The Carriage Wine and Market: Dauphin Island

This place is fabulous!!! I have celiac disease and have to be so careful about eating out. I had fire roasted shrimp tacos with corn salad. It was a 10/10. I did not get sick and felt very comfortable with the extra care they took with my food. Other two people did not have celiac and said their food was great as well. We sat outside. We had a fan at our table which felt good and the view was terrific! I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend eating there.

Regarding menu and interior design, this is the most elevated small plate and bar establishment I’ve experienced since living on the Gulf Coast for two years. That being said, there is beyond a lot of room for improvement. We had to order at the bar Instead of having our order taken at the table. Wait staff was vaping in plain sight and didn’t seem to wash hands before retrieving food from the kitchen to bring to customers based on how fast that happened. All of our food was brought out together, instead of separating it into appetizers and mains. Once the food was brought to the table, it was almost 20 minutes before wait staff came back to check on food quality and to see if we needed anything else to drink. Half of the food was way too salty. The bar mix was tasty $4 for a tiny ramekin was ridiculously expensive. The onion dip with gluten-free pita was tasty. Wait staff failed to bring small plates to serve and share. The jalapeño pimento cheese was extremely salty and otherwise bland; certainly not spicy. The tortillas with my husband’s tacos did not seem to have been heated. The taco filling temperature was not hot or even sort of warm.The cilantro or dill sauce on the tacos was so salty as to be inedible. The cheddar cheese on the tacos didn’t seem to go with any of the rest of what it was assembled with. The honey, lemon dressing on the red white and blue salad was refreshing once I tossed it by hand in the plate myself. When the salad came to the table, the arugula, berries and feta on the plate were fresh yet completely dry as all the dressing was at the bottom of the plate. The most offensive/hilarious part of this whole experience was that my husband wanted a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. As none were sold by the glass, he went to the wine market which is under the same ownership and roof as the restaurant to buy a bottle priced at $17. He asked if he could have it, chilled and served at the table. He was told that he could for a $20 corkage fee. Y’all, corkage fees are for when bottles are brought from outside of an establishment. We won’t be back until this place’s processes and overall quality mature.