Ocean Springs
Many restaurant owners in New Orleans have opened new locations in South Mississippi, and now a popular restaurant near Mobile, Alabama, is expanding to the Coast.
The former Rib Crib restaurant on U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs is being remodeled and will open in November as The Elite Pier House Restaurant.
The original restaurant, on the causeway between Mobile and Spanish Fort, serves Gulf seafood, along with steaks, burgers, salads, tacos, pasta and desserts.
Beyond that, the upscale family restaurant delivers something extra for restrictive diets and those eating healthy.
“We have the largest gluten-free menu of any restaurant in the state of Alabama,” said Mark Barber, who owns and operates the restaurant with his wife Janice Barber.
“Almost everything, except for the pasta and hush puppies, is gluten-free, and the hush puppies have their own fryer,” says one of the more than 100 five-star reviews of the restaurant during the last month. “We have food restrictions and can eat here with no worries,” another review says. “Food is consistently good. One of our favorite places in the area.”
More of a good thing
Elite Pier House opened in February 2025 on the causeway, and the menu, service and views make it a destination for locals, travelers and people who drive over from South Mississippi.
“We have been looking to expand,“ Barber said. “We’ve heard great things about the Ocean Springs area,” he said, and they also were considering opening their second restaurant in Orange Beach, Alabama.
With their allergen-free menu, “We developed the concept here of what we believed was very important to our customers and to the community,” he said. The owners of the restaurant that closed in May in Ocean Springs had several other people who wanted to lease the building, Barber said, “and they refused them the lease because they wanted us and our concept in that building.”
Ultimately, it was the local need and the Barbers’ desire to create an upscale family restaurant that swayed them to choose South Mississippi, he said. They want people to come in for the vibe, the relaxed atmosphere and the service. “We’re all about making sure that our customers have an experience that they can’t have any place else,” he said.
“Coming soon” banners wrap the posts at the entrance to The Elite Pier House Restaurant and Bar at the former location of Rib Crib on U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs. Mary Perez Sun Herald Scratch kitchen
Everything is made fresh to order only after the order is placed, Barber said. “We make all our own sauces. We make all our own spices, and part of that is because we wanted to control everything that goes into our food,” he said.
The menu shows which dishes are gluten-free, and he said “All of our fried food is gluten-free.” A shellfish frier protects those with that allergy.
Even desserts, even their bread pudding are gluten-free and delicious, he said.
A flourless chocolate torte joins key lime pie and a gluten-free bread pudding on the dessert menu at The Elite Pier House Restaurant, coming to Ocean Springs this fall. Courtesy of The Elite Pier House Restaurant
The menu has a variety of starters, such as crabby dip, fried green tomatoes, fried snapper bites and crab bisque soup. Their “Shuck Yea” salad is topped with crispy oysters, blue cheese crumbles and bacon.
For the main course, Barber prepares his blackened shrimp Alfredo, along with fish and grits topped with a hot honey peach relish, grass fed steaks, smoked Gouda bacon burgers and a jerk chicken sandwich.
The lunch menu features baskets and to finish the meal are a flourless chocolate torte, key lime pie, crème brûlée and other tempting desserts.
Grass-fed steaks are on the menu at The Elite Pier House Restaurant, coming to Ocean Springs this fall. Courtesy of The Elite Pier House Restaurant
The restaurant also has a full bar and a private meeting and party room.
“The next step is to put our design into it,” Barber said. His wife is from Jamaica, and she will handle the design, transforming the dark red walls into a more tropical and nautical decor befitting the Coast’s new seafood and steak restaurant.
The dining room and bar at The Elite Pier House Restaurant in Ocean Springs are being remodeled ahead of the opening in November. Mary Perez Sun Herald 
The former Rib Crib restaurant on Bienville Boulevard in Ocean Springs soon will be an upscale family restaurant with seafood, burgers, steaks and salads. Hannah Ruhoff Sun Herald file
Mary has won numerous awards for her business and casino articles for the Sun Herald. She also writes about Biloxi, jobs and the new restaurants and development coming to the Coast. She is a fourth-generation journalist.
Dining and Cooking