Bud & Alley's Waterfront Restaurant Receives Golden Spoon Hall Of Fame Award

So many great memories and so many delicious meals and sunset toasts! Congratulations to one of our favorite restaurants in SoWal for receiving the highest honor from Florida Trend Magazine.

For five decades the magazine has selected the best restaurants in Florida and honored them with the annual Golden Spoon Award. Bud & Alley's Waterfront Restaurant has won so may times they are now included in the Golden Spoon Hall of Fame, the magazine's highest culinary honor which designates Bud & Alley’s as one of the Top 20 restaurants in the state of Florida. Bud & Alley’s is one of only two restaurants selected in Santa Rosa Beach. The classic Golden Spoon recognizes outstanding fine dining restaurants that have demonstrated consistency in high standards and longevity.

Since Dave Rauschkolb founded the beloved restaurant on the Gulf in Seaside in 1986, Bud & Alley’s set the standard for culinary excellence along Scenic Highway 30A. Bud & Alley’s, South Walton’s longest established restaurant, pioneered the farm- and sea-to-table movement in Seaside and SoWal. Its devotion to serving dishes with the freshest possible ingredients offered on its breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.

Bud & Alley's owner Dave Rauschkolb toasts the crowd and reminisces during his restaurant's 30th anniversary celebration on January 20, 2016.

Bud & Alley’s is still housed in its original wood-frame structure that accommodates an intimate downstairs bar. Over the years, the restaurant expanded with a gracious dining room, a series of porches and an open-air gazebo. Upstairs, the popular open air roof-deck is open to the sky with panoramic views of the Gulf and Seaside; the nightly sunset celebration and bell ringing is one of Scenic 30A’s most beloved traditions. Plans are already underway for additional enhancements to give guests an even better dining experience in 2018 and beyond.

In Florida restaurant circles, the Golden Spoon Hall of Fame Award is a prestigious honor reserved for a select few. Only a few dozen restaurants in the entire state of Florida have attained this achievement. The top honors were announced in the December issue of Florida Trend magazine. 

“As we enter our third decade, this award continues to be meaningful and it’s such an honor to be recognized by Florida Trend in this way,” said Bud & Alley’s founder/owner Dave Rauschkolb. “I am so proud of my staff and all the wonderful people who have contributed all these years to Bud & Alley’s success.”

Since 1977 Florida Trend has recognized the Sunshine State’s finest restaurants with Golden Spoon Awards. A restaurant’s décor, food, and service are considered during the evaluation process. In addition to the 2012 elevation to the Hall of Fame, Bud & Alley's has won a Golden Spoon Award the past 10 years in Florida Trend’s annual tribute to culinary excellence.

In addition to the Florida Trend Magazine’s Golden Spoon Hall of Fame Award, Bud & Alley’s has garnered numerous awards including several Visit South Walton's Perfect in South Walton Awards for Best Seafood Menu, Best Gulf to Table Menu and Best Sunset View and named to several prestigious lists such as 10 Best Restaurants in the South by CultureTrip.com.