Alabama
10 quirky Alabama restaurants that are unusual in the best way
Have you ever had dinner in a jail cell? How about a historic schoolhouse or while fresh rolls are being thrown at you? Well, you can because when it comes to unusual places to grab a bite, it turns out Alabama has plenty of ‘em.
This is Alabama recently asked its Facebook followers what the most unusual place to get a meal in the state is, and it stirred up all kinds of quirky restaurants.
From a gas station that serves noteworthy sushi to a saloon located in a cave to a restaurant that’s slowly spinning 300 feet up in the air and even an eatery where you can have fried deviled eggs in a jail cell, Alabama has some very, very unusual places to grab a meal.
You can check out 10 of ‘em below, and you can see the full list of suggestions on the This is Alabama Facebook page.
Rattlesnake Saloon is sheltered by a massive rock overhang.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com
Rattlesnake Saloon
1292 Mt. Mills Road in Tuscumbia
When it comes to one-of-a-kind restaurants in Alabama, Rattlesnake Saloon in Tuscumbia was the first to come to mind for a lot of folks, and given that it’s built into the side of a natural rock cave, it’s easy to understand why. Part watering hole, part restaurant, part live music venue — the Rattlesnake Saloon offers a unique experience of enjoying dinner or lunch, which is offered Thursday through Sunday and includes a menu of sandwiches, salads, barbecue, burgers and more, in a setting unlike any other in the state.
Read more: A saloon in a cave? This Alabama restaurant is more than a novelty
Tannehill General Store
22732 Bucksville Road in McCalla
Are gas stations unusual? Not really, but finding some of the best Southern food in the back of one is, and that’s likely why readers were quick to bring up what’s known as the Tannehill General in McCalla. Tannehill General is a Marathon gas station that doubles as a popular meat-and-three-style eatery known for serving a rotating menu of Southern classics like chicken and dressing, hamburger steak, fried catfish and all the sides to go along with ‘em.
Birmingham’s best gas station food
Bama Bucks Steakhouse and Wild Game Restaurant is located in Boaz, Ala. (Photo courtesy of Terry Turk)(Photo courtesy of Terry Turk)
Bama Bucks Wild Game Restaurant and Steakhouse
292 Bryant Road in Boaz
If you’re looking for an unusual eatery where you can get in an unexpected experience while also trying dishes you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, pay a visit to Bama Bucks Wild Game and Steakhouse Restaurant, open Thursday through Sunday, in Boaz. While there, you can tour the grounds, which have more than 300 animals, including ostriches, black bears, deer and kangaroos. Sit down to a meal of gourmet wild game dishes like Creole-battered gator bites, bison lasagna, elk steak and more.
Read more: Part wild game restaurant, part exotic animal park, Bama Bucks Steakhouse is one of a kind
Main Street Cafe
101 Main Street in Madison
Main Steet Cafe in Madison doesn’t have an unusual name, but it offers diners an unusual experience — the chance to have a meal in a historic jail cell. The cafe, which is open Monday through Saturday, is housed inside Madison’s former city hall, for a dinner setting that’s unlike any other. Plus, with a menu filled with unique dishes like butter crusted chicken pot pie, low country shrimp and grits, fried deviled eggs and more, it’ll be easy to say it was “the best meal you ever had in jail!”
Super crunch roll with shrimp nigiri, miso soup and ginger salad at Bayou Fresh Seafood in Jasper, Alabama.(Mary Colurso | mcolurso@AL.com)
Bayou Fresh Seafood
217 N. Walston Bridge Road in Jasper
Just when you thought a gas station serving up some of the best country cooking in the state was unusual, our readers decided to one-up it by pointing to the Marathon gas station in Jasper that’s home to Bayou Fresh Seafood. Yes, we are suggesting you buy sushi at a no-frills deli attached to a convenience store, and once you try it, you’ll understand why. Not sure what to order from its more than 30 rolls? It’s hard to go wrong when everything is made fresh and to order, but the Super Crunch Roll is a popular pick.
Read more: Six Alabama dishes worth seeking out in June
Reds Little Schoolhouse
20 Gardner Road in Grady
Red’s Little School House in Grady is one of those unique locales that makes a good meal that much better. In business for more than 40 years, it’s open for lunch Wednesday through Sunday and dinner on weekends. Red’s has become known for its made-from-scratch pies, ribeye steaks and hot bar of classic Southern dishes. All of these are served to loyal customers inside a charming building that still very much looks like — from the chalkboards on the walls to the framed historic photos and more — the one-room schoolhouse it once served as.
Read more: Red’s Little Schoolhouse Restaurant teaches diners a thing or two about southern cooking
The Roadkill Café in Elberta. (Kelly Kazek/kkazek@al.com)Kelly Kazek
Roadkill Cafe
25076 State Street in Elberta
The Roadkill Cafe in Elberta likely draws in a lot of first-timers who are simply curious about its head-turning name — not to mention its “you kill it, we grill it” slogan — but its the popular eatery’s weekend lunch buffet of Southern favorites, including some of the best fried chicken in the state, that likely keeps its loyal fanbase coming back. So while the menu might be all that unusual, getting the opportunity to tell people you had lunch at The Roadkill Cafe, and loved it, feels rare enough to garner it a spot on our list.
Read more: 11 small-town Alabama restaurants that serve up big flavor
Lambert’s Cafe
2981 S. McKenzie Street in Foley
While all restaurants serve food, Lambert’s Cafe in Foley has become well-known for also throwing it — at least in regards to its hot and fresh rolls, anyway. In addition to its “throwed rolls,” the popular eatery, which first opened in 1996 and now serves lunch as well as dinner seven days a week, has become an annual stop for many beachgoers headed to the coast thanks to its eclectic menu of home-cooked dishes, including hamburger steak, fried pork chops and chicken pot pie, alongside its lively atmosphere.
Read more: 10 things you might not know about Lambert’s Cafe
Wilson Dam in Florence, as seen from the 360 Grille.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com
360 Grille
10 Hightower Place in Florence
It doesn’t get more unusual than a restaurant, located 300 feet in the air, that is slowly, but steadily, spinning. At the upscale 360 Grille at the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa in Florence, diners can enjoy a one-of-a-kind view of the Tennessee River and the city below while also enjoying steaks, seafood, salads, burgers and more at the state’s only revolving restaurant. Whatever you order, be sure to save room for dessert. That white chocolate cheesecake with peach compote, amaretto whipped cream and chocolate drizzle is a standout too.
Read more: Inside Alabama’s only revolving restaurant: Come for the view, stay for the $36 burger
The Hatter Cafe
4277 Alabama Highway 117 in Mentone
Who doesn’t love a restaurant with a theme? At The Hatter Cafe, you can have everything from a cup of tea to a full-scale meal, all while easily envisioning yourself in Wonderland thanks to the eatery’s charming and relaxed atmosphere. Open Thursday through Monday for breakfast and lunch, The Hatter Cafe offers diners an assortment of eclectic eats — ranging from heart-shaped biscuits to waffle sandwiches, cheddar grit cakes and more — almost as unique as the decor, making it a fun experience for everyone.
Read more: You can have a tea party in this Alice in Wonderland-themed restaurant
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
Alabama
New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten
The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.
The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.
“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”
Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.
Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.
“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”
A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.
“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”
The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.
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