Come On In, Sit Where You Please: The New American Legion Restaurant on the Bay
The sign at the front door of the new American Legion building in Fairhope sets the tone before anyone reaches the host stand: “Come on in, Sit where you please, and be at Ease.” On the bay at 700 South Mobile Street, “at ease” turns out to mean exactly what it sounds like. The brand-new restaurant and bar at American Legion Post 199, open to veterans and civilians alike, has quietly become one of the most interesting seats on Mobile Bay — with a view, a menu, and a story to match.
Club Manager Bobby Kilpatrick got word on a Wednesday that the grand opening would happen that Saturday, a timeline that would rattle a seasoned operator. “Opening the doors is the hardest part, and I didn’t think we were ready, but we did it, and everybody was happy!” he says. The rush worked because the man running the floor has done nearly every job a restaurant can have.
A Fairhope Restaurant Career in One Resume
Kilpatrick was born and raised in Fairhope, and his first job out of Fairhope High School was washing dishes at Ben’s Barbecue. From there he worked his way through the town’s dining landmarks: barback at the legendary Judge Roy Bean’s, prep cook at 14 South, head chef at Gambino’s — where he met his wife of 21 years, Jenny — and bartender and server at the Wash House. Along the way he moved behind the scenes too, investing in and opening My Place, Plow, the Bone and Barrel, and the Little Whisky Christmas Club with partner Noelle Broughton.
The pandemic era ended that chapter. Between COVID closures and the months-long construction of Fairhope’s Arts Alley, which choked off access to the restaurants on the alley, the businesses could not recover. Kilpatrick and his partners sold, and for the first time in his life he drafted a resume and planned to find a steady nine-to-five.
The plan lasted about three months. Frank Thrasher, an executive committee member at the Legion and a longtime friend, called to ask if he would consider running the post’s new club. The fit was obvious: a hometown operator with a lifetime of local relationships, running a hometown institution’s newest venture. “I have hand-picked the staff, some I’ve worked with before, and some I just know, and they are all amazing!” he says. “The support from the Legion, specifically Commander Dale Taylor, has been great — they will do anything that I ask.”
Open to Everyone
One of the best-kept secrets about the new Legion restaurant is that anyone can walk in. The dining room and bar are open to the public — no membership, no veteran status required. Hours run from 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 to 11 p.m. on Saturdays, and 4 to 10 p.m. on Sundays, with live music two or three nights a week.
The menu leans American and reasonably priced, and Kilpatrick is still building: a new menu is in the works, and more American memorabilia is on its way to the walls. One of the dining rooms converts into a conference room for meetings and private parties, giving the post a flexible space it has never had before. Regulars are already evangelizing about the rosemary fried oysters, and the second-best feature of the room costs nothing at all — the view of the bay.
A Post That Feeds Its Community
American Legion Post 199 has been part of Fairhope’s civic fabric for generations, and the restaurant gives the post a new way to fund its mission while welcoming the town inside. The model is simple: good food and drink by the water, with proceeds supporting the Legion’s work for veterans and their families. It is a version of the “third place” idea that has mostly disappeared from American Main Streets — a room where the price of admission is showing up.
Service, Continued
Kilpatrick sums up the job with a line that explains why the post wanted him and why regulars keep coming back. “I didn’t get to serve my country,” he says, “but I can serve our veterans.” For a man who has spent his whole career feeding Fairhope, the Legion post is both a homecoming and a purpose — running a room where veterans feel at home and everyone else is equally welcome.
The post’s leadership has treated the restaurant as an investment in that idea, and the early returns — packed rooms, live music nights, and a steady flow of diners who arrive for the oysters and stay for the sunset — suggest they were right. For Fairhope, a town that has grown fast enough to lose some of its institutions, it is worth noting when a new one opens its doors with a sign that promises ease. At 700 South Mobile Street, they mean it.