Our penchant for alliteratively-titled daily features continues today with the introduction of T-Town Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, we will introduce you to something cool to do in the Tuscaloosa area. We begin today with City Cafe.
City Cafe: The Basics
- What: Meat-and-Three Restaurant
- Where: Downtown Northport (Google maps here)
- When: Monday-Friday 4am-3:30pm
- Cost: Around $7 for meat, three "veggies" (defined loosely), and a drink (sweet tea, of course)
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Tuscaloosa area (which was the case for me as a freshman), let me begin this post by saying that City Cafe is probably best described as legendary around these parts. Located in historic downtown Northport, this little meat-and-three is a fun, truly Southern place to get a delicious (if heart-clogging) meal.
If you aren't familiar with the concept of a meat-and-three, let me explain it to you. Basically, the menu will have several meat options and several veggie (read: side) options for each day of the week. You can choose almost any combination of meats and veggies, but the most common combo is one meat and three veggies...a true meat-and-three. This combo will run you about $5 without a drink or about $7 with a drink. The meat options range from fried chicken to catfish to pulled pork, and the veggie options range from fried okra to green beans to mac and cheese. It's hard to go wrong with any combination, but my favorite is probably the pulled pork with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and banana pudding when it is available (yes, banana pudding counts as a veggie...just ask if they have it).
When you arrive at City Cafe, you will stand in line and wait for a table to open up. No one is going to lead you to a table, so don't be shy about grabbing a table quickly when it is available. One of the most common beginner mistakes at City Cafe is letting the long line intimidate you. You usually don't have to wait more than about 20 minutes for a table, even when the line is wrapped around itself multiple times.
Another important thing to point out is that City Cafe is not open on the weekends, and it's also not open for dinner. In fact, it's only open from 4am to 3:30pm Monday through Friday. This leaves basically two options for most college students: early morning breakfast after an all-nighter and (of course) lunch. You can't go wrong with either one.
City Cafe is an experience that every UA student should have...and you should have it often. In fact, I'm not sure if UA will allow you to graduate if you haven't eaten at City Cafe. So get on over to Northport ASAP for some great Southern dining!
