The Red Barn Restaurant Review

     We hardly ever eat out while camping because we usually camp in remote locations. Additionally, we usually camp with our group from church and mealtime is good fellowship time. There were a couple of factors for us deciding to eat out on Friday night, November 27. First, we cooked all our meals thus far on this trip. Second, we were departing Saturday morning for the next leg of our journey to a very isolated location. Third, we met an interesting character Tuesday afternoon who gave us a great tip of a soul food café located inside of a local grocery store and he was adamant that The Red Barn served the best steaks, fried fish, and quail in Alabama. After discovering he was dead right about the soul food place, we wanted to give The Red Barn a try. The restaurant is only open at night, opening at 5pm daily except for Sunday. Here is a photo of the outside of the place.

As you can see it is an old barn turned into a restaurant. I wished I could have taken some photos of inside as the décor was rustic and contained many small farming and timbering hand tools as well as paintings of the local countryside, the lighting was low and I would not have wanted to interfere with other people as they intimately dined in this wonderful restaurant. 

     The inside was divided into small rooms containing about 5-6 tables for an intimate dining setting. We were seated at a handmade pine plank table with the traditional red checkered table cloth. Service was swift and friendly. After reviewing the menu and placing our drink order of sweet tea (what else?), we explained we were travelling from Florida and then inquired about the older gentleman we met on Tuesday. His name we were told was Roger. Apparently, he works part-time, does some maintenance and helps out on busy nights in the kitchen. After our tea arrived Roger came out of the kitchen and walked to our table. With a big million dollar smile he laughed and said, “I remember y’all, I’m so glad y’all came back to eat wit us, you won’t be disappointed.” He asked about our experience at the soul food café and we thanked him for the suggestion as the food was delightful.

     I ordered the grilled Rainbow Trout with baked potato and salad from the salad bar. Buddy, in typical Buddy fashion, requested a special order (not on the menu). He order fried quail and fried oysters with steamed winter veggies, wild rice and gravy, and a salad from the salad bar. The waitress did not hesitate and said, “Shore we kin do that!” After a short wait in which we observed family after family arriving to eat, our order arrived. Here are photos of our meals.

     My trout was fresh and grilled just right. Many people overcook fish, but not this restaurant. The trout was accompanied by two hefty lemon wedges and a special melted butter/citrus cream mixture for topping the fish. The baked potato side could have been a meal by itself. It was smothered in butter, cheddar cheese, real bacon bits, and topped with a generous amount of sour cream. Buddy’s quail, most likely farm raised due to the size, was tender and satisfying. His fried oysters were cooked perfectly using fresh grease. They were lightly breaded and still moist on the inside, as fried oysters should be. Buddy reported that the sides were also delicious.

     I give The Red Barn a 5 out of 5 stars and definitely recommend dining there if you are in the Demopolis area.