I love these food threads, too. Can't wait to try Amore and will probably do so when we're in SoWal the end of this month.
One way to support local restaurants even if you don't want to spend a lot of money is to get take-out from them and then go back to your porch and dine there. It's a good way to support the local restaurants, not have to cook, and not spend a bundle. We usually eat out about 1/3 of the time we're in SoWal, get take out about 1/3 of the time, and then cook (or eat left-overs from the take-out) the rest of the time. Since we're only in Sowal a week at a time or less, we end up having less food to buy (that we won't use up anyway). And, as someone said on another thread about how hard it is to clean and pack up the last day of the trip, planning to eat out or get take-out on the day or two before you leave is a great way to get piece of mind as well.
When we get take-out, we just call ahead and order the main meal and then use the drinks/desserts we have at home. Saves quite a bit of money (we have two kids to help put through college someday in the not-to-distant future). Certainly the restaurants don't make as much as when you eat at the restaurant, but it's still a way of supporting them.
We won't get take-out from Amore because we live on the other end of 30A (unless we decide to have a picnic on the beach on that end of 30A to try both a new beach and a new restaurant...hmmm...that's an idea), but we get take-out anywhere from Rosemary Beach to Seaside and it's still warm when we get home.