New features & old favorites will greet shoppers at Orange Beach Rouses

New features & old favorites will greet shoppers at Orange Beach Rouses
Grab-and-go options, Mongolian Grill among new state of the art options
fered

By John Mullen
The new remodel at the Rouses on Perdido Beach Blvd. in the heart of Orange Beach includes more options of grab and go foods to take the cooking out of your vacation and/or your supper plans.
“It’s fully ready and we’re very, very excited and very, very proud to have this new state-of-the-art grocery store right here in Orange Beach,” Rouses Marketing Director Tim Accosta said. “It’s one of Rouses’ best that we’ve done. It’s ready.”
The official grand opening is Wednesday, May 20 but some of the new features are up and running already.
“We added a Mongolian grill and we’ve basically expanded the whole deli and bakery department from what was in here before,” Accosta said. “We have Mongolian bowls. We have chicken, beef, shrimp, vegetables and you got a combination of either rice bowls or noodle bowls. That’s been very popular. It’s available for grab and go and we will also be preparing the dishes right in front of you. That’s the first thing you see when you walk in.”
The supermarket will also now feature several side dishes or bigger dishes that can be warmed up later without messing up the kitchen.
“We also added a chef-inspired case with dishes ready to take home,” Accosta said. “Just pick ‘em up and take ‘em home and heat up for dinner. If you want to get a steak we’ve got some potatoes and other sides ready to go. Broccoli and other stuff, too. That’s also right in the front near the Mongolian grill.
“It’s perfect. If you’re down here visiting on the beach just take it back to the condo and you’re good to go. You’ve got your meal. Check out that chef-inspired case with the potatoes and so forth you can have a home-cooked meal at your condo without doing all the cooking. Just heat it up.”
Louisiana visitors will also get a taste of home from the smoked ribs and seafood cooked out front to a variety of Cajun products throughout the store not readily available in most Alabama stores.
“We’ll have our grill going and we’ll be outside boiling some crawfish and some seafood,” Accosta said. “We’re going to be doing our full-slab ribs on the grill outside and some steaks as well. That’s been a very popular favorite of the crowds down here in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. If you’re coming in from Louisiana and you want to be boiling, get your seafood boil or fish fry all ready to go.”
The grand re-opening includes a special on royal reds starting May 20 for $5.99 a pound. “This is the large 10-15 count royal reds. For that price. These are the big boys. It’s going to be a real popular item I believe,” Acosta said.
Rouses’ meat department and section has been expanded to include not only the steaks they already offer but some new ones and some specialty dishes as well.
“We added a completely new specialty meat case with our choice angus beef and prime beef steaks as well,” Accosta said. “We’ve been doing our fresh sausage made in house ever since we opened up over here. So, we have some beautiful, beautiful steaks bacon-wrapped, pork tenderloins. We have kabobs, New York strip steaks, prime filet, ribeye steaks, green-onion stuffed bacon-wrapped tenderloin, bacon-wrapped stuffed chicken breasts. A lot of great specials in the meat department. We have lobsters and fresh seafood, too.”
Other items include a sushi bar where the rolls are made fresh daily. That includes a $5 roll each day. There will be a fresh-cut counter offering up fruits and vegetables.
For the beach, you can get all the chairs, toys, umbrellas, hats and complete beer and wine section and coolers to take them in for your beach day. There’s even a fishing section that offers tackle and artificial and frozen bait.
A special feature not available in any other Rouses store will greet customers as they come in.
“We have cotton candy and popcorn machines in here making fresh popcorn,” Accosta said. “That’s something fun and the first time we’ve done this in any of our stores. The cotton machine and the popcorn popper right up there in the front.
“It’s a completely different store. It’s loaded up with all the bells and whistles that Rouses is known for. We didn’t have it in Orange Beach.”