Our Top 10 Must-Eat Restaurants In Alabama

After spending a month in Alabama on our 5 year, 50 state road trip, Shae and I got to eat some excellent food.

Too much food.

I’m pretty sure I put on 5-10 lbs while in the state but to be honest – it was worth it. Burgers, BBQ, donuts and even donut burgers, we had it all.

Here’s our top 10 list of restaurants in Alabama – you’ll see below why we loved them so much. They’re in order of when we visited them rather than in order of our favorites, although the first one listed may well have been Shae’s favorite too.

(n.b. We don’t write sponsored posts, so none of these restaurants did anything to be on this list other than to serve up excellent meals. We paid for all these meals ourselves, other than at Itaewon in Daleville where our friends treated us.)

Montgomery

Chris’ Hot Dogs

Chris’ Hot Dogs is the oldest family-owned and run restaurant in Montgomery, having been in business for more than 100 years. Their hot dogs were delicious – whatever’s in their sauce enhances the taste.

The burger I had was also good, as were their crinkle fries, but their hot dogs are where it’s at – unsurprising given the restaurant’s name.

Martin’s Restaurant

The day of our self-guided walking tour of Montgomery, Janine in the visitor center made a few suggestions of places to eat in the state capital.

One of those was Martin’s Restaurant, an eatery known for serving meat & three – your choice of meat and three sides. Awards for its fried chicken adorned its walls, so that’s what Shae and I both ordered.

They deserve the awards as the fried chicken was some of the best I’ve ever had. The southern sides were also tasty – I went for the mashed potatoes & gravy, string beans and coleslaw.

When visiting Martin’s Restaurant, you also need to try their pies. We got both their chocolate meringue pie and lemon meringue pie; the slices were enormous and were the tallest pies I’ve ever seen.

We were still in Montgomery on Pi Day, so we returned to Martin’s on March 14 to pick up another slice to celebrate.

Martha’s Place Buffet

Another suggestion from Janine in the Montgomery visitor center was Martha’s Place Buffet. If you love southern food then Martha’s Place is the spot for you, but be sure to go there hungry. The candied yams in particular are incredible.

Enterprise

Shane’s Rib Shack

We visited Enterprise for the World’s Smallest St Patrick’s Day Parade (and the Boll Weevil Monument). Within walking distance of our hotel was Shane’s Rib Shack.

Shane’s Rib Shack is a franchise that currently has a presence in ten states, so it’s not like it’s a mom & pop restaurant. Don’t let that put you off though – their sampler plates comes with a ton of food, all of which is excellent.

It comes with ribs, pulled pork, chicken tenders, Texas toast and two sides – I went for baked beans and onion rings. For $12.49, it was great value and was enough food for two meals.

Daleville

Itaewon Korean Restaurant

On our final full day in Enterprise, one of our new friends took us to the US Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker. Afterwards, she and her husband took us for lunch at Itaewon Korean Restaurant in the nearby small city of Daleville.

Despite loving Asian food, this was somehow our first time eating Korean cuisine. I’d always been apprehensive about trying kimchi as fermented cabbage sounded like one of the least appetizing things on the planet. It turns out that my apprehension was misplaced, partly because there’s actually all kinds of different kimchi. We got to try four different types as a starter and I enjoyed them all.

For our entrees, I ordered bibimbap while Shae went for some kind of spicy beef dish (sorry, we can’t remember what it was called). Shae’s meal was excellent, so I wish I’d ordered the same thing; the bibimbap was nice, but I’d have preferred having lots more sauce in there to add some additional flavor, spice and moisture.

Dauphin Island

JT’s Sunset Grill

For dinner on our day trip down to Dauphin Island, we ate outside on the deck at JT’s Sunset Grill. This was Shae’s first time eating soft shell crabs (she liked them), while my seafood platter was also great – the jalapeño hush puppies were the tastiest ones I’ve ever tried.

We have more information about our meal at JT’s Sunset Grill here, but here are a couple of photos of our meals.

Saraland

Foosackly’s

Just outside of Mobile is the city of Saraland which is where we stayed for five nights. Within walking distance of our hotel was Foosackly’s, a small restaurant chain that’s primarily in the Mobile area.

They have an extremely limited menu which consists of chicken fingers, chicken fingers and…chicken fingers.

But they’re amazing chicken fingers.

Shae and I got a portion to share on our way out to Bamahenge and wished we’d gotten separate servings as it was so good.

Gulf Shores

Sassy Bass Crazy Donuts

The same day we picked up Foosackly’s for lunch, we visited Sassy Bass Crazy Donuts for dinner in the evening.

You have to eat here!

We did a full review of Sassy Bass Crazy Donuts, so be sure to check that out for our full experience. For now, here’s one of their donut burgers, a pizza donut and donut sundae.

Mobile

Loda Bier Garten

On our way out of Mobile, we stopped for lunch at Loda Bier Garten on Dauphin Street. With intriguing food options and an extensive beer menu, it’s well worth visiting.

I ordered the Hugh Jass burger, not just because I appreciated its juvenile name, but also because its bun is two syrup-soaked waffles and contains sausage, bacon and a fried egg in addition to the burger.

Shae went for the jalapeño jack pretzel and fried pickles. The first pretzel she got was a little overdone (the one in the photo below), so they brought her another which was much better.

Tuscumbia

Rattlesnake Saloon

The Rattlesnake Saloon is a unique experience. You ride down to the restaurant in the back of a pickup truck, then eat your dinner beneath a huge rock face with a waterfall splashing nearby.

Check out our review of the Rattlesnake Saloon as there’s a whole lot more to the restaurant than what I’ve mentioned above. Here’s a little of what you can expect though, including the seating beneath the rock face, my burger which came with fried jalapeños and Shae’s burger with its excellent fries.

Question

So that’s our top 10 list of must-eat places in Alabama, but how about you? What do you think are the best restaurants in Alabama? Let us know in the comments below.