Huntsville Restaurants: A Guide To The Best Places To Eat In Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville restaurants are amazing! In this guide, we reveal the best places to eat in Huntsville, Alabama. Includes breakfast and brunch!

**A big thank you to the Huntsville/Madison County CVB for hosting our trip and providing us with some of our meals.**

Huntsville Restaurants

Yes, Huntsville is known as Rocket City. However, we think that Huntsville food should be given some recognition as well. There are a lot of great restaurants in Huntsville, with a variety of cuisines and styles. We’ve been to Huntsville multiple times now thanks to house sits and visiting friends in nearby Marietta and Atlanta. On our latest visit, we went back to some favorite restaurants and discovered new ones. Below are the Huntsville restaurants that we’ve eaten at during our visits…

Pro Tip: Be sure to also check out these Fun Things To Do In Huntsville!

Most Unique Place To Eat In Huntsville – Phat Sammy’s

This is one of the most fun restaurants in Huntsville. Located in downtown Huntsville, this place is an Instagrammers dream. However, unlike other places that have a visually appealing restaurant but mediocre food, Phat Sammy’s knows how to create mouthwatering dishes. They have Asian inspired cuisine and signature cocktails that come in all kinds of cups and glasses!

We started lunch with a BBQ Pork Belly appetizer. It came with Korean BBQ sauce, pineapple pickled radish, scallion-onion salad, and sweet & spicy squid. The pork belly was so juicy and tender! We also had a Spam Fried Rice bowl and K-Mac burger. The bowl came with crispy spam, barrel aged teriyaki sauce, baby corn, English peas, 1 hour egg, and pea tendrils. The burger came with 2 griddled patties, kimchi, cheddar, and good AF sauce (which really was good AF!), on a Canadian brioche bun.

It was all wonderfully flavored and we definitely want to try more dishes the next time we’re in Huntsville. It was really hard to pick what we wanted to eat because everything on the menu sounded amazing!

Most Chill Place To Eat In Huntsville – Stovehouse

We love when spaces are transformed and reused. The Stovehouse complex was once an old factory, but it is now home to restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops. We loved the Food & Leisure Garden area with its lawn chairs, swings, and games like cornhole, bocce ball, and wooden-pin bowling. We could easily see ourselves hanging out with friends while eating and drinking the night away.

Speaking of eating, there are a few restaurants at Stovehouse. We ate at Taqueria El Cazador and got a platter of four tacos. Yum!

Best Pub Food In Huntsville – Ale’s Kitchen

Located inside popular Campus 805, Ale’s Kitchen has some truly amazing food and we think it’s one of the best places to eat in Huntsville. The food is made from scratch, they use locally sourced ingredients, and it’s got such a fun and vibrant atmosphere. They’re also attached to Straight to Ale, an award winning brewery.

To start, we ordered a rum and coke. Yum! And for our meal we ordered Kimchi Pork Tacos. The flavors were amazing and had just the right amount of kick! We could’ve eaten about five more of those tacos!

Best Breakfast In Huntsville – Blue Plate Cafe

One morning, we had what is probably the best breakfast in Huntsville. At Blue Plate Cafe, they specialize in classic southern dishes and besides these classic dishes, they also offer a large helping of smiles and Southern hospitality.

We ordered a Blue Plate Breakfast that came with two scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and toast. We always ask for cheese with our scrambled eggs and it’s how we tend to judge a place. Sometimes cheese is thrown on top after the eggs are done, so it doesn’t even melt. At Blue Plate Cafe, however, the cheese is mixed in. And a lot of cheese too! So we were very happy with our cheesy order lol! The hashbrowns were also nice and crispy.

Best Burger In Huntsville – Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint

If you want classic burgers and specialty burgers, Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint is for you. Their burgers are 100% American Wagyu beef and are prepared simply so their true flavors really stand out. They were even voted the people’s choice of best food and beverage by Downtown Huntsville Awards.

A favorite burger is the Greg Brady, which comes with house-made mac n’ cheese, American cheese, BBQ, and potato chips. Locals also suggest ending your meal with a deep fried Oreo.

Best Coffee In Huntsville – Honest Coffee Roasters

Another great Huntsville breakfast spot is Honest Coffee Roasters. They are located downtown, and have freshly roasted coffee and simple but tasty breakfast options. We were wanting a light breakfast that morning, so we ordered a latte and muffin, both of which were very yummy.

Best Chocolate In Huntsville – Pizzelle’s Confections

If you’re looking for the best chocolate in Huntsville, you have to visit Pizzelle’s Confections. Created by sisters Michelle and Caitlin, their chocolate shop offers guests delightful treats and desserts. Everything is handmade and almost too pretty to eat.

They also have very creative and elaborate chocolate flavors. We tried two different chocolates while we were there. The first was the “I Do Declare!” which had dark chocolate with local goat cheese, local honey, balsamic reduction, and walnut praline. The second was “Nutty By Nature” which had peanut butter and peanut praline ganache with a layer of marshmallow in dark chocolate. Both were fantastic and we were amazed at how well all of the flavors went together. Oh, and we also got a chocolate milkshake because… well, why not?

Best Cuban Food In Huntsville – Havanabama

As the city continues to grow, the food in Huntsville continues to diversify. If you’re craving some good Cuban coffee and comfort food, definitely reach out to Karlene at Havanabama. She moved to Huntsville from Miami a few years ago and is now delighting locals with her pastelitos, empanadas, croquetas and coffee. She does have some vegan options as well.

Anyone wanting to place an order can either DM her on Instagram or through email at info@havanabama.com. Karlene does need at least a 24 hour notice, to ensure freshness and availability. She also sells customized merchandise and novelty items with the goal of having a food truck and brick and mortar shop soon.

Best Sunday Brunch In Huntsville – Cotton Row

There are a few downtown Huntsville restaurants, but if you’re looking for the best brunch in Huntsville (or best meal for that matter), head on over to Cotton Row. They have an amazing chef and the restaurant has won many awards. It’s American fine dining, with deep Southern roots.

During our visit to Cotton Row, we ordered a Gem Lettuce Salad and the Pan Seared Wild Pacific King Salmon dish. The salad came with shaved pecorino, fennel, sourdough croutons, and goddess dressing. We’ll be honest, it takes a lot for a salad to thrill us. But everything was so fresh and the dressing really made it pop. It was delicious and we also thought the plating was really nice.

The salmon came with crispy baby potatoes and vegetables along with an herb citrus butter. Out of all the meals we had in Huntsville, we probably ate this one the slowest because we really wanted to savor every bite. The salmon melted in your mouth and the potatoes and vegetables were cooked perfectly. If Cotton Row wasn’t such a classy place, we would’ve licked the plate!

Best Breweries And Bars In Huntsville

Did you know that Huntsville has a ton of breweries and bars? The best way to experience them all is by exploring Huntsville’s Trail Networks. They have a Craft Beer Trail, Craft Cocktail Trail, and even a Craft Coffee Trail. As you visit each location on a trail, you get a stamp on your nifty Trail Card. Then, once you’ve gotten stamped at all of the locations, you get a free prize!

Budget For Eating In Huntsville

The fine dining experiences during your trip to Huntsville climbs various numbers. Plan on $45 to $80 per person at a place like Cotton Row, especially if you order the salmon and pair it with a cocktail.  If you want to sample everything we did over a long weekend, two people should be ready to spend somewhere between $350 and $600 on food alone.

We relied on two approaches to manage vacation expenses during the trip. The first is the daily cap method. You decide on a flat food budget per day, say $120 for two, and treat it like a hard ceiling. The trick is to balance the splurges against the cheap stuff. If you know you want that Cotton Row dinner, you keep breakfast and lunch light with coffee, a shared plate, or street tacos so the big meal still fits inside the cap. The second method was an optional way to max out our credit from banks or lending companies.

Final Thoughts On Huntsville Restaurants

We always enjoy our visits to Huntsville! As we mentioned before, we think Huntsville food should be acknowledged more. There is a lot of tradition in the cuisine, but also a lot of modern adaptations. We loved that so many of the Huntsville restaurants were sourcing their ingredients locally and we also loved that so many venues were fun and creative. We can’t wait to visit again and discover more delicious places to eat in Huntsville, Alabama!

Ready to book your stay in Huntsville? We’ve stayed at both the Embassy Suites in downtown and the Hampton Inn Huntsville/Village of Providence just outside of the US Space and Rocket Center.

The Embassy Suites is in a perfect location that allowed us to get to downtown attractions quickly. They offer free breakfast and complimentary drinks and snacks for two hours every night. Check Embassy Suites Huntsville Hotel & Spa rates.

The Hampton Inn Huntsville/Village of Providence is in a great area known as the Village of Providence. There are restaurants and shops within walking distance and the US Space and Rocket Center is a short drive away. The hotel also offers free breakfast. Check Hampton Inn Huntsville/Village of Providence rates.

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