Alabama is home to many unique restaurants. In fact, some are so unique that they don't resemble a restaurant at all. One of Alabama's most unique restaurants lets customers dine inside a school bus. That's right. A school bus! Read on to learn more about this restaurant and the unique dining experience it offers.
Huntsville's Taqueria El Cazador is located at 3414 Governors Drive and is one of the city's most unique restaurants.
Known around town as "The Taco Bus," Taqueria El Cazador serves the most delicious, authentic Mexican food. This explains the long line that usually forms during lunch hours.
At this unique Mexican restaurant, you can either dine outside or inside the bus. The dining area inside the bus seats about 10 people. As always, you can order your food to go.
This Alabama Dining Experience Has Been Called One of the Best Restaurants in the U.S.
A favorite Birmingham, Alabama fine dining restaurant for over three decades, Bottega reimagined its look and experience and quickly earned national recognition
A favorite Birmingham, Alabama, fine dining restaurant for over three decades, the "Southern-flavored, Italian-inspired" Bottega has welcomed guests to a reimagined look and experience for the past two years. While expectations were high after closing almost an entire year for renovations in 2022, it raised the bar: In 2023, it was a top-five finalist for the 2023 James Beard Foundation for "Most Outstanding Hospitality." That's probably no surprise to those familiar with the names of restaurateurs Frank and Pardis Stitt.
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Stitt Restaurant Group
Saying the food landscape in Alabama would lack flavor without the Stitts is an understatement, and their hometown of Birmingham shines brighter than any other city for cuisine. With a wandlike wave of their spatulas, the Magic City's kitchen magicians have claimed the whole handful of James Beard Awards bestowed on our state, so far. Stitt and his team have earned half of them.
A quick history of Stitt Restaurant Group, at least in terms of accolades: Stitt opened his first restaurant, Highlands Bar & Grill, in 1982, then Bottega in 1988, the adjoining Bottega Café in 1990, and Chez Fonfon in 2000. He won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2001. Starting in 2009, Highlands Bar & Grill made the finals for 10 years to be named the James Beard Foundation's "Most Outstanding Restaurant" – finally nabbing the honor in 2018. That was an outstanding year indeed for Highlands, with Dolester Miles taking the "Most Outstanding Pastry Chef" award, as well. (Although now retired, Miles' legendary coconut pecan cake isn't going anywhere and is available at Bottega and Chez Fonfon).
Stitt Restaurant Group
While Highlands Bar & Grill remains closed at the time of this writing for renovation and reimagining, it's giving Chez Fonfon, Bottega, and Bottega Café their time to shine. Reservations are recommended for the Bottega Dining Room, which is open Wednesday through Saturday evenings from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m..
Stitt Restaurant Group/Bottega Facebook
Executive Chef Stitt, Culinary Director Adam Grusin, and Chef de Cuisine Julio de la Rosa tailor menu offerings to feature the freshest, in-season ingredients. A beautiful recent main course option featured Maine lobster gnocchi, for example. You can view the most current menus on the Bottega website.
Stitt Restaurant Group
Reservations are not required at the Dining Room Bar if you want to swing by after work for a craft cocktail, glass of wine, or beverage of choice. You may then opt to experience the flavors of Bottega in a more casual mode, and for that, the adjacent Bottega Café is an excellent choice. Reservations are not taken for the café, and you can choose between a seat at the bar, a selection of tables, or the festive patio with twinkling lights overhead. The café is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Stitt Restaurant Group
While the café menu offers a good variety of snacks, main dishes, salads, and sides, people rave about the wood-fired pizzas, which are available in nine different ways. Customer favorites include the White Pie, Butcher's Pie, and an unnamed pie with sweet peppers, chicken, fontina, arugula, and Alecia's tomato chutney.
Stitt Restaurant Group
If this hasn't been enough to keep your mouth watering, be sure to give Bottega a Facebook follow to see more delicious dishes. This fine dining restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, is the perfect destination to make a weekend stay in the Magic City extra special. If you are planning such a trip, take a look at The Westin Birmingham Downtown.
Let us know when you go! We want to hear all about your experience and favorite dishes.
Fluffy biscuits smothered in chocolate gravy? Yes, please. And add a Western omelet stuffed with sauteed veggies and seasoned meats. I will just be over here waiting with my No. 1 Grandma mug full of coffee.
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These are the thoughts I had one recent morning after (finally) visiting Carl's Deli about 20 miles southeast of Decatur on Alabama State Route 67. This roadside diner in Somerville, Alabama, has been on my radar for a while after a few folks recommended it. (While I love discovering good "hole-in-the-wall" highway hidden gems, it's even better to get tips! Please send them my way.)
A longtime friend of mine had heard similar reviews, and she hadn't been, either. It just made sense to check it out for a catch-up over coffee a couple of weeks ago. We happily scrapped our earlier plans to swing by a local chain and made the trek to Carl's instead.
Despite plugging the location into my Google Maps app and knowing it was a straight shot down Highway 67, I still almost missed the unassuming little building. Carl's Deli is located in a former gas station, which even has a large banner along the side. Still, I was expecting something a bit bigger, and it appeared almost too fast for me to slow down. "Hmmm. This is it," I said, my voice tinged with uncertainty.
Look: I know from many experiences that you can find some of the best food you've ever had in little, low buildings like this on rural highways. That is a road-tripping fact that has been in place for generations – long before the Interstate Highway System, chain restaurants at every turn, and, more recently, independent restaurants outdoing one another for the best TikTok and Instagram visuals. I love them all. There's just something extra special to me about these OG places.
After taking in the rustic (and a bit rusty) country-market exterior, the inside is probably what you'd expect. It's small with mismatched, well-worn tables and chairs. And yet a glimpse at all the business cards, notes, and fan art from kids reveals its devoted following.
Here's the understanding at rural roadside gems: If the food prep is tidy, the plates clean, the coffee hot, and the menu enticing – and all served with a smile, no one expects anything the least bit fancy. And the food is probably going to knock your socks off.
Amid the assortment of tables and chairs, of course what stood out was the cutest antique chrome-edged Formica game table. Somehow it was the best-looking little table in there, despite maybe being the oldest. Then, our server brought me a No. 1 Grandma mug for my coffee, and I was sold.
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While it would have felt more special if I actually was a grandma, I like that anyone can be one at Carl's. I mean, I did have on a homely gray cardigan with my hair in a claw-clip bun. And some of my friends are grandmas, so ... I am fine with it.
As I happily pondered these thoughts, our plates arrived. A family wrapping up their meal in the booth next to us helped us make our choices. The mom told us her family had been coming to Carl's for years and that you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu, whether it's breakfast or lunch (the only times it's open).
Our newfound friend and Carl's devotee told us she'd just finished a favorite, the porkchop, so my friend went for it, plus an egg and biscuit soaked in sausage gravy. She approved and was thankful for the tip.
I ordered the Western omelet, thinking of a basic version that usually only has bell peppers, onion, ham, and cheese. I asked the server not to include ham. because I don't eat pork or beef often. There, now, I thought to myself. You can find something hearty and sort of vegetarian anywhere you go. Out comes the plate, and I quickly realized they'd followed orders: No ham, but plenty of massive chunks of sausage and big, crispy squares of bacon.So, that day was an exception in that I did eat pork, and it was delicious. A related note: Our fellow diner told us Carl's sources and processes its meats locally, which a lot of people prefer.
I also ordered a gravy biscuit – yet mine was different and one of Carl's Deli specialties: biscuits with chocolate gravy. I didn't know such a thing existed until high school when a friend's mom treated us to them the morning after her slumber party. I hadn't had one since! We were told someone described trying these chocolate gravy biscuits at Carl's Deli for the first time as "a religious experience." I can understand.Then, my friend suggested we add a little sprinkle of cinnamon from the table shaker. We just assumed that is why the cinnamon was even on the table alongside other more common condiments. We were told adding it to the chocolate gravy biscuits is not a thing, but we suggest you help us make it one. It's fetch.
As we visited the register to pay, we took in the notes for the daily lunch specials. People rave about the meat-and-two country cooking plates at Carl's almost as much as the breakfasts. Other favorites people rave about include burgers, cheeseburgers, and home fries.
After such a big, delicious breakfast, there was no room for lunch for us that day. However, I did enjoy watching the ladies prepare a big batch of fried okra (my favorite!) on the grill. I left with that visual, which will remind me to come back soon for a midday meal.
So happy to have found a new favorite in this roadside diner in Somerville, Alabama. Have you taken the opportunity to stop for a meal at Carl's Deli? We'd love to hear about all of it when you go. If you want to stop and walk off a bit of your breakfast, take Highway 67, about 9 miles back toward Decatur to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. The Flint Creek Trail is an easy, 1.6-mile loop with a pretty boardwalk and views of the water. You can read hiker reviews about the Flint Creek Trail on AllTrails and sign up for an AllTrials Plus membership before you hike to get even more details.
