See USA TODAY Network’s Restaurants of the Year 2025
Our local journalists know the food scene in their markets better than anybody. We’ve leveraged their expertise to name our Restaurants of the Year.
While everyone should be proud of Lannie’s Bar-B-Q in Selma for making the USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2025 list — and it is really awesome barbecue — the fact is that Alabama loves to eat out.
We’ve got our own kind of foodies, with 9,750 restaurants to choose from that raked in $12.9 billion in sales in 2023, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Tastes vary across the state and often reflect the communities they’re in — from fine dining, to country cooking, to international flavors, and of course the abundance of seafood from our Gulf Coast. We wanted to shine a spotlight on Alabama’s abundance of eateries, but picking a few would be a difficult task.
So we let the public do it.
What follows a select group of No. 1 reviewed restaurants from across Alabama, as listed by tripadvisor.com. We couldn’t list all of them, but we’ve picked restaurants from the major cities and some really unique ones from smaller areas.
Rattlesnake SaloonWhere: 1292 Mount Mills Road, TuscumbiaHours: Closed during December and January. During November and February, it’s open Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Warm weather months of March-October It’s open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.Info: Rattlesnake Saloon is restaurant and music venue built at the bottom of a bluff in the side of a rock, with waterfalls flowing. It’s a truly unique setting, set inside a natural rock formation with waterfalls. Known for unique burgers, sides and beers. Alcohol is available after 5 p.m. If you’re hungry enough, take a shot at the $60 Gigantor burger combo — a 2-pound burger with all the fixings, a pound of fries, half pound of onion rings, and a pitcher of your favorite drink. Eat it all in less than 45 minutes, and it’s free. Guests gather in the parking lot and ride in together on the saloon taxi. The site has been in the Foster family since 1916, back when the land was used mostly for timber and farming. The shelter where Rattlesnake Saloon exists used to be a hog pen.Website: https://www.rattlesnakesaloon.net/Huggin’ Molly’sWhere: 129 Kirkland St., AbbevilleHours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 5-8 p.m.Info: With a little over 2,300 people, Abbeville is far from being Alabama’s largest city. But as the official home of a witch/ghost named Huggin’ Molly, it has a quaint haunted flavor. That’s right: Huggin’ Molly. It’s said she’s a giant of a woman who spots kids roaming at night, runs up, and gives them a hug. That scene is even depicted on the city’s “Welcome to Abbeville” signs. Take a stroll downtown and you’ll find an amazing family restaurant named after Molly, with equally atmosphere and food. They’re well known for their burgers, but have a full menu that includes daily lunch specials, daily soups, appetizers, sandwiches and more, seafood, steaks and more. Before — and after — you eat, take time to look around the antiques. This place and its recipes are traditions of the Rane family. The service is excellent here also. Seriously, when you eat here, you’ll want to give your server and the cook a great big hug.Website: https://www.hugginmollys.com/CentralWhere: 129 Coosa St., MontgomeryHours: Tuesday-Saturday, 5:30-9 p.m.Info: In the heart of downtown Montgomery, Central has made a name for itself through cooking with local and interesting ingredients. Locally owned, Central is in what used to be an 1890s warehouse space. It has exposed brick, flickering gas lanterns, and a busy open kitchen. Their full fine-dining menu features a variety of entrees: seafood, pork, steaks, chicken and beef, and can accommodate a variety of dietary needs. The executive chef is Jason McGarry, who has worked across the South and says he lives by “my knife, my heart and integrity.”Website: https://central129coosa.com/Connors Steak & SeafoodWhere: 345 The Bridge St., HuntsvilleHours: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.Info: Connors Steak & Seafood specializes in aged steaks and fresh seafood, as well as gourmet salads, pastas and more. Their Huntsville location opened in 2008 as the second of seven Connors locations, located in Alabama, Tennessee (2), Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida (2). In 2023 Connors Huntsville was named an OpenTable “Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America.”Website: https://www.connorsrestaurant.com/index.html
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Drexell & Honeybee’s Donations Only RestaurantWhere: 109 Lee St., BrewtonHours: Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.Info: Delicious food gets served with a side of empathy and support at Drezell & Honeybee’s, where a $5 donation equals one full meal and an experience that restores dignity. Founded by Lisa and Freddie McMillan, this donations-only restaurant began as a way to feed the community’s hungry population, especially the senior citizens. It started as a hot food delivery service, and eventually moved into its brick and mortar location. Their recipes are simple, requiring few ingredients, and they share how to make them on their YouTube channel. Along with working hard in their community, they invite people from other areas to come and see what they do, and maybe go back and start their own donations-only restaurant.Website: https://drexellandhoneybees.com/Avenue PubWhere: 2230 University Blvd., TuscaloosaHours: Sunday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m.Info: Avenue Pub has an original take on pub classics, plus craft beers and fresh cocktails. Among its full menu offerings are burgers, seared pork ribeye, salmon, parmesan chicken and more, plus a variety of sides and cocktails. Menu items are made in-house, by hand daily. Many of the ingredients come from local food purveyors. The Tuscaloosa location opened in 2014.Website: https://www.avepub.com/Top O’ The RiverWhere: 1606 Rainbow Drive, GadsdenHours: Monday-Thursday 5-9 p.m., Friday 5-10 p.m., Saturday 4-10 p.m., Sunday noon-8 p.m.Info: Top O’ The River is a family owned catfish and seafood restaurant, with Alabama locations in Gadsden, Anniston, Guntersville, plus one in Michie, Tennessee. The Gadsden location was its second one, which opened in 1983. Known as “Catfish Exceptionale,” features hearty food portions cooked to order and made fresh daily. “Two things that set us apart are our service to our customers and unique menu item like fried dill pickles and mustard greens,” the restaurant writes.Website: https://www.topotheriverrestaurant.com/Dauphin’sWhere: 34th floor, 107 St. Francis St., MobileHours: Jazz Brunch every Sunday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Lunch Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Happy Hour Monday-Friday 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. and Saturday 4-6 p.m. (drinks only). Dinner every Monday-Thursday, 3:30-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 3:30-10 p.m.Info: Looking for casual fine dining with a view of Mobile’s skyline? Dauphin’s is the place, which was named “The Most Beautiful Restaurant in Alabama “ by MSN. The menu spans every flavor of French Creole. Dauphin’s has a “classy casual” dress code.Website: https://www.godauphins.com/El Barrio Restaurante Y BarWhere: 2211 2nd Ave. N., BirminghamHours: Monday-Thursday 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday Brunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.Info: El Barrio, which means “the neighborhood,” offers multi-regional Mexican -inspired cuisine, prepared with seasonally sourced produce, Gulf seafood, and humanely farm-raised meats. They have options for vegeterians and vegans. No reservations are required.Website: https://www.elbarriobirmingham.com/
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at [email protected]
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Publish date : 2025-02-11 21:00:00
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