Southern Ale House — Restaurant in Tuscaloosa

So stuck on whether to give this place a 3 or a 4 star...the food was overall only okay, I'd say (with one notably delicious exception), but the service and restaurant itself was nice. My real rating, though, is probably around a 3.5

Southern Ale House has a cozy, pub-ish interior. It was a little too warm inside for us, but not really enough to be unpleasant. All the tables and glasses looked clean. We were seated within the 20 minutes we were told to wait. Our waitress struck a really nice balance between conversational and efficient. She got our orders right, too, and we had a few additions/substitutions.

I had the Yard Bird - a grilled chicken club, basically. It was so-so. The chicken was a little too chewy/tough and kinda low on flavor, but it wasn't dry, so at least there's that. The bacon on top was good and crispy. The sauce they put on the bun (I believe they called it Slap Your Momma Sauce) was too vinegary, and I didn't like it very much. Luckily, I ordered a side of house-made ranch, originally to dip my fries in - but pouring it on the sandwich made the whole thing much better. Really good ranch! Fries were too oily and wound up being kinda limp and soggy.

My boyfriend got the fried pickle burger. They followed his order specifications and he liked it. It wasn't incredible, but it was a good burger, and the fried pickles were a fun addition. He felt the same as me about the fries.

I'd read good things about the pimento mac and cheese, so we ordered a side of it to share. It was just okay. It came out room temperature, so that was unfortunate, and it didn't have a really strong flavor. Wish it had a little heat, both temperature wise and flavor wise. We liked the creamy texture, though.

Last, we shared the bourbon bread pudding for dessert. THIS was the shining star of the meal; it was excellent. Tasted almost like boozy French toast, with a soft center and crispy edges. Real whipped cream on top and perfectly melty chocolate chips rounded out the experience.

I'd probably only return if a dining companion really wanted to go, but it's a nice place to visit and worth a shot, if only for the...

Still our favorite- after all this time!!!

We love this place!! The bacon wrapped meatloaf 😊and the service is always top notch!!! 👌

The number of times we visited are countless. Tge fried pickle burger and the ale house burger are best by far after the meatloaf of course

Updated - 4th time and still just as awesome as before. Meatloaf and Beerflight bliss!!!

updated 5th time - just as good meatloaf!!!! My go too- we met folks from Selma and Arkansas that make a point to visit. Allllll good here !!! Burgers Fries Bacon wrapped meatloaf yum yum 😋

Updated 6th time. 😒 we were kinda disappointed tonight bc we have always had stellar food. I ordered my all time favorite - the meatloaf and it was just as good as ever. The asparagus was great - well two of them were great and the other two were oversized and raw. The potatoes weren't as good and im just so sad. My husband ordered a burger and fries and the burger was great but yhe fries were burnt. He asked for more and they told him all the fries are like that - they have two much water in them. They tasted burnt. I am so sad _ this place has ALWAYS BEEN 100%. the service was good. Their excellence in the past made this disappointing

Update 7th time - oh sweet redemption- burgers Fries and beer.

Update 8th time - June 29 2024 - Brought the whole family and had the meatloaf with asparagus and ranch slaw. SO GOOD. Like always - One other family member took my advise and had the meatloaf and told me many times how good it was. We also had the burger sliders, mac n cheese, and the fried potato tots are amazing!! not frozen - fresh and delish!! All the drinks were great -...

Sept 11 2024. Early afternoon meal. I ordered a IPA from a brewery in Birmingham. My wife ordered a wine. Serve returned with the drinks. She said to me “ We were out of the one you ordered so I brought you this one” She couldn’t pronounce the name of it correctly and it wasn’t on the menu. It was Jai Lai From cigar city brewery. Why she should’ve done was informed me that they didn’t have the one I ordered and let me make my choice of another drink. I did not send it back. Did not want to embarrass the young lady right off the bat. my wife was satisfied with her wine choice. My wife ordered a black and blue salad with the “dressing on the side” When she returned with the food, she said to my wife “ We premixed the dressing for you” My wife said to her,” I ordered the dressing on the side” she took the dish back and returned within one minute with a different salad with the dressing on the side. I ordered the fried catfish with fries and coleslaw. The fries were soggy, and I had to ask for catchup to be put on the table. The catfish was rubbery textured overall not a pleasant experience. We drove into Tuscaloosa to see a nephew who was in the hospital.. Otherwise we wouldn’t have eaten at that spot. We chose this restaurant because it was close to the hospital And the review sounded encouraging and I thought I could get a good locally brewed beer and a good wine. What a...