Modern Forage: Mobile, AL
Bill Bayley adapted a Cayman Islands lobster dish to Alabama blue crab in 1947 at his Bayley's Steak House on Dauphin Island Parkway. The recipe was secret until the 1964 Junior League Recipe Jubilee cookbook published it. Robert St. John tested boutique-oil substitutions and found nothing improved on the Wesson and cider vinegar original.
Mobile is the canonical home of the West Indies Salad, the cold blue-crab preparation Bill Bayley invented in 1947 at his Dauphin Island Parkway steakhouse. The dish is on every Mobile Bay restaurant menu and virtually unknown outside coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
This list is almost certainly incomplete; Mobile and the Alabama Gulf Coast hold further hyper-local dishes that have not yet surfaced in the survey.
A note on the Where-to-eat blocks. Every entry below carries a list of restaurants and, where available, star ratings as of the date this post was published. These are a snapshot. Verify hours and addresses before driving anywhere.
West Indies Salad — Mobile, AL
A cold crab salad: lump blue crab meat layered with diced sweet white onions, dressed with cider vinegar, vegetable oil (traditionally Wesson), and ice water. Marinated 2-12 hours, tossed before serving. Created in 1947 by William “Bill” Bayley Sr., a former merchant marine who opened Bayley’s Steak House on Dauphin Island Parkway. Bayley was inspired by a dish he made with lobster while his ship was docked in the Cayman Islands. He substituted local Alabama blue crab. The recipe was closely guarded until published in the Junior League of Mobile’s Recipe Jubilee cookbook in 1964. Robert St. John spoke about it at a Southern Foodways Symposium, noting it resists recipe modification. He tried substituting boutique oils and vinegars and found nothing improved on the Wesson and cider vinegar original. Appears on nearly every restaurant menu in the Mobile Bay area but is virtually unknown outside coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Sources: Wikipedia; Saveur (2007); Food.com (user comments with firsthand accounts); Travel Bite (2020); Meridian Star / Robert St. John (2006, SFA presentation); Chef Bolek blog (2025); CBS42/WIAT (2011). Seven+ independent sources.
Where to eat: Wintzell’s Oyster House, 605 Dauphin St, Mobile (multiple Mobile-area locations; carries the canonical preparation). Felix’s Fish Camp, Spanish Fort. Original Oyster House, Spanish Fort. Most Mobile Bay restaurants serve a version.
More from the series
Browse the rest of the Modern Forage survey.
Research & primary sources
Methodology, validation logs, and the entries that didn’t make this post are in the modern_forage/ on GitHub. Every entry here passed a 2+ independent-source check; the citations under each dish list them.