My wife and I were passing through Montgomery, when we decided we were hungry. My wife did two…read moredifferent AI restaurant searches and Martha's Place came up on both searches, as highly recommended and one of the best-known country cooking / soul food spots in Montgomery. Martha's Place it is... Upon arrival, Martha's place looked very upscale. Very nice building and many Mercedes and Cadillacs were parked out front. We started to wonder if we'd wandered into some rich neighborhood where the prices would be sky high! We walked in and a young lady greeted us and told us that lunch was $14 including a drink. GREAT! Everyone in the restaurant was amiable and helpful. (Staff and customers). We went to the buffet and loaded our plates with beautifully fried chicken and meatloaf for our proteins. For our sides we had collards, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas a couple of pieces of cornbread and some banana pudding for dessert. Then, the first weird thing happened. As we took our seats, the waiter that helped us get seated, told us that they only had one fork and one knife. We assumed he meant he would go back to the kitchen (or the dishwasher, or wherever) and get us another set. Meanwhile, the food looked SO GOOD, we immediately began sharing the fork and taking turns. MAN! THIS FOOD WAS GREAT! After a couple of minutes, we noticed the second weird thing... we were the only two white folks in the entire, crowded restaurant. And there were LOTS OF PEOPLE. They also do a huge to go business, so, the buffet station stays pretty busy with people coming and going. But, during the entire time we were there, there was not a single non-black customer in the house, except us. Not an employee. Not a customer. Not even a to go customer, just passing through - NOBODY. After about 5 or 6 minutes of taking turns with the fork, we decided our server must've forgotten about us. So, my wife went and asked and was informed they still didn't have any forks. (No. We were not being singled out, as my wife heard them tell another customer the same thing.) My wife asked if they had some plastic utensils, used for to go orders. They were able to oblige. Back to the food... The fried chicken was as good as any I've ever had and much better than any I've had in recent memory. The vegetables were also seasoned and prepared as good as any I've ever had - in a restaurant OR at home. The cornbread didn't have real corn in it, (like I prefer) but it was still some KILLER CORNBREAD. And the nanner puddin' was off the charts. I REALLY WANT some more of that nanner puddin'!! The staff were friendly and helpful and I have no idea why we were the only white folks in attendance. Maybe it was just a weird coincidence. But, I'll tell you this. The nice people at this restaurant KNOW HOW TO COOK. And I highly recommend this restaurant to ANYBODY -- No matter what color you are! My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience and we look forward to dining there again, the next time we pass through Montgomery. Go here. You won't get a better country meal - anywhere. P.S. You might want to bring a fork.

Came for the fried chicken but left surprisingly impressed with the fried fish. Good chicken here…read more The fish was just done right; loving it. Decent selection of foods. All sides were good. Okra was surprisingly well done, and I don't even like to eat okra... the banana pudding tasted like banana taffy to me lol. Still very good... was almost all gone by end of the day. Some of the things that didn't do it for me was the gravy and the corn bread. Plenty of dining area and parking. Nice place.

Elanes kitchen has some of the best comfort food! Amazing customer service, everyone I've spoken to…read morehas been upbeat , friendly and helpful. Delicious food! I love the breakfast food especially

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.

This place is a must!…read more We stopped on our way through Montgomery. We ordered pork chops and chicken. Both were cooked well and delicious. We also had stuffing, greens, yams, black eyed peas, and mac & cheese. Note that the cornbread muffin that came with one of the meals was dry, and the greens were on the salty side. That said, we enjoyed our stop. The staff were gracious even though they were fairly busy, and they checked on us while eating. We'd definitely stop again.

I visited J.W. Beverette's Soul Food in Montgomery, Alabama [1172 S Decatur] on Saturday, 06/06/26…read morearound 12:00 PM. For lunch, I ordered the Oxtails plate (served with white rice + cornbread) with a choice of three sides. I opted for the Baked Mac & Cheese, Steamed Cabbage, and Luscious Collard Greens. The taste of the food was fantastic. The savory oxtails smothered in gravy were tender. All of the sides were flavorful and met expectations. For everything, it was priced at $29.99, which was quite reasonable considering the portion size. The inside of the restaurant was cozy with a family-friendly diner feel. The music playing was very entertaining. Each table had a great variety of condiments available, including hot sauces, ketchup, mustard, etc. Overall, J.W. Beverette's Soul Food was a solid choice for experiencing comforting, delicious soul food. If I weren't visiting from California and resided in Alabama, I'd totally be a regular customer at this restaurant. I will be sure to visit here should I travel to Alabama again.

Wonderful service ~ the lady waiting our table was super! Every morsel of food on two plates was…read morethe best country cooking! Furnishings are kind of old, but no one seems to mind that. We will definitely be back !

I had really high hopes for Martin's just because I know that sometimes the best food places are…read moreunsuspecting. The place is not the cleanest-- floors needed vacuuming, chairs were held together with duck tape.. but I pressed on hoping the food would redeem the space. Service was friendly. However, it was awkward listening to the waiter/waitresses/hostess/ kitchen staff have a conversation with each other across the entire restaurant. This was especially true after a patron sent something back and the kitchen came out loudly exclaiming that they wanted to see the food that "wasn't good enough." I had the fried chicken, greens, okra, and mashed potatoes. The chicken was fantastic. Perfectly cooked, juicy, and the tastiest fried skin/breading. That's where the goodness stops. The turnip greens were flavorless and complete mush, as though they had been sitting on the heat all day. Mashed potatoes were clearly from a box based on the consistency, color and flavor. Gravy had no flavor as well. There wasn't enough salt on the table to make it all better. The okra came out about 15min after we got our plates. It was fresh, but again, flavorless. My husband had the fried pork chop. It was just okay -- cooked well, zero flavor. Butter beans were good flavor wise, but definitely seemed to have been sitting for a while. It was odd to us that the only things you could get to drink were water, tea, lemonade, milk, and coffee. The second star is only for the chicken. I doubt we'll go back because the above experience for $50 is not worth it.

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

We had a wonderful lunch at Filet & Vine on our way through Montgomery. Everything was fresh,…read moreflavorful, and beautifully prepared. The staff was friendly and efficient, and the atmosphere was welcoming. It's easy to see why this place has such a great reputation. We'll definitely make it a regular stop whenever we're passing through. Highly recommend!

After a slight address navigation issue I ended up at the correct location. I have not been to the…read moreold spot but just from the building differences alone, I could see the new location was much bigger. I'm an out of state visitor so forgive me in advance.... but that fried chicken... gawd dang! Super flavorful, crispy, juicy. I'm not particularly a fan of the surprise menu aspect because I'm greedy and I wanted oxtail and catfish... and fried chicken. The staff were friendly and the service was quick. Plenty of seating. The surprise for me was the cornbread that was more corn-bready and less cakey. Remember my disclosure above about being from another state..but when sopped up with that yam juice... flavor bomb! Honestly can't wait to go back and try their other offerings.

Didn't get a picture of food. However, everything was excellent. My family ordered oxtail, fried…read morechicken, baked chicken and smothered pork chops. Every last plate was delicious. The sides were also scrumptious and seasoned very well . When in the area we will return and try again. There was a long line when entering the restaurant however, the awesome service from the servers was excellent.

Our group had a great dinner evening that top off the trip from Lexington, Kentucky. home cooking…read moresoul food to the max, from black eye peas to corn bread and peach cobbler old school Mama's home cooking HEAVY D. Lexington, Kentucky see you again at the dinner table. God Bless You and Your Family.

We visited O'Dessa's Blessings for lunch on Jan 7, 2026 as part of Road Scholar's "The Civil Rights…read moreMovement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham" program. It is run by a husband-and-wife team from catering, food preparation to being the entire waiting staff - just the two of them doing everything. The food - southern cuisine - was already laid out buffet style in the main hall. At the far end of the hall were desserts. Drinks of water, orange juice and sweet tea were in the dining room to the left of the hall. Now the dining room is large enough area to accommodate a party of 40 (there were 28 of us). I don't care for southern cuisine, unless it's seafood. But I did like both fried and baked chickens, spinach and cabbages; had multiple helping of them. I wished rice was included. The abundance of spaces between the tables helped in reducing the noise level. I sat at one of the smaller tables so that helped a lot. The overall decor evokes a pre-1980s feel, and apparently so is the upkeep of the building. The service was good enough that I would have given it at least four stars. Then I went to the men's restroom. When I finished my business, I turned the doorknob to unlock and it came loose. I though: was the door unlocked the entire time? This was shocking. Anyone could have entered. For that, one star is removed. (Had someone entered while I was *ahem* busy, I would have deducted two stars.) The restroom doorknob issue is enough reason for me to not recommend O'Dessa's Blessings. I hope the owners have done something about that.