Tuscaloosa, AL
$7-$9 Lunch Entrees
$3-$5 Breakfast Entrees
Nobody can say when The Waysider first opened. A waitress stated, "It's the oldest restaurant in Tuscaloosa, open more than 51 years!" An elderly resident swears it was running during the 50's. The Business License Department couldn't verify this, since their records don't go back that far. My theory: The tiny, vividly red house was created in the beginning when God said, "Let there be The Waysider!" Whether it's as old as Methuselah or almost as old as The Machine, locals agree The Waysider's a Tuscaloosa landmark, an old school institution serving up home-cooked breakfasts since time immemorial.
Go past The Waysider on Greensboro. Take a right ... onto the train tracks running down the street. Don't get hit by a train. Take another right, and you'll see the parking log. The Waysider's open for breakfast every day except Monday and for lunch Tuesday through Friday. Last year, The Waysider made Esquire magazine's "Top 59 Breakfast Places in American".
Coach "Bear" Bryant, who knew a real Southern breakfast when he ate one, was a regular at The Waysider. The interior screams "ROLL TIDE!" louder than any Alabama cheerleader. Every square inch of every wall's plastered with Crimson Tide memorabilia. Even the carpet's crimson. Diners sit on chairs with crimson vinyl seats at well-worn, old fashioned tables, taking in news and sports with their morning coffee. Bright yellow mums decorate every table. Peering behind containers of honey and butter, I spotted ceramic salt and pepper shakers in the form of Alabama football jerseys.
The hardworking waitresses really know their customers, many of whom started eating at The Waysider when Moby Dick was a minnow. They know who's vacationing, who's been hospitalized, who's been cheatin', and who's having twins. They "Sweetie" and "Hon" the diners like newborn babies. The customers know one another as well, be they students, football fans or retirees. People who moved away years ago will return just to eat at The Waysider, reliving childhood memories of anthropomorphic pancakes.
No even glancing at the menu, I ordered the ($5.00!!!) breakfast special. The service was especially fast for a packed-out Tuesday morning. Within seconds, I received my coffee. It was slightly weak for my taste, but fresh and smooth. My maternal waitress kept it coming! A plate of two perfectly cooked, over-medium eggs, three juicy, robust link sausages, and grits followed close on the heels of my coffee.
During the murder trial int he movie, My Cousin Vinny, a witness testifies: "No self respectin' Southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits." Although each non-instant "grit" took 20 minutes to cook, mine were a bit thin. Accompanying my meal were biscuits which I underestimated at first. Then I realized these slightly square, piping hot creations didn't come from a can. They were fluffy and contained real buttermilk! They were so good I asked for a to-go box. I just couldn't Bear to leave them behind! My waitress, her Southern drawl lengthening, smugly boasted, "Yeeaah, we serve about 10,000 of those on Sundays. " After paying, I drove directly to the lap pool to swim off the ten million calories I had consumed, the whole time thinking, "It was worth every bite."
The Waysider's affordability is only rivaled by their authenticity. In his 1993 book, Southern Food, John Egerton quotes its former owner, Archie Farr: "Places like this are getting hard to find. And they're even harder to keep going... But [the chains] don't have the pride that we do, and their mass production can't match our freshness and quality. All that plastic food in a plastic environment won't last. Southern food will eventually come back." Amen, y'all.
$7-$9 Lunch Entrees
$3-$5 Breakfast Entrees
Nobody can say when The Waysider first opened. A waitress stated, "It's the oldest restaurant in Tuscaloosa, open more than 51 years!" An elderly resident swears it was running during the 50's. The Business License Department couldn't verify this, since their records don't go back that far. My theory: The tiny, vividly red house was created in the beginning when God said, "Let there be The Waysider!" Whether it's as old as Methuselah or almost as old as The Machine, locals agree The Waysider's a Tuscaloosa landmark, an old school institution serving up home-cooked breakfasts since time immemorial.
Go past The Waysider on Greensboro. Take a right ... onto the train tracks running down the street. Don't get hit by a train. Take another right, and you'll see the parking log. The Waysider's open for breakfast every day except Monday and for lunch Tuesday through Friday. Last year, The Waysider made Esquire magazine's "Top 59 Breakfast Places in American".
Coach "Bear" Bryant, who knew a real Southern breakfast when he ate one, was a regular at The Waysider. The interior screams "ROLL TIDE!" louder than any Alabama cheerleader. Every square inch of every wall's plastered with Crimson Tide memorabilia. Even the carpet's crimson. Diners sit on chairs with crimson vinyl seats at well-worn, old fashioned tables, taking in news and sports with their morning coffee. Bright yellow mums decorate every table. Peering behind containers of honey and butter, I spotted ceramic salt and pepper shakers in the form of Alabama football jerseys.
The hardworking waitresses really know their customers, many of whom started eating at The Waysider when Moby Dick was a minnow. They know who's vacationing, who's been hospitalized, who's been cheatin', and who's having twins. They "Sweetie" and "Hon" the diners like newborn babies. The customers know one another as well, be they students, football fans or retirees. People who moved away years ago will return just to eat at The Waysider, reliving childhood memories of anthropomorphic pancakes.
No even glancing at the menu, I ordered the ($5.00!!!) breakfast special. The service was especially fast for a packed-out Tuesday morning. Within seconds, I received my coffee. It was slightly weak for my taste, but fresh and smooth. My maternal waitress kept it coming! A plate of two perfectly cooked, over-medium eggs, three juicy, robust link sausages, and grits followed close on the heels of my coffee.
During the murder trial int he movie, My Cousin Vinny, a witness testifies: "No self respectin' Southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits." Although each non-instant "grit" took 20 minutes to cook, mine were a bit thin. Accompanying my meal were biscuits which I underestimated at first. Then I realized these slightly square, piping hot creations didn't come from a can. They were fluffy and contained real buttermilk! They were so good I asked for a to-go box. I just couldn't Bear to leave them behind! My waitress, her Southern drawl lengthening, smugly boasted, "Yeeaah, we serve about 10,000 of those on Sundays. " After paying, I drove directly to the lap pool to swim off the ten million calories I had consumed, the whole time thinking, "It was worth every bite."
The Waysider's affordability is only rivaled by their authenticity. In his 1993 book, Southern Food, John Egerton quotes its former owner, Archie Farr: "Places like this are getting hard to find. And they're even harder to keep going... But [the chains] don't have the pride that we do, and their mass production can't match our freshness and quality. All that plastic food in a plastic environment won't last. Southern food will eventually come back." Amen, y'all.
3.5 Kudzu
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