ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – In a specially called meeting Friday at noon the City Council OK’d liquor licenses for four new restaurants coming into town.

Binimi Bob’s going to the old Shuckers location at the Wharf, Cayman Grill going into the old Gautier location on Canal Road, Brick and Spoon going into the old Café on Canal location on Canal Road and Pleasure Island Tiki at Sportsman Marina were all approved in the meeting.

“If you look at the CVB surveys the top priorities and top enjoyments of our visitors is going out to eat,” Mayor Tony Kennon said. “One of the knocks on our area in the past has been we didn’t have enough variety.

“All these restaurants coming into town really fulfill a need of variety and catching up with the numbers of visitors we’re having as well. It’s only going to be good in my mind. The market will decide where it’s saturated and when too many is too many.”

Kennon says giving visitors more choices will be a plus. He and the council welcomed the new businesses.

“As far as we’re concerned the more diversity and the more we have the better,” he said.

About a dozen or so restaurants are in the works on the Island.  Capt. Kendall’s Gulfgate in the former Fish Camp location already has a liquor license and hopes to open before Memorial Day.

Two new restaurants are coming to The Wharf besides Binimi Bob’s include the 16,000 square foot I Love This Bar by country superstar Toby Keith which will take up two retail spaces on the east side of Main Street. Famed chef Thomas Wolfe will open Wolfe’s Louisiana Pantry in the Rum Runner’s location.

At Orange Beach Marina restaurant guru Johnny Fisher, formally of LuLu’s and The Gulf, is working to rebrand and relaunch two restaurants in the former Calypso Joe’s location downstairs and the former Palms space upstairs.

Next to Cosmo’s, where owners originally planned to expand parking, a building is going up there as well amid speculation another restaurant, possibly a sandwich shop, will accompany the parking.

Others in the works include Fat Daddy’s, a pizza arcade being built on the old Jake’s site on Alabama 182, High Tide Oyster Bar near the Boardwalk shopping center in Gulf Shores and a new Zaxby’s is under construction at the Winn Dixie shopping center in Gulf Shores as well.

Island Wings is preparing to open in the former Sassy Bass/Champs location in Gulf Shores and the former Shaggy’s upstairs at Zeke’s Marina is vacant, but advertisements seeking staff for the location are on Craigslist.

“That’s exciting news for everybody,” Councilman Jeff Silvers said of the new eateries.

Larry Wireman, developer of Caribe and Turquoise Place is opening the new Cayman Grill, but extensive work and renovation to the place has pushed back the target date for opening.

“We’ve passed it already,” Wireman told the council on Tuesday. “End of June, maybe middle of July, somewhere in there. We’ve got something we’re working on with the Feds that we’ve got to get done.”

Caribe General Manager Stan Szabiel said at the Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Forum the newest addition to the company will be much larger than the former Gautier.

“That was an 8,000-square-foot-building originally and we are about doubling the size of that,” he said.