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    O'Dessa Blessing Restaurant

    4.4 (17 reviews)
    Closed 10:30 am - 2:30 pm

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    Lunch at O'Dessa
    Ebony C.

    Oh dear O'dessa. You and your husband, Calvin are a God-send. Several friends and I were visiting Alabama for a historical perspective on the life and thought of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught by Dr. Bernard Lafayette. As his students, O'dessa and Calvin went out of their way to open her restaurant for us after usual business hours were over for a Sunday Lunch after church. The restaurant is a renovated pre-war Victorian style home with yellow walls, historic art, and a feel of warmth and intimacy that can only come from dining inside of an actual home--not an industrial looking restaurant. The food surpassed my expectations: Well seasoned (not to be confused with spicy) chicken with fresh herbs Okra sauteed with tomato Creamed corn with just a dash of butter and black pepper Freshly fried fish Fried chicken which I didn't eat but my colleagues DEVOURED Squash soufflé Fresh green salad with an assortment of dressings Greens that were seasoned with turkey not pork Desserts were heavenly: Peach cobbler that wasn't soupy and runny Banana pudding with real pudding and home-made whipped cream An assortment of pound cakes Sweet potato pies I enjoyed the atmosphere, the service was excellent, and we ate so much that it was hard to concentrate on our lessons after lunch. There was a sweet spirit in the restaurant, and it felt more like O'dessa invited us to her home for lunch, than we went to her place of business.

    Lunch!
    Crystal W.

    The food was delicious and the hospitality was amazing! Fried chicken, turkey, ribs, greens, mac n' cheese and peach cobbler... and there was still more food I didn't get to try. Odessa's is truly a blessing!

    This is mine.

    If Yelp would let me, I would give Odessa's Blessings TEN stars. I was in Selma for the Bloody Sunday Bridge Crossing Jubilee, but drove to Montgomery to meet up with 25 friends at Odessa's. During our six day stay in Alabama, we had lots of Southern food and BBQ, but this was by far the best. Good ambience, excellent service, and out of this world grub. You name it, Odessa fixed it. Lots of it. If you're ever in Montgomery, you need to visit five places: the Rosa Parks Museum, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Cilvil Liberties Memorial, Freedom Rides Museum and Odessa's Blessings. Thank you so much for a great dining experience, Calvin and Odessa. You are such nice people. Mike from Culver City, CA

    Thanks Calvin and Odessa!!!!

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    12 days ago

    Amazing food, staff is very nice. Best soul food in Alabama staff is sweet and kind. The chef is the best. This was wonderful.

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    10 months ago

    Great food and staff! They handled our tour bus with efficiency and care. A very good experience!

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    3 years ago

    Home Cookin, hard to beat; all the southern dishes, especially yummy were sweet potato pie and peach cobbler.

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    15 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    10 years ago

    It was delicious and O'Dessa and her husband were so hospitable! The banana pudding was sooo good.

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    Review Highlights - O'Dessa Blessing Restaurant

    Recently had an amazing experience of crossing the Bridge in Selma on the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

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    Pannie-George’s - Two chicken thighs, sweet potato casserole, and cornbread.

    Pannie-George’s

    3.9(110 reviews)
    1.5 mi

    Mmmm, delicious soul food! Pannie-George is one of two locations in the state and is connected to…read morethe Legacy Museum and has easy parking. You walk in to a cafeteria style line serving a variety of soul food options. On the Saturday that we went, they were serving items such as fried tilapia, baked chicken, fried chicken, stuff chicken, and pulled pork. Their sides were so flavorful - especially the black-eyed peas, green beans, and yams. The icing on the cake to our wonderful meal though was the blackberry and apple cobbler (so good we had to get a second to go). The meals were $15 each and the dessert was $3.50 - great value. These folks know what they're doing with their recipes and we're so glad we stopped.

    Food was good, but was cafeteria style. Staff at the restaurant were very nice; however, be aware…read moreof the museum staff. Some didn't know if it is pet friendly on the property of the Legacy Museum. One museum guy said the dog couldn't be on the terrace but okay in the grass by the curb. We sat down in the sun with our dog and tried to enjoy some southern comfort soul food. Then upon leaving an aggressive man from the museum told me I had to leave the property. I let him know that online it states "pet friendly". He was not very nice about even when I told him I was leaving. I guess he wanted to make a statement to the public. If this was driven by a prior history of dogs, I get it. BUT put up signs and even call it out why dogs are not welcome. I did what I could in advance to make sure I wasn't breaking rules and choosing a place to eat with my dog on family vacation traveling the South. I will not be back to Montgomery and now how a very negative view of this city. Unfortunately I was trying to teach my kids about social justice and our past history of racism and segregation. I feel it's reversed here.

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    Pannie-George’s - Ambience of Pannie-Georges

    Ambience of Pannie-Georges

    Pannie-George’s - Combo lunches- so good

    Combo lunches- so good

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    Restaurant

    Filet & Vine - Meat case

    Filet & Vine

    4.4(248 reviews)
    1.1 mi
    $$

    This place is wild in so many ways. I would have never pictured a place like this existing in…read moresouthern Alabama, yet here it is, thriving and expanding. Allow me to explain. It defies all logic of concept. It's not a restaurant, but it is. It's not a grocery store, but is.... It's not a liquor store, but... It's such an interesting evolution of business man. You could never just start something like this. It's just been percolating for a good while and just evolving along the way. They now are in the whole building they lease as the concept has grown. I love to see a family business evolve and grow! It's call Derk's Filet and Vine. I was thinking steakhouse when I heard we were going here. It is a butcher shop (slash) wine and beer store (slash) grocery store (slash) caterer (slash) that happens to also sell a wildly popular Meat and Three Caferteria Style lunch that lines up people sometimes in the hundreds. Insanity. My reasons for being here are even more insane to be honest. Nonetheless, I am so glad to have had the opportunity to see this place while I am still alive. The folks working here are fantastic! Super helpful and friendly. I dig some AL hospitality! I had never been to Montgomery before. My lunch was too freaking notch!! Yum. Yum! I'll be back. It's in the stars. Written well before you or I were around or awake to realize. Can't wait to eat some fried chicken next time!! '26 - 33

    First time here and is reminiscent of a bygone era. Can tell there's lots of regulars that come…read morehere, and the staff was friendly and helpful. Word to the wise - don't come after 1 and expect a full selection of food. At that point, you'll have to pick from whatever is left, but it will be affordable and tasty.

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    Filet & Vine - Wine

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    Filet & Vine - Produce

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    Filet & Vine - Wine

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    Wine

    Martin's Restaurant

    Martin's Restaurant

    3.9(182 reviews)
    1.0 mi
    $

    When we went there in 2021, it was fairly good. The older waitresses oozed the old south charm. And…read morethe food? It was like a good Southern family home cooking place. Now, I don't know what has happened since then, but something did. To begin with, the place always looked "used". It had been there a long time and that's expected but this time the chairs looked badly worn and the carpet was in need of help. But it looked clean over all. The workers were friendly but very busy. They had a teenage boy who seated us who was in need of some grooming. But he was polite, so we let it slide. The waitress was very casual and nice as well. But it looked like this one poor lady was handling the entire side of the place by herself. I can overlook all of the above if the food is good but... To begin with, I ordered the same meal I ate in 2021 and yes, I remembered it! As a turkey lover, I recalled it as a Thanksgiving kind of meal that I enjoyed which was why I ordered it again. It was billed on the menu as: Sliced turkey, stuffing, three sides and cranberry sauce. I could eat Thanksgiving 365! And that first time was like reliving Thanksgiving at Moms. Not this time. Aside from being out of broccoli (which limited the green sides down to green beans and/or collard greens- which I do not like) there was an issue with things not being as presented in the menu. The "stuffing" or "dressing" was a small heap of mushy something. It was thin, watery and bland. Horrible! The "sliced turkey" was fractured white meat of turkey, fractured so much that it seemed to meld into the mushy dressing. The two were undiscernable. And it, too, was bland. There was something they called turkey gravy but it was definitely a canned or otherwise prepackaged gravy: bright yellow in color and gloppy in texture. The mashed potatoes were fine, a little salty but fine, though I am not sure if they were homemade or from mix or what. The "green beans" were not what I had before. Before I had what, at worst, had been frozen green beans, though well-seasoned and cooked through. This time I was given Italian beans from a can that had no flavor to them. And then there was the mac n cheese. The test of a good Mom and Pop place is the M&C and this batch failed. Over cooked elbow macaroni in a non-saucy glob of light orange gunk that tasted like flour and not cheesy at all. If that sounds bad, worse was the pie. They used to serve cake and some damn good cake, too! But we were told today they serve pies. I ordered the lemon meringue. I make lemon meringue pie so I know fully well what one should taste and look like and this was NOT it! The fill looked like leftover banana pudding with the bananas extracted. It wasn't set and the meringue slid off of it. The meringue itself had a wateriness that I couldn't quite figure out but it was lightly toasted on top. The corn muffins were good, though they could have gone without being dunked in butter. Over all, I cannot give this place the report I would have liked to have given a landmark in Montgomery. Its sad, too.

    Martin's was like a little bit of home. For those raised in the south, you know what I mean when I…read moresay butter peas, collard greens and fried chicken. The two meat came with another side so chose the broccoli casserole. Had I come on the day when the fried green tomatoes or fried okra were the option, I definitely would have swapped out the broccoli casserole. Generous portions and I easily could have split this meal with someone. They definitely know southern cooking here. It's not a fancy place by any means, just good cooking. Our server seemed a bit tired or put out, I couldn't tell which thus the 4 stars. I did go later afternoon following the lunch rush so that could have been the issue.

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    Martin's Restaurant
    Martin's Restaurant - Fried Whole Catfish Dinner Special with greens, dressing and cheese grits

    Fried Whole Catfish Dinner Special with greens, dressing and cheese grits

    Martin's Restaurant - Yes Indeed. Thanks for the hospitality

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    Yes Indeed. Thanks for the hospitality

    O'Dessa Blessing Restaurant - newamerican - Updated May 2026

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