash was a mess... Two of the six dishes we ordered were good... The rest were poor (pork chop and Playa salad) or mediocre (coconut shrimp). We had very high hopes and were disappointed. We will not go back nor will we recommend it to anyone.
This has been one of our “go to” favorites since we moved down 4 years ago. Sadly, last night was our last visit as our whole experience was horrible! We ordered drinks which were all good. We ordered our food as we got our drinks. Our appetizer was fine, fried grits with goat cheese and pepper jelly. Our reservation was at 6:45. At 7:50 our server asked if we wanted the “good news or bad news”. He had somehow missed the button to submit our order (bad news after an hour), but our meal would be taken care of he said (good news). About 15 minutes later the manager informed us that our meal would not be taken care of as they “can’t do that”. So we had our food finally about 8:30. It was just “ok”. We were celebrating my husband’s and my best friend’s birthdays so they said they would take care of dessert. See pic of what came out… The server set it down and said “it usually looks better”. What??!!! Food is about presentation and this would not have left my kitchen! And it tasted as bad as it looked. We are highly disappointed in our entire experience and will remove Playa from our list.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
I really liked the ease of making the reservation, online process. Loved our meal Happy hour prices very good!!! Great service. Appreciate more variety on menu for non-fish lovers.
Sat at the bar to get a drink before we were seated. The bar top was a mess, and the bartender was frazzled because she was by herself. We were seated after 10 minutes or so, but we finished our drinks and left to go eat somewhere else. The noise level was so high, the lighting so bright, we felt like we were in a cafeteria. The food may be good, but the ambiance was absolutely awful.
The experience was overall poor. on arrival, there seemed to be confusion on our reservation. We were then seated on a very busy thoroughfare. further, the waitstaff could not have been worse. one drink was ordered, and came out incorrect, 2x, and then it was just given up on. the staff came to the table 4 times in total (waiter) when the food came out, there was no awareness of who ordered what, and it took a long time. given the quality alternates available in the area- i would avoid this in the future. probably the worst dining experience during our stay in OBA.
This was our second visit to Playa and we enjoyed our visit. We got the Coconut Shrimp as an appetizer and it was very good. We also had the coconut grouper and the chicken taco bowl. Both meals were very good. We finished the meal with the Turtle Cheesecake and it was delicious. Our only disappointment was we made a reservation for outdoor dining with a table on the porch, but we were seated at a high top on the deck. We were told the other tables were reserved, but no one ever came during our time there. I would recommend Playa as a great place to eat a good meal with a nice view of the harbor.
The food was just ok. We expected better since this restaurant is related to Fishers. Definitely not worth the money we paid for all of it. Won't be adding it to our rotation of must-dos when we come back next year.
The food was good and the service was excellent. Isabella was great. Was short handed in staff but they all did a great job. The noise was terrible. The acoustics in the building needs help. We asked to be moved outside in the heat. Heat was better than the loud noise. We noticed other tables followed suit. Not sure I'll be back. Thank you, Richard Davis.
Restaurantji Recommends
Overall, we came back to Playa because of the food. The atmosphere is super cute & we felt the location was really nice. We got the Poke bowl & the Coconut Grouper - both exceptional! Definitely recommend!
My husband and I spent great Independence Day lunch here . Nice water front place with good food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Our server, Lou, was energetic and helpful with our food and drink selection. The Redfish and Coconut Grouper were amazing. The noise level where we were seated made it difficult to have a conversation but not impossible. Would be difficult for anyone with hearing issues. Overall very enjoyable evening. The stroll around the dockside was a nice way to end the evening.
Food was subpar. The chicken was very dry and rubbery. The drinks were not great. Just overall not great. The view is lovely, sad to be let down with the food/overall sour skinny margaritas.
Service was good. Limited entree menu. Food presentation was nice; however we were disappointed in the flavor of the food. Swordfish was dry and had no flavor. Needed some spices or something to add to the taste. Island Shrimp was good but served on a bed of bland steamed white rice. Generally a disappointing evening.