The Humble Homestyle Restaurant In Alabama That’s Been Owned By The Same Family For Over 56 Years

For the best comfort food in Enterprise, Alabama, people know to cut a trail to Cutts Restaurant. While many people know Enterprise for its quirky boll weevil statue, those cotton-hungry critters and how they diversified the economy is a different story. Well, except for the hungry part, because I promise you will be after you read all about Cutt’s. Pull up a seat at the table and let me tell you more.

Cutts Restaurant is a fourth-generation, family-owned country-cooking mecca that opened in 1967. Would you believe it all began with a chili dog?

At first, the business was a grocery store in Level Plains. Hubert and Pearlie Bell Cutts owned the store. It was there that Pearlie Bell and one of their children, Larry, created what they believed to be the perfect chili dog. Customers agreed.

In 1971, the Cutts sold the store and opened Cutts Snack Bar in Enterprise a year later. While the menu expanded somewhat, the famous chili dog remained.

Seven years passed, and the Cutts expanded again. By this time, son Larry and his sister, Ellen, took over after their parents retired.

This time, both the menu and the building grew. The dining room accommodates up to 160 people, which is good because it stays busy.

As for the food options, the Cutts added a large cafeteria-style buffet with a dizzying list of choices. It’s helpful to check out the lunch and dinner menus to know what is being offered each day of the week.

The buffet overflows each day with at least four options for meat (sometimes seven!), a dozen or so vegetables or other sides like rice, and always five types of pie.

Cutts also makes special desserts like peach cobbler. People say the banana pudding is the bomb, not to mention that it looks like a work of art. Are you seeing this masterpiece of a meringue?

Back the Cutts family story. In 1992, the third generation took over the restaurant when Larry retired. His son, Rick, and his wife, Liane, brought Cutts into a new era with a catering service. Meanwhile, Ellen keeps the kitchen consistently turning out the delicious food people have come to expect for so long.

In 2022, Ashton Cutts became the fourth generation to run the restaurant. The beloved chili dog still hasn’t gone anywhere – far from it!

Author M.C. Dixon, who is Ashton’s cousin and daughter of Rick Cutts, created The Adventures of Larry the Hotdog. In each story, the hotdog hero learns and shares all about his day shadowing different friends in technical and skilled careers.

The chili dog remains the star of the short-order menu. You can order the classic or add cheese or slaw.

Other short-order options include burgers; barbecue, steak, and chicken sandwiches; barbecue nachos; several wraps; loaded baked potatoes; and several sides like fries, potato salad, onion rings, and baked beans.

Have you had the chance to go for the quintessential comfort food at Cutts? We hope you’ll share a comment so everyone will know what to try next. You can access menus and daily specials on the Cutts Restaurant website and keep an eye on extra-special menu items announced via the Cutts Restaurant Facebook page.

Meanwhile, if you’re planning a visit to Alabama’s beautiful wiregrass region, we recommend the highly-rated Fairfield Inn & Suites-Enterprise for a relaxing stay. It's a comfortable and accommodating place, and let's face it: You will probably need a nap after you eat.