Anyone here live in the Gadsden area?

[Love the Ping]

I am going to moving to the area soon and am trying to get some tips on where to stay and where not to. What are good areas to live? What are areas to avoid? Also, any other tips on good restaurants, or anything else to see and do in the area would be awesome. You can simply respond here or you can PM me if you wish. Thanks a bunch.

 

[TheDon24]

I live about 30 minutes from Gadsden. I don't know about where to live, but they have a pretty good mall and there is a chili's and red lobster there, along with a nice seafood restaurant, Top Of the River.

 

[bayoutider]

Stay out of East Gadsden.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Live in Southside. I grew up in Gadsden..............horrible place.

 

[Tider@GW_Law]

Mater's and Beans 'n' Greens are two good restaurants in Gadsden.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Mater's and Beans 'n' Greens are two good restaurants in Gadsden.

I think that Maters went out of business.

 

[Bama Reb]

My mother's family was from Gadsden, and I've visited there many, many times since I was little. I also have customers who live there now.
I agree with XXL TideFan. Horrible place.

 

[Love the Ping]

Well guys, I'm moving to the area, so whether it is horrible or not, that really doesn't help me.

Any more, "Live in Southside," or "stay out of East Gadsden" type tips would be appreciated though.

I'm not locked in to living in Gadsden. I am working there, but I don't mind a short commute. Any info on Attalla, Glencoe, Hokes Bluff, Rainbow City, or Southside would be appreciated as well.

 

[BamaLaw]

Maters is still in business--or at least it was about a month ago. Pizza just as good as ever!

You've been given some pretty good info.

I grew up in Etowah County. Graduated from Etowah High School in Attalla. Then moved with the family to Glencoe for one year and then the family moved to Southside and I moved to Tuscaloosa. Mom and a sister still live in Southside. Grandmother still lives in Attalla. The Gadsden area is certainly not at the top of my list of places to live/work; however, there are worse--much worse. The Gadsden area is blessed/cursed with an abundance of your typical chain restaurants. Establishments of a local nature tend to come and go; however, Top O' the River and Maters are two that have stood the test of time. If I were to be moving to the Gadsden area, I would look first to Southside or the Rainbow City area, followed by the Glencoe/Hokes Bluff area. I'd look on the mountain before I'd look to Attalla or elsewhere in Gadsden. As Bayou suggests, I'd stay away from East Gadsden!...actually North Gadsden, West Gadsden, and South Gadsden, too. BTW: Southside is a municipality down Hwy 77 South--not to be confused with south Gadsden, which is the south part of Gadsden.

 

[bayoutider]

I have friends who live in the Rainbow City, Southside area and it is one of the better areas there. Don't remember that much about Glencoe or Hokes Bluff maybe there is some new housing springing up there since I have been away. Living on the River, on the Mountain, Rainbow City, Southside or in Gadsden Proper used to be the best places. There are some nice places around the Country Club on Rainbow Drive. East Gadsden became a ghetto pretty full of gangs and drugs unless it has been cleaned up.

 

[bamapuppy]

I grew up in Rainbow City. Would recommend either Rainbow City, or Southside. Also, Top of the river has the best Greens in the world.

 

[Love the Ping]

Thanks for all the responses. I've narrowed my list to Rainbow City and Southside and am heading up later this week to look at a few places. Appreciate everything.

 

[deliveryman35]

Life-long 40 yr Gadsden resident/visitor here....Southside is the trendy place to now live in the area. "living on the mountain" used to be the status symbol seemingly everyone wanted to have, but is no more, although I personally love noccalula and intend to move up there some day myself. And Bayou is right--there are parts of EAst Gadsden/Glencoe that I would go out of my way to avoid, but the whole area is not that bad. The Tuscaloosa Ave area, at least the stretch of it that runs from Alabama City to the river, is probably the worst part of town and has been for years. Plenty of street- walkers and drugs around that ghetto.

As far as restaurants go, Top of the River is great--great atmosphere and good country food and catfish. Unfortunately, outside of that, chain restaurants are about all you have. IMO, Pruitts, all the BBQ restaurants including Dad's and Uncle Sam's, are all OVER RATED. Beans and Greens in Hokes Bluff/BallPlay is decent and serves a great breakfast buffet that will also cook to order, and there is diner called the West Gadsden Cafe downtown that is pretty good if you like a meat and three type lunch. The mall leaves much to be desired, although there is some renovation going on right now with the JC Penney addition. Ruby Tuesdays is pricy, but the food is decent for a chain restaurant. If you like Mexican, El Tapatio is really good. They have a location on both the river and in RBC. Also, as Bama Law pointed out, Maters downtown has a great rep as italian restaurant/pizzaria, although somehow I have never made it over there to personally try it.

 

[bayoutider]

Life-long 40 yr Gadsden resident/visitor here....Southside is the trendy place to now live in the area. "living on the mountain" used to be, but is no more, although I personally love noccalula and intend to move up there some day. Bayou is right--there are parts of EAst Gadsden/Glencoe that leave a lot to be desired, but the whole area is not that bad.

As far as restaurants go, Top of the River is great--great atmosphere and good country food and catfish. Unfortunately, outside of that, chain restaurants are about all you have. IMO, Pruitts, all the BBQ restaurants including Dad's and Uncle Sam's, are all OVER RATED. Beans and Greens in Hokes Bluff/BallPlay is decent, and there is diner called the West Gadsden Cafe downtown that is pretty good if you like a meat and three type lunch. The mall leaves much to be desired, although there is some renovation going on right now with the JC Penney addition. Ruby Tuesdays is pricy, but the food is decent for a chain restaurant. If you like Mexican, El Tapatio is really good. They have a location on both the river and in RBC. Also, as Bama Law pointed out, Maters downtown has a great rep as italian restaurant/pizzaria, although somehow I have never made it over there to personally try it.

There used to be a little BBQ sandwich place at the foot of the mountain run by some black folks that had the best BBQ in town. Is that place still there? I don't remember the name of it. It was all take out.

 

[BamaLaw]

There used to be a little BBQ sandwich place at the foot of the mountain run by some black folks that had the best BBQ in town. Is that place still there? I don't remember the name of it. It was all take out.

Was that Penny Profit? I believe that is about where that was.

 

[BigOaf]

I grew up in Rainbow City and went to high school in Southside and would also recommend these areas.

Maters - wow, I can remember in high school being able to eat a medium Domino's pizza by myself... while I could only eat two pieces of a Maters' pizza.

 

[XXL TideFan]

There used to be a little BBQ sandwich place at the foot of the mountain run by some black folks that had the best BBQ in town. Is that place still there? I don't remember the name of it. It was all take out.

Was that Penny Profit? I believe that is about where that was.

It was indeed Penny Profit. I was just about to post about it. I heard that the area went drastically down hill and basically ran the place out of business.

 

[bayoutider]

That's the one thanks. Sorry to hear it went belly up. Pruitt's is better than nothing but not by much. I have had better BBQ in a lot of back yards.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

That's the one thanks. Sorry to hear it went belly up. Pruitt's is better than nothing but not by much. I have had better BBQ in a lot of back yards.

My parents are from Glencoe and every time we go to Gadsden to visit my grandparents and parents, we go to Pruitts. Pruitts sucks to be quite frank. I hate that place.

Give me some Fat Boys BBQ on the quad during game day any day.

 

[deliveryman35]

There used to be a little BBQ sandwich place at the foot of the mountain run by some black folks that had the best BBQ in town. Is that place still there? I don't remember the name of it. It was all take out.

Rich, I don't think so. OTOH, if you're talking about the Rib House, yes, it is still there. It is a small, A-frame style building right on Meighan Blvd right before you get to the main road that goes up the mountain. They stay packed all the time, and it is mostly set up for carryout.