Alabama Trip

[egurney]

Heading to Alabama next week. I'm staying in Huntsville, Prattville, and Birmingham. Can anybody recommend good beer bars, places to eat?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[forcera]

The J Clyde in Birmingham is by far the best beer bar in the city. Good People is our local brewery in Birmingham. Olde Town brewery is the local brewery in Huntsville.

 

[forcera]

What kind of food do you like?

 

[egurney]

Pretty much anything. Probably would like to try something a little Southern - maybe some good BBQ. Tough to come by in Cleveland

BTW, Thanks for the help

 

[forcera]

Where will you be in Birmingham. There are BBQ Places all over town. One place that I think you should try if you want a really good hamburgers is Milo's they are amazing. The special sauce is so good. When I would go back to college after coming home the last place I would stop would be at Milo's and get a #4 mega sized just sauce with a sweet tea. Its amazing.

Man we love helping people out, its a southern thing.

 

[egurney]

I-65 and 149 on State Farm Parkway.
Looks like there is a Milo's close by. I'll add that to the list of possibles.

I lived in NC for a couple of years before moving back to OH. I remember the hospitality, but I also remember things seemed to move at a much slower pace!

 

[iShadrak]

As far as Bham goes...

+1 on J Clyde. Will have the best selection, especially of the newly available higher gravity beers. I'm also partial to On Tap, Lakeview or the Galleria. Good beer selection and decent food (wings, etc).

If you want BBQ, I'd head downtown to Dreamland for lunch or dinner and then over to the J Clyde for beer.

 

[FreeM80s]

in huntsville come to the nook. Its the only place in huntsville that has a selection of good beers. their menu is on the website http://www.thenooktavern.com/TheNook/Welcome.html
you wont be sorry. they serve food also, but here are some other places:
Gibsons for BBQ
Bandito Burrito for mexican (ask for the green sauce on whatever you get.)
The Chophouse is you want something fancy and $$$
Duffy's Deli (get the white chili with whatever you order)
Big Spring Cafe(its close to bandito, this place is awesome. if you want a cheeseburger, you have to say "I want a hamburger with cheese" not "cheeseburger". You'll have to go to hear the story on that one )

 

[forcera]

If you want BBQ, I'd head downtown to Dreamland for lunch or dinner and then over to the J Clyde for beer.

+1 They are both down on the south side. Dreamland is KNOWN for their ribs. For the longest time at the origional location the only question you were asked was 1/2 or full slab. They are served with sauce and a loaf of white bread.

If you go to the J Clyde you can tell them that some Free the Hops people sent you there. They were REALLY big supporters in getting the abv limits raised in Alabama. We owe a lot to them. They even let one of my homebrew clubs hold meetings there, we can even bring our own beer. They also always get invited to our parties.

Another BBQ place I really like is Miss Myras, 3278 Cahaba Heights Road, Cahaba Heights, AL 35243, they dont have a website. Its not too far from where you will be. They have some of the best white sauce in the city. White sauce is mayo, vinegar, pepper, and lemon juice. Its strictly a North Alabama thing. It was started at Big Bob Gibson's BBQ in Huntsville, if I remember correctly. Thats the only place that I know in Huntsville, but I dont care to know another.

Also if you want to know a little about the beer culture in Alabama click on the link in my signature and watch the video. We are working on changing this, but if you go to a chain place its going to be BMC with little else.

 

[FreeM80s]

also +1 on good people. I would try everything that you can of good people(hopefully you can find some fatso or snake handler). I dont wanna hate on olde town, but good people beers are way better.

 

[brewagentjay]

You got a lot of good suggestions. I must say if your looking for some nice beers and nice talent go to Tilted Kilt. It's pricey but the talent puts hooters to shame.

 

[LeeF]

+1 on the Nook and I've only been to the JClyde once and really liked the atmosphere there. Let us know when you will be in Hsv. Maybe meet for a beer or stop by and try what's on tap at the house.

 

[forcera]

also +1 on good people. I would try everything that you can of good people(hopefully you can find some fatso or snake handler). I dont wanna hate on olde town, but good people beers are way better.

I completely agree. The J Clyde will have most of Good People's beers, they don’t bottle so you have to get it on draft and they have a limited distribution. Olde Town Brewing Company website Good People Brewing Company website

 

[brewagentjay]

If you want a homebrew beer let me know I'm not far from bham and I got a small bar with pool table.

 

[DocBrown]

Another place to try in Huntsville would be "Tim's Cajun Kitchen." Map to Tims
They've got good cajun food. It's a touch on the salty side, but it's still good. They also have a pretty decent selection of bottled beers, which is a plus. I'll give another thumbs up for the Nook. The food isn't much to speak of, but they've got the best beer selection in north Alabama. If you end up out in Madison (west side of Huntsville) you could also head over to Stem and Stein.

 

[StoneHands]

Huntsville, Birmingham, Prattville - sounds like a RTJ trip is in the works...
egurney, your profile says your 41, I'm basing my response on that (I turn 37 tomorrow, I officially hate birthdays now)

Huntsville - It's been too long since I lived there, but I do hear that the Nook is the place to go, click on the link earlier in the thread to get the info.

Birmingham - Definitely check out the J.Clyde, you won't be disappointed. Their food is very good, the beer selection is probably the best in town. Where you're staying, there really isn't a whole lot out there apart from national chains (Outback, etc) so you'll probably have to drive somewhere. Near the Clyde is a decent pizza place, Mellow Mushroom, you can walk there from the Clyde. An earlier suggestion was Milos. Although very good, it is a fast food burger joint - I just want you to know what you're getting into. Their gravy burger is excellent though, don't eat it in the car. Check out Dreamland or Jim n Nicks for BBQ.

Prattville - They have a Jim n Nicks BBQ at exit 179 off of I-65. If you're going to RTJ, this is probably where you're staying. Mostly chain restaurants here too. You could drive south on I-65 a little bit (7 miles or so)and check out Montgomery Brew Pub. They've somewhat revitalized this area, so there are a few other spots to see here as well. Dreamland is one of them.

Hope this helps.

 

[forcera]

An earlier suggestion was Milos. Although very good, it is a fast food burger joint - I just want you to know what you're getting into. Their gravy burger is excellent though, don't eat it in the car.

Should have said something about that. There is an amazing new sit down burger place that opened up not to long ago called Flip Burger. It was started by Richard Blais from Top Chef so it has a bit of Molecular Gastronomy thrown in. They have one in Atlanta and Birmingham. Its really good with a pretty good beer selection.

 

[egurney]

sounds like a RTJ trip is in the works...

Damn good guess. I turned 41 last Sunday...
5 of us are driving down from Cleveland tomorrow, playing 9 rounds in 5 days.
Spending 1 night in Huntsville, 3 in Prattville, and 2 in Birmingham.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. Definately try to hit as many of these as we can.

 

[forcera]

Damn good guess. I turned 41 last Sunday...
5 of us are driving down from Cleveland tomorrow, playing 9 rounds in 5 days.
Spending 1 night in Huntsville, 3 in Prattville, and 2 in Birmingham.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. Definately try to hit as many of these as we can.

Oxmoor Valley or Ross Bridge? Im out at Oxmoor Valley at least one day every weekend. The guy that was brought in to oversee RTJ from the beginning was my little league basketball coach and I'm good friends with his son so I have played there a lot.

 

[egurney]

Oxmoor Valley or Ross Bridge

Both actually. We're playing Oxmoor (Ridge) in the morning and Ross Bridge to finish out our trip in the afternoon.

The guy that was brought in to oversee RTJ from the beginning was my little league basketball coach and I'm good friends with his son so I have played there a lot.

You lucky bastard

 

[forcera]

You lucky bastard

During the summers while in High School we would play 36 holes a day for free. We did have to pay for food. We did have to wait for paying customers but hey I was playing all the golf I wanted for free.

 

[Myrdhyn]

Huntsville stuff:

Beer: the Nook. Hands down.

Up$cale dining unique to Huntsville: 801 Franklin. They also have an amazing winelist, and despite being one of the more expensive places to eat in town, they do have some of the best/cheapest happy hour deals in town in their bar area, and they always have some Olde Towne something on tap.

Cheaper dining: Tim's Cajun Kitchen

Super cheap, actually authentic mexican food: El Cazador

Other food places of note: Surin of Thailand, Thai Garden, and then we have the standard PF Changs, Melting Pot, Mellow Mushroom, etc out at Bridgestreet.

 

[FreeM80s]

Probably would like to try something a little Southern

Blue Plate Cafe. They only serve breakfast and lunch though. Here are links to the some of the places I listed earlier:
Blueplate - http://tinyurl.com/yd9wwjh
Duffy's - http://tinyurl.com/y93rtly
Bandito - http://tinyurl.com/ybug7ce
David Gibsons(make sure its davids, not the other one) - http://tinyurl.com/yc6z9tg
for some reason some of these links are opening in the middle of the page, but the address and a street view of the locations are at the top of the page.

Make sure you go to the nook. I can't stress that enough. They have a huge selection. And for your southern food, Blue Plate is hands down. They usually have a lunch special of like chicken and dumplings or fried porkchops or chicken fried steak with gravy and sides and cornbread. Can't get mo southern than that without a farmers tan and a can of bud light

 

[Myrdhyn]

Ooooh, yeah I can't believe I let that one slip. For breakfast definitely hit up Blue Plate

 

[Jersh]

I know this thread is a few weeks old, but I've been in Birmingham the last few days on business and would like to thank everyone who made suggestions here... I've been to the J. Clyde the last two evenings and that place is phenomenal... I can already tell that I'll be frequenting that place, with my new job I'll be traveling here to Birmingham every other week. I also had dinner at Dreamland tonight... Certainly some incredible BBQ!

Also, for those of you in Birmingham, one of the bartenders at J. Clyde informed me that Stillwater Pub on 7th Street S just tapped a fresh keg of Hopslam yesterday... So after a Jolly Pumpkin Bam Noire, a Bells Oberon, Rogue Brutal Bitter, and a half slab at Dreamland, I stopped by Stillwater Pub and had a pint of Hopslam for dessert! Get it while you can, I suspect that keg will go pretty quickly.

 

[egurney]

A follow up to the OP.
Unfortunately, the guys I went on the trip with weren't really into beer nor trying new things. Thus a lot of nights at national chain type places. Drank a lot of Sam Adams and Jack Daniels.

 

[iShadrak]

Wow, eGurney you definitely missed out. Maybe next time.

Jersh, glad you enjoyed the suggestions. Can't go wrong with that combo.

(Just saw the bit about Big Bob's white sauce. Actually started in Decatur. Grew up on that stuff, and still make it at home today. Now I'm hungry.)