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City Cafe

4.3 (181 reviews)
InexpensiveAmerican, Southern
Open • 4:00 am - 3:30 pm

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Business Info

CITY CAFE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Dogs allowed
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - City Cafe

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Fried catfish fingers
El D.

While visiting Tuscaloosa for my graduation, we were looking for southern cuisine and stumbled across this gem. Out of our entire trip in Alabama, this ended up being our favorite restaurant based on our experience with their lunch meat and three options. We were here on a Friday and selected from an array of choices for this day. We went with chicken strips, hamburger steak with onions and gravy, fried catfish fingers, fried okra, candied yams, turnip greens, mac & cheese, stuffed eggs, and peach cobbler. Although I would like to rank each option, I find it difficult to do so as each was very tasty and unique. The hamburger steak was very savory accompanied by turnip greens with their earthy flavor, a side of corn bread, concluded with peach cobbler, and washed down with sweet, iced tea. It was three of us and we were tasting all our endless selections such as fried catfish with mac & cheese, fried okra, and candied yams. The list goes on. Next time I am visiting my alma mater, I will return to City Cafe specifically on either Tuesday or Thursday lunch to try out their fried green tomatoes. I am a novice at best when it comes to southern food, but you must trust me in this. City Cafe is the best meat and three in the whole region.

Hamburger Steak W/ Onions & Gravy, fried green tomatoes, field peas, fried okra, and cornbread
Jason E.

Food was amazing as always. Called in an order. It was ready fast, fresh and hot. Service is always top notch.

Fried Chicken Liver
Belle R.

Any time we are in the Tuscaloosa area, City Cafe is a must. With good homestyle cooking and incredibly reasonable prices, you'll leave feeling full and your wallet won't be hurting. This trip we arrived an hour before closing and I think that hurt our overall service experience. It took a bit to be seated, which was to be expected. Seating is first come first serve and you stand in line and wait for a table to open up. Once seated, our server took our order and we pretty much did not see her again. Another server took care of drink refills while another actually brought our food. The food itself was good and I have no complaints, I just would not order the mac and cheese again. Our toddler was a big fan of the cornbread! Overall, we had a good experience and I'm sure we'll be back the next time we come to town.

Fried Chicken
Lenny D.

As classic as in gets. Came to town for a football game and came here and it did not disappoint. Basic menu but everything was great. The fried chicken was amazing. I tried my buddies catfish and it was really good too. Very friendly staff who explained all the food options. The ambiance is an old southern cafe

Lorri L.

This is a city staple. Can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Go early or order takeout. You won't be disappointed.

For anyone visiting from out of state, like I did coming from Chicago, City Cafe is a perfect taste of Alabama's comfort food. The prices are more than reasonable, especially given the portion sizes with all the staples of classic, homestyle cooking. Its a nostalgic, no frills experience that feels "stuck in time" in the best way possible.

Lydia O.

We decided to stop here for a quick lunch. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. It was a bit of a wait for a table but it wasn't too bad, and ended up being worth it. Great portions sizes and prices.

Sausage & Egg sandwich
Isaac D.

If you want the classic diner experience head on down to city cafe. No frills just solid breakfast/lunch. I ordered the 3 eggs plus meat (bacon) and the sausage egg sandwich with tomato Total cost $10.62. I left stuffed and planning my lunch visit. I went at 4am so they weren't busy but there were a few of us gathered outside waiting for the door to open-that says a lot. You can call ahead for pick up, order to go or eat in. Just a good classic all American diner. They do not accept Apple Pay at this time.

Caramel cake

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17 days ago

Food was great, waitresses were friendly and had a great attitude and have great prices! Thank you to City Cafe

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3 months ago

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6 months ago

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1 month ago

Yummy meat and three. So good and consistent every time. I called in and picked up and food was ready when I arrived.

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

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3 months ago

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3 months ago

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9 months ago

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10 months ago

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2 years ago

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8 months ago

County cooking, meat and three, great price! Breakfast and lunch only Downtown Northport, Alabama

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3 years ago

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10 months ago

Staff is exceptionally nice. Food is good and reasonable. Nice quaint friendly atmosphere.

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3 years ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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4 years ago

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1 year ago

phenomenal old spot, classic olde southern cooking; amazingly tasty food; wonderful people

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2 years ago

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

This is best place for vegetables and hot lunch in Tuscaloosa and Northport highly recommend

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3 years ago

I love this place! Crowded, rustic, delicious food. What else is there? Like the sign says, "it ain't food if it ain't fried!"

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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3 years ago

You want good southern grandma cooking ? Go here for breakfast or lunch. They aren't open for supper or weekends!

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4 years ago

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3 years ago

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2 years ago

Great food at a reasonable price. They always have that down home friendly service that welcomes you.

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2 years ago

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4 years ago

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8 years ago

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3 years ago

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6 years ago

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3 years ago

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8 years ago

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3 years ago

Best fried chicken I have ever eaten! Sometimes the line is long, but it is always worth it! The chicken and dumplings is also amazing!

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Urban Cookhouse - El Cubano Sandwich with broccoli salad

Urban Cookhouse

4.5(137 reviews)
3.3 mi
•$$

We stopped in during move in and I am so glad we did. The food is amazing!! I love sweet potato…read morefries and theirs are top notch with brown sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top. We are in Tuscaloosa a lot visiting our sons. We will be back again for sure!!

First time at this spot, and my initial impression was positive. I would say, I love, love, love…read morethat they use Big Green Egg's inside the restaurant on the line. If you've never had meat (or VEGGIES!) cooked on a BGE, it will change your life. This fact alone will bring me back to try other things. Before I get into the meal, my only real complaint was that they only had a soda machine and tea. I had brought my mother along, and she already had lunch and wanted just to sit and chat. As it was a very cold day she was gonna order a coffee and they don't offer anything hot! It's definitely an opportunity to expand here even if it was just so simple as putting a Keurig machine in the back. I had the Buffalo Chicken Wrap. It is served with grilled chicken in a grilled wrap and cheddar cheese. If there was a buffalo sauce, I didn't taste any. I was a little disappointed in the wrap. The flavor didn't really stand out as being cooked on the Big Green Egg. The cheese wasn't really melted, which can be a common problem with shredded cheddar cheese, but it also didn't really have the buffalo flavor that I was looking for in a buffalo chicken wrap (maybe it was a Toledo Ohio wrap I don't know just not spicy. ) It served with a side of ranch which I juiced up with some Cholula and that helped. I i'm not knocking the quality of the food because it was good. It just didn't live up to the expectations I had in my head based on the menu description. It also came with a side, which I chose the broccoli salad. This was nicely done with bacon, I believe some quinoa and the broccoli was chopped up nicely so you didn't have huge chunks. Also, it wasn't overly sauced so that would make it runny. Overall I give the property four out five stars. Also, the flavor of the whole meal was fine. Good size portion and good value for your money.

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Urban Cookhouse
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White BBQ Sandwich with broccoli salad

City Cafe - tradamerican - Updated October 2026

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