Alabama
What is your favorite Alabama food brand? Chefs give their picks
In Alabama, we are blessed with a bounty of food brands that are famous not just in our state but nationwide.
From Conecuh Sausage to Golden Eagle Syrup, Wickles Pickles to Sister Schubert’s.
In the latest installment of our “Ask an Alabama Chef” series, we put the question to chefs, pitmasters and restaurateurs from around the state:
What is your favorite Alabama food brand, and how do you use it in some of your dishes?
Continue reading below to find out what they said.
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The Golden Flake brand is still around, although the potato chips are no longer made in Birmingham but instead in owner Utz Quality Foods’ factory in Hanover, Pa.(Birmingham News file/Frank Couch)
Golden Flake potato chips
Sadly, Golden Flake potato chips aren’t made in Alabama anymore since new owner Utz Quality Foods bought the brand and moved production to Hanover, Pa., last year.
But the beloved Alabama brand — which the late, legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant made famous on his iconic TV show — lives on.
And Golden Flake chips are still a favorite of pitmaster Van Sykes, who sells them with his barbecue and burgers at Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q in Bessemer.
“For over 60 years, I’ve merchandised Golden Flake chips,” Skyes says. “That’s one Alabama product I’ve sold a lot of. There’s just something about the Golden Flake brand.
“My daddy used to tell me that a perfect meal is a barbecue pork sandwich, a bag of Golden Flake Chips and a glass of tea,” Sykes adds. “That was the preferred side item back in the day. It sold like french fries.”
Closing of Golden Flake factory in Birmingham leaves warm memories of hot chips
The Wickles Pickles brand was founded in Dadeville in 1998 by brothers Will and Trey Sims and their friend Andy Anderson. Wickles Pickles
Wickles Pickles
Chef Rob McDaniel of Helen in Birmingham — who is a five-time James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: South — is a loyal fan of Alabama’s own Wickles Pickles.
And not just because they are “wickedly delicious,” as the slogan goes.
“Wickles is my favorite Alabama-made product.,” McDaniel says. “Not only are they amazing, but the owners are also family. So call it biased, if you will.”
(Earlier this year, the owners of Dadeville-based Wickles Pickles announced they have sold to the Fenwick Food Group, an operating platform for food businesses that include Alabama’s Moore’s Marinades. Its headquarters will be in Birmingham, the company said in a news release.)
15 things you might not know about Wickles Pickles
Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon is cured, smoked, sliced and packaged in Fairhope.(Photo courtesy of Bill E.Stitt; used with permission)
Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon
Brody Olive, the head chef at Voyagers in Orange Beach and the reigning Great American Seafood Cook-Off champion, is loyal to a fellow Baldwin County business, Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon in Fairhope.
Olive not only uses Bill-E’s bacon in some of his dishes at Voyagers but also at the other restaurants on the Perdido Beach Resort property, he says.
“My favorite thing, when we get our first batch of real tomatoes, it’s like everything stops in the kitchen and we make one super BLT out of like a three-foot chunk of ciabatta,” Olive says.
“Our oysters Rockefeller has Billy-E’s bacon in it, and we do a blue mac and cheese that it’s incorporated in,” he adds.
Olive has been supporting Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon since founder Bill E. Stitt started marketing his “serenaded by songwriters” bacon about a decade ago.
“When he first started in the market, (ours) was one of his first restaurants to pick up his products,” Olive says. “And it’s been just as consistent today as it has been since the first samples I ever got from him.”
Olive buys Bill-E’s bacon straight from the source, he adds. Every week, someone from his restaurant makes the near-hour drive to Fairhope to get it.
“Different guys will go pick it up, so they have an opportunity to see what’s going on over there,” he says. “It’s a very pretty drive as well.”
Bacon is Bill E. Stitt’s business, and business is good
Golden Eagle Syrup has been made in Alabama since Victor and Lucy Patterson started their family-run company in 1928.(Birmingham News file/Frank Couch)
Golden Eagle Syrup
Golden Eagle Syrup — a family-owned brand founded in 1928 and made in a factory in downtown Fayette for the past 80 years — is a breakfast staple in many Alabama homes.
It’s also a favorite of Linda Smelley, the longtime proprietor of the Historic Waysider Restaurant in Tuscaloosa.
“We use it for our pecan pies,” Smelley says, “and then, in general, people want it for their biscuits.”
For the recipe to that famous Golden Eagle Syrup pecan pie, as well as other recipes, go here.
Golden Eagle Syrup is the ‘Pride of Alabama’
Alecia’s Tomato Chutney is a favorite of James Beard Award-winning Birmingham chef Frank Stitt, who uses it on a roasted sweet pepper and tomato chutney pizza that he serves at his Bottega Cafe.(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
Alecia’s Tomato Chutney
Ashley McMakin, the founder and CEO of Ashley Mac’s Kitchen in Birmingham, is a fan of Alecia’s Tomato Chutney from Alecia’s Specialty Foods in Leeds.
McMakin says she was inspired by Birmingham chef Frank Stitt, who uses Alecia’s Tomato Chutney on a pizza he serves at Bottega Café, the recipe for which he shared in his Bottega Favorita cookbook.
“We’ll use it at home on homemade pizza, or I make a little aioli with it and put it on pork or fish,” McMakin says. “My family all likes it, too, so it makes me like it even more since everybody agrees on it.”
Alecia’s Tomato Chutney is available at Alabama Goods, New York Butcher Shoppe and other specialty markets around the state.
Conecuh Sausage is a family owned and operated business than began in the Conecuh County town of Evergreen in 1947. (Frank Couch / The Birmingham News)The Birmingham News
Conecuh Sausage
Not surprisingly, one of Alabama’s most famous food brands, Evergreen’s Conecuh Sausage, is the favorite of at least three of our chefs.
Brian Mooney of Tre Luna Bar & Kitchen in Hoover says he uses Conecuh Sausage in an appetizer his Tre Luna catering company serves.
“At the catering company, we do this mini-homemade cheese biscuit with Conecuh Sausage and it’s one of our top-selling hors d’oeuvres,” Mooney says. “People go crazy for it.”
Crystal Peterson of Yo’ Mama’s restaurant in Birmingham says her mother, Denise Peterson, uses Conecuh Sausage to enhance the shrimp and grits they serve at Yo’ Mama’s.
“The seasoning in the sausage is so on-point you don’t have to add anything to it,” she says. “It adds flavor to the dish.”
Meanwhile, world champion Alabama pitmaster Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur says he uses Conecuh Sausage more than any other Alabama-made food brand.
“It’s a great ingredient in barbecue paella, barbecue gumbo, grilled pizza, or in its simplest form, with a heavy char and stone-ground mustard,” he says.
“A little-known fact,” Lilly adds. “I won the World’s Best Sausage at the American Royal (World Series of Barbecue) using Conecuh.”
14 tasty Conecuh Sausage dishes at Alabama restaurants
NOTE: Our “Ask an Alabama Chef” series appears periodically on AL.com. To suggest a question or recommend a chef, email bcarlton@al.com.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBMA) — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is asking a federal court to allow the state to use its own congressional district map ahead of the May 19 primary, arguing that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has changed the legal landscape for voting rights redistricting challenges.
Marshall filed an emergency motion with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama seeking to lift injunctions that have blocked Alabama from using the congressional map enacted by the Legislature. The request follows what Marshall described as a landmark Supreme Court ruling last week that “significantly changed the legal standards governing voting rights redistricting claims.”
In that ruling, the Supreme Court held that states have authority to draw district lines based on political and traditional geographic considerations, and that challengers must show race — not partisan politics — drove a state’s decisions. The court also held that pointing to racially polarized voting patterns alone is not enough to prove a violation without also showing the voting patterns could not be explained by party affiliation.
“The Supreme Court has confirmed that the claims that led to the injunctions against Alabama’s map are no longer viable,” Marshall said. “We are asking the court to lift those injunctions so that Alabama can conduct its congressional elections using the map its legislature lawfully enacted.”
The filing is the latest in a series of actions Marshall has taken since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. On April 30, Marshall filed emergency motions with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to vacate the congressional map injunctions and remand the cases. On May 4, he filed a separate emergency motion with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to lift injunctions involving a different set of maps — Alabama’s state Senate districts.
The motion filed today asks the original district court that issued the congressional map injunctions to stay its own orders while appeals continue.
Gov. Kay Ivey has called the Alabama Legislature into a special session this week to prepare for the possibility that elections may proceed under the state’s map. Marshall asked the court to rule no later than 3 p.m. tomorrow, May 6, saying the state needs time to make preparations before the primary.
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“Alabama deserves the same opportunity as every other state to conduct its elections in an orderly manner using a map drawn by its own legislature,” Marshall said. “I will continue to do everything in my power to make that a reality. We are confident the court will recognize that last week’s Supreme Court decision requires a fresh look at these injunctions.”
Every April, Alabama football sends a fresh batch of players to the NFL via the NFL draft.
This past April, the Crimson Tide’s streak of having at least one player selected in the first round reached 18 straight years when offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor went to the Miami Dolphins with the 12th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
One pick later, the Los Angeles Rams made the most stunning move of the draft when they selected quarterback Ty Simpson 13th overall.
Alabama’s 18-year streak of having at least one player selected in the draft is the longest in college football history. The Ohio State Buckeyes are second to Alabama, having had a player drafted in the first round in 11 consecutive years. The Georgia Bulldogs have now done it nine years in a row.
The Crimson Tide had 10 players taken overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Germie Bernard was a second-round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Alabama had seven players drafted on Day 3: LT Overton (fourth round, Dallas Cowboys), Parker Brailsford (fifth round, Cleveland Browns), Justin Jefferson (fifth round, Cleveland), Josh Cuevas (fifth round, Baltimore Ravens), Domani Jackson (sixth round, Green Bay Packers), Tim Keenan III (seventh round, Rams), and Jam Miller (seventh round, New England Patriots).
As for which team has the most Alabama players on its roster after the draft? Take a look.
Which NFL teams have the most Alabama football players?
Here’s a breakdown of Alabama players on current NFL rosters following the 2026 NFL Draft.
- Philadelphia Eagles: 9 — DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Tyler Steen, Cameron Latu, Jihaad Campbell, Byron Young, Deontae Lawson, Jaeden Roberts, Jalen Hurts (Alabama/Oklahoma)
- Atlanta Falcons: 5 — Da’Shawn Hand, Tua Tagovailoa, Christian Harris, DeMarcco Hellams, Brian Robinson
- Detroit Lions: 4 — Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch, Terrion Arnold
- Seattle Seahawks: 4 — Jarren Reed, Josh Jobe, Jalen Milroe, Robbie Ouzts
- Baltimore Ravens: 3 — Derrick Henry, Marlon Humphrey, Josh Cuevas
- Carolina Panthers: 3 — Bryce Young, John Metchie, LaBryan Ray
- Cleveland Browns: 3 — Jerry Jeudy, Parker Brailsford, Justin Jefferson
- Dallas Cowboys: 3 — Quinnen Williams, Tyler Booker, LT Overton
- Denver Broncos: 3 — Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Surtain II, Que Robinson
- Green Bay Packers: 3 — Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney, Domani Jackson
- Los Angeles Chargers: 3 — Dalvin Tomlinson, JK Scott, Justin Eboigbe
- Los Angeles Rams: 3 — Ty Simpson, Tim Keenan III, Nikhai Hill-Green
- New England Patriots: 3 — Christian Barmore, CJ Dippre, Jam Miller
- New Orleans Saints: 3 — Anfernee Jennings, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Dashawn Jones
- Cincinnati Bengals: 2 — Jonathan Allen, Jordan Battle
- Houston Texans: 2 — Will Anderson Jr., Henry To’oTo’o
- Miami Dolphins: 2 — Ronnie Harrison Jr, Kadyn Proctor
- Minnesota Vikins: 2 — Dallas Turner, Will Reichard
- New York Jets: 2 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, Malachi Moore
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2 — A’Shawn Robinson, Chris Braswell
- Tennessee Titans: 2 — Calvin Ridley, JC Latham
- Arizona Cardinals: 1 — Mack Wilson
- Buffalo Bills: 1 — Phidarian Mathis
- Chicago Bears: 1 — Jedrick Wills Jr.
- Indianapolis Colts: 1 — Tim Smith
- New York Giants: 1 — Evan Neal
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 1 — Germie Bernard
- San Francisco 49ers: 1 — Mac Jones
- Washington Commanders: 1 — Daron Payne
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 0
- Kansas City Chiefs: 0
- Las Vegas Raiders: 0
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook, for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
MOBILE, Ala. (WSFA) – Four of the six Republican candidates seeking to be the GOP’s nominee for Alabama’s open U.S. Senate seat are set to take part in a forum Monday evening.
WSFA 12 News will carry the forum live at 6 p.m. on our website, as well as our news and smart TV apps, and on our Facebook and Youtube channels.
The forum is being hosted by the Azalea City Republican Women of Mobile.
The participants include Seth Burton, Dale Shelton Deas Jr., Steve Marshall, and Rodney Walker.
Rep. Barry Moore and Jared Hudson are not participating.
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Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.
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