The Capitol Oyster Bar oozes Gumpness like an open sore. It is located at 115 East South Boulevard in the first Pizza Hut building built in the Gump in the 60s when Normandale Shopping City and Cloverland were thriving shopping centers and the now-defunct Montgomery Mall was not even a gleam in a Jim Wilson's eye.
Then and now...the red roof is the dead giveaway.
But, as long-time Gumpers know all too well, the COB area of the Southern Gumpass has deteriorated such that most original buildings are--like the KFC/Snuffy Smith's/Bonanza Steak House--now the home of seedy bars filled with sketchy residents of nearby nameless motels run by Patels. Regardless of the outward appearance of the area and the buildings, the COB has stubbornly refused the clamor to "move East" and has stood its ground like a hair on a biscuit as a haven for beer drinking, oyster shucking, crayfish sucking good ole boys and girls of all persuasions.
Good ole' Bammers and their Aubie ladies....
Long known as a good place for a seafood lunch, it was Tayteese herself who somehow suggested that we try COB for dinner Friday night. What caused that idea to pop into her pretty head is probably a whole 'nuther story, but since I could not remember EVER eating there for dinner I was tentatively game for a "new" experience and a break from the expense of going to Jubilee Seafood. The first thing we noticed when we arrived around 8ish was the large numbers of cars in the lot and the relatively small size of the Pizza Hut building we were about to enter. Seems, however, they have built a tent on one side of the place where they can handle "events" like the Maxwell Country Club members who were apparently having a shindig that evening.
The second thing I noticed was that the crowd had the same demographics as the city and they were eating and drinking in harmony like we all know is a lot more common in the Gump than Yankees seem to think.
But the most important thing I learned when I sat down was that they proudly serve my favorite and the wrongfully maligned Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Why, I will have another....
Our guests ordered raw oysters (one half from Apalachicola and one half from Mississippi) and an order of Oyster Rockefeller. Yours truly has had issues with oysters in the past and will not touch the raw ones, but the Oyster Rockefeller was delicious. I stayed with the seafood gumbo which, unfortunately, was not hot and contained more sausage than seafood. However, even luke warm it was flavorful and spicy.
I ordered the special Yellowfin Tuna medium rare. After what seemed like a long wait, Tayteese and I received our orders before our guests. They begged us to eat and I am glad we did because their orders came out a full 15 minutes later and long after ours dishes would have been stone colder than Steve Austin. My tuna was a little overcooked but still very good. I was told to send it back by my salivating and impatient guests but unless it makes me gag, I will eat it.
Now what I thought would make me gag was frog legs. Seated next to us was the chef Coratio formerly of Bama Bistro fame who had ordered fried frog legs. After Coratio offered a leg my guest--who had still not received his entree--shamed me into trying a bite. Well, despite my reservations about eating amphibians, I must say it was good. Not a lot of meat (if frog is a meat) but certainly not bad at all.
Like any working man restaurant, you should not expect linen napkins or your sour cream to come in one of those spinning servers with bacon bits and chopped onions. In fact, the sour cream comes in a squeeze-out like toothpaste pack and the butter comes in plastic tins you have to peel open. Unfortunately, by the time I got the butter thingy's open the bread was not warm enough to melt the butter. Another cold PBR distracted me from that minor problem.
PBR heals all....
The crowd was lively and the place was loud. The waiter was pleasant and apologized for the delays. The booth next to us was jammed full of a six overweight lady's who raised some sand about how many "Appletinis" they ordered and the waitress pushed back a little so it was tense for a second or two. The waitress was, presumably, less intoxicated than the patrons and her version of the number of drinks was documented so I found her version more credible. Nevertheless, the waitress in the Aubie hat huddled with the manager and reluctantly wrote off one drink while informing the table that she was still right. This appeared to offend one of the ladies. I noticed after they departed in a huff that one of them had apparently spitefully snacked on the fin of the sail fish above their booth. It was also probably a little tough.
Note the damaged bottom tail fin above the telltale straw. Incidentally it does look like at least 4 Appletinis to me.
The prices were very reasonable for dinner: Cup of Gumbo: $4.50; Catch of Day Tuna: $18.00. Certainly less than Jubilee but just as certainly not as good. But despite was may appear as a spotty dining performance, I can recommend the place without hesitation as a fun place to eat with your fellow Gumpers. The place has a local feel and attitude unlike any other seafood restaurant in a Pizza Hut building I have ever patronized. Nothing captures this 'tude like the bumper stickers over their kitchen door:
The true essence of the place really is that it is primarily a "bar" where people go to eat seafood with their alcohol. One of the stickers says it all:
The closest thing the COB patrons have to "meetings" is when they gather at their favorite Montgumphery seafood restaurant amongst like-minded friends. I would recommend you give it a try to see if you feel as comfortable there as did we. It is certainly worth a look.
