Best place to eat in Tuscaloosa?

Clemson4life

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I was wanting to get y’alls opinion on best place to eat in Tuscaloosa? I will be traveling through there later this week and was wanting to know what is the most authentic restaurant to university of Alabama? And also is the stadium open during the day?
 
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The Ols

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Also, there will be many opinions on "most authentic" so get ready :) Perfect day for me if I were going to be there would probably be The Waysider for breakfast, City Cafe (meat & 3) for lunch, and Dreamland for dinner. I might need hospitilization afterward, but it would be a good day of eating :D
I agree on the first two, but I'd go with Archibald's for the BBQ...
***I need to read further down before I post...:cool:
 

4Q Basket Case

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If you're defining "best" as most authentic to the University, I agree that City Café in Northport (dive meat & three, lunch), Rama Jama, DePalma's or one of the barbecue places would be the places to go.

As for the barbecue, I'm not getting into the debate as to which is better. I will say that the original Dreamland location in Jerusalem Heights south of town is more authentic to the University -- Bryant and other coaches used to be regulars. There's another location just across the Hugh Thomas bridge in Northport, but it's newer and its atmosphere is a bit more generic.

Both Archibald's and the original Dreamland are in obscure locations, so you might want to google directions ahead of time.

If you're defining "best" as the finest dining experience, Evangeline's, River, Side By Side and R. Davidson's Chop House would be the spots.

Stadium isn't generally open at all. You might be able to arrange a tour through the Athletic Department, but I'd be surprised -- the west side renovation is in full swing, it's mostly fenced off, and there's all sorts of construction activity, equipment, etc.

Rama Jama is right across the street from the stadium, and is open through the construction, so you might be able to kill two birds with one stone there -- eat good burgers at an authentic student place, and take a stroll around the stadium such as it is right now. Scenery from nearby sorority row isn't bad either.
 
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92tide

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Also, there will be many opinions on "most authentic" so get ready :) Perfect day for me if I were going to be there would probably be The Waysider for breakfast, City Cafe (meat & 3) for lunch, and Dreamland for dinner. I might need hospitilization afterward, but it would be a good day of eating :D
it's cool that city cafe is still thriving. i ate there constantly during my tuscaloosa tenure (87-92) and it seemed like it had been around forever then.
 

92tide

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IIRC, during my tenure (around the same as yours), you could get a 20 meal card for ~$48.00. I was there at least 3-4x per week.
one of the things that shocked me when i moved to atlanta from tuscaloosa is that the meat and threes were meat and twos and the prices were twice as high as city cafe.
 
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DogPatch

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What day of the week will you be in Tuscaloosa? City Cafe is closed on weekends and closes at 3:30 on the days they are open.
 

The Ols

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it's cool that city cafe is still thriving. i ate there constantly during my tuscaloosa tenure (87-92) and it seemed like it had been around forever then.
'84-'89 (Don't do the math) City Cafe and Posey's got me through my first two years...Then I started working!!! LOL!!!
***We were the 1st ever tenants in the upstairs corner unit at Preston Place, right across from Posey's...
 
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92tide

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'84-'89 (Don't do the math) City Cafe and Posey's got me through my first two years...Then I started working!!! LOL!!!
***We were the 1st ever tenants in the upstairs corner unit at Preston Place, right across from Posey's...
man, i haven't thought about preston place in a long time. i did some time in phase 2 and had a lot of friends who lived there.
 
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denver

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Dreamland BBQ if its for dinner, Rama Jama by the stadium if its breakfast or lunch. Both are icons.
 

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