If you want a flavorful, healthy meal in Selma and don't mind waiting longer than fast-food service, The Restaurant on Grumbles Alley may be the place to dine. Located on Water Avenue and Grumbles Alley right by the river, you get homemade food in an historic building.The meals in this 1800's structure vary from soups and sandwiches to full-course entrees. Try the famous marinated grilled chicken breast sandwich for lunch and cheesecake for dessert. Fried foods such as chicken fingers, crab claws, shrimp and catfish are coated with a light batter and served with vegetables and salads rather than cole slaw and French fries. Red beans and rice is now a staple, and soups are rotated to include anything from chili to clam chowder.
The restaurant was revived in 2005 by the daughter of former Selma Mayor Joe T. Smitherman, who returned to her hometown after a legal career, so naturally the decor features Selma art, photographs and tributes to her father.
Located near an old steamboat landing, the building was once an auction center back in the days when cotton was king.
