ORANGE BEACH, AL — Eric Beech was a smiling man Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend after closing down the Brick and Spoon.

“Best day ever,” he said.

His brunch restaurant on Canal Road is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and he was checking on another of his restaurant interests, the Anchor Bar at Hudson Marina, while spreading the good news.

It was news he had originally shared just three days earlier. In the span of four days during the Memorial Day weekend Brick and Spoon twice set records for gross receipts.

And the story was much the same all over the island as many businesses enjoyed record weekends in the restaurants and the rental management companies.

But not at LuLu’s on the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores. It’s hard to set records when the restaurant is packed out every day.

“There’s not much of difference because when we get that busy on those days there’s not much more you can do,” General Manager Gerald Tipton said. “There’s only so many people you can feed and entertain in our space. We were right on point with previous years. Really great crowds.”

LuLu’s had its traditional LuLuPalooza on May 28 and Tipton said there was a full house all day.

“It’s kind of our kick off to the summer,” he said. “It’s just as much for the staff as it is entertainment for the guests. It went really well. We had three really great bands. Started out with the Sauce Boss. He made some gumbo on the inside stage and rocked it out. He’s a great entertainer.”

On the beach in Gulf Shores officials at the Hangout reported an increase in business there.

“We did really well overall, especially with the launch of our new Pirates and Princesses breakfast show,” Steven Ivans, president of the Hangout Hospitality Group, said. “This was our largest growth segment, along with achieving max capacity for dinner.”

A couple of blocks north of the Hangout, Don Stafford at Ribs and Reds said his weekend business was up 24 percent over the same weekend in 2015.

“We did good business,” Stafford said on Tuesday after totaling the receipts for the weekend.

Back in Orange Beach, Shipp’s Harbour Grill, also on Canal Road, on May 29 had patrons parking in the ditches along the side of the road.

“We’ve been here seven years and it was a record dollar day and a record number day,” Matt Shipp said. “We did just over 1,500 people on Sunday alone. Our restaurant seats 300 so it was a pretty incredible day. We were serving food until 11:30 Sunday night, people were happy, it was a good crowd and a good time.”

Shipp said his record day for the seven years in business was 18 to 20 percent higher than any previous day.

“I think everybody should have done well this weekend,” he said. “It was busy in Orange Beach, the weather was perfect. If you weren’t busy then you probably need to get out of the business.”

Brian Harsany who co-owns Cosmo’s, Cobalt, Luna’s Eat and Drink and BuzzCatz Coffee and Sweets said he set records as well. Cosmo’s and Cobalt were up “double digits,” he said.

Luna’s and BuzzCatz are new ventures that have been open only a few months.

On the rental management side, Meyer Vacation Rentals was up in three categories it measures; condos, houses and the combined total. Condo occupancy was 91 percent this year compared to 88 percent in 2015 and house occupancy was 74 percent versus 67 percent in 2015. The combined numbers saw an occupancy rate of 88 percent this year versus 85 percent in 2015.

“There was some availability left but it was not the preferred Gulf-front properties,” Sarah Kuzma of Meyer said. “Those go first and then people go to the bay fronts and the properties on the beach side of the road but not a Gulf-front view. We have a good variety of views and good mix of economical levels. People can pick their view and price point.”

Luna Beach Properties in Gulf Shores reported a 99 percent occupancy rate in its units. Luna Beach manages a variety of houses and condo units with a total of about 60.

“Every one of our units but one was rented,” Luna Beach’s Pat Lynch said. “Last year all of them rented but because of the Hangout Fest and how the holiday fell we had one house that is a weekly rental that wasn’t booked.”