I recently met several of my lady friends at The Alley in downtown Charleston. It was a Friday night so it was quite busy and at the first of the night there were lots of children. We had a large table to accommodate all of us. We trickled in over about 20 minutes and our server was very prompt to check with the newcomers. As I looked over the menu, I thought I was going to have some difficulty in selecting something to eat without any dairy products and felt my choices would be very limited at best. I asked our server if she would check with the kitchen and ask them to make suggestions. She returned a few moments later and sat down next to me. The chef had gone over most of the menu with her and she went over them item by item with me. That was so nice and gave me confidence in ordering. The chef had even said he would alter the way he prepared several of the entrees to make them dairy-free. Relief! They even said I could have the shrimp or oyster po boy! She said they normally soak them in buttermilk before putting the breading on but he would not soak mine that way. I was excited because I have hardly had any fried seafood in 8 years. (Now I hardly ever ate fried seafood before but now that I usually cannot have it, I seem to crave it all the more!)
The restaurant/bar is a bowling alley/ adult style arcade with other games. It did prove quite difficult to chat with friends because the noise level is very high. I would recommend to visit this establishment if you want to play rather than dine. I think it would be great to take a group bowling or skee balling. With the alley, it is on a first come, first served basis. We arrived around 7 and all the alleys were booked until 10:30 that evening. But when you get an alley, you get it for one hour for up to 6 people.
Back to the food....our food arrived. I must say my shrimp po boy was like a little piece of heaven. It was wonderful. I couldn't eat it slow enough to savor every morsel! I had butter beans with it and they were equally delicious. All the ladies that ordered food said they enjoyed their food and they had a variety of items. So for good food and a fun, lively evening I will definitely go back to The Alley!
