The new, bustling 609 Social Market & Provisions at 609 Bank Street in historic downtown Decatur, AL is filling a long-awaited, much-needed niche in our culinary world. Here you can buy ingredients normally found only in Louisiana for shrimp and crawfish boils along with other coveted provisions AND the freshest possible seafood straight from the Gulf of Mexico, salmon from the Atlantic, or yellowfin tuna from Hawaii. Raw oysters shucked on the spot, anyone? I also spotted some great-looking meat and heard there are plans to expand those offerings and have a farmers market location out the back door.
Even better, you can dine in for lunch or dinner seven days a week. This is both a specialty grocery store AND a restaurant. Steve and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch today with a friendly waitstaff and the chance to visit with friends who were also trying 609 Social for the first time.
As is our habit, we started with the raw oysters.
I enjoyed Shrimp & Grits.
Steve had the Gumbo with a side of grilled shrimp.
We went for the seafood, but the menu included plenty of items for non-seafood lovers. Everything we had was very good, and the other dishes I saw heading to tables looked great, too.
609 Social opened on February 9 to rave reviews, and as news is spreading, business is booming. I believe they have a huge success on their hands.