Lunch at the City Cafe in Northport is like a trip back in time. (Ben Flanagan/bflanagan@al.com)

Any restaurant that makes it 10 years is huge success.

Twenty years, and it’s practically an institution.

But 50 years? A hundred years?

That qualifies for some sort of hall of fame.

And here in Alabama, we are blessed with quite a number of classic restaurants that have not only persevered for decades but continue to remain relevant today.

Restaurants that have survived hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, recessions and a pandemic.

Restaurants that have remained in the same family, passed down from one generation to the next.

Restaurants that our grandparents remember going to with their grandparents.

And in that spirit, we’ve put together this list of 15 Alabama restaurants that have stood the test of time.

You surely know of several more.

(A side note: For this story, we are not including hamburger joints, hot dog shops, barbecue places or soda fountains -- many of which go way, way back. Those are separate categories that are worthy of their own lists.)

How many of these 15 restaurants have you been to? And what would you add to the list?

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The orange rolls at the All Steak Restaurant in Cullman are featured on the Alabama Tourism Department's list of 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

Rich in history and renowned for its sweet-and-tangy orange rolls, the All Steak Restaurant has been a Cullman institution for nearly 85 years. Millard Buchmann first opened the restaurant in Pulaski, Tenn., in 1934, but four years later, he relocated to his hometown of Cullman. Although the All Steak has moved a few times and had a variety of owners in the years since, it remains the place to go in Cullman for Certified Angus Beef steaks and fresh Gulf seafood, as well as those famous orange rolls, which are served with every meal. “It’s the pillar of the community,” current owner Dyron Powell, who partnered with Cullman native Zac Wood to buy the All Steak in 2019, said. “There’s no doubt about that. You will not meet one person from Cullman who doesn’t have a story about it.”

The All Steak Restaurant is at 323 Third Ave. SE in Cullman. The phone is 256-734-4322. For more information go here.

READ MORE: Reviving an Alabama classic at the All Steak Restaurant in Cullman

More than a century after Greek immigrant Tom Bonduris came to Bessemer and opened his restaurant in 1907, the Bright Star continues to shine. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

No Alabama restaurant has aged as gracefully as Bessemer’s 115-year-old Bright Star. Recognized as “Alabama’s Oldest Restaurant” by the state tourism department and as an “America’s Classic” by the James Beard Foundation, the Bright Star was founded by Greek immigrant Tom Bonduris in 1907 and has remained in the Bonduris/Koikos family ever since. In the 1980s, the restaurant was passed down from the late Bill Koikos, a great nephew of Tom Bonduris, to his sons Jimmy and Nicky Koikos, who had worked with their father at the Bright Star since they were little boys. “This is a special place; I want you to take care of it,” Jimmy remembered his father telling him. “I said, ‘Daddy, I’ll do the best I can.’” Jimmy Koikos devoted his entire adult life to the Bright Star before he died of cancer in 2019. Nicky, his younger brother, continues to carry on the family tradition alongside chef Andreas Anastassakis, a cousin of the Koikos brothers and Jimmy’s hand-picked successor to take care of the Bright Star for decades to come. Famous for its Greek-style tenderloin, fried snapper throats, seafood gumbo and coconut pie, the Bright Star is one of those classic restaurants that never gets old. It just gets better with age.

The Bright Star is at 304 19th St. North in Bessemer. The phone is 205-426-1861. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Nick Saban gets the ‘Bear’ Bryant treatment at iconic Alabama restaurant

City Cafe has been a steady presence in downtown Northport since 1931. (Ben Flanagan/bflanagan@al.com)

City Cafe opened in Mayberry-esque downtown Northport in 1931, and over the years, it’s become not only a favorite of local folks but also a home away from home for University of Alabama students starved for some of their mamas’ cooking. The cafe seats about 165 guests, and during the lunch rush, there’s typically a constant stream of customers, who line up outside the front door and stretch down the sidewalk. But the line moves with efficiency, and with three dining rooms, City Café can handle a crowd. The meat-and-three menu rotates daily, so you could eat here five days a week and have something different every day. Among the options are hamburger steak, chicken and dressing, salmon patties and fried catfish fingers, as well as field peas, turnip greens, fried okra, creamed corn and sliced tomatoes. As much as we love the food, though, one of the best things about a trip to the City Café is all the nice people we always meet when we’re there.

City Café is at 408 Main Ave. in Northport. The phone is 205-758-9171. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: ESPN’s Todd Blackledge visits City Cafe for ‘Taste of the Town’

The Dew Drop Inn opened in Mobile in 1924 and moved to its current location on Old Shell Road 13 years later. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

The Dew Drop Inn may be best known for those bright red dogs smothered in chili and kraut, but we defy you to call this Mobile classic a hot dog joint. What other hot dog shop do you know serves, say, a crabmeat omelet or a fried oyster loaf or shrimp-and-okra gumbo? The Dew Drop Inn opened its doors in 1924 and relocated to its current location on Old Shell Road about 13 years later. Powell Hamlin -- who goes by such titles as the “Builder of Buns” and “Mayor of Flavor Town” -- has operated the Dew Drop since 1991, succeeding his late father, George Hamlin, who owned it for 23 years. When the elder Hamlin bought the restaurant in 1968, the previous owner, Jimmy Edgar, had some sage advice for him: “Don’t change nuthin’.” Powell Hamlin has followed that mantra, too, which is one reason the Dew Drop is still hopping after nearly a hundred years.

The Dew Drop Inn is at 1808 Old Shell Road in Mobile. The phone is 251-473-7872. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: That time Jimmy Buffett dropped in to the Dew Drop Inn

Delores Banks, who has owned Eagle's Restaurant since 1993, holds a pan of hot-out-of-the-oven cornbread muffins.(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

Down the street from the American Cast Iron Pipe Company factory in North Birmingham, Eagle’s Restaurant has been around since 1951, and Delores Banks -- “Miss D,” as some folks know her -- has kept the venerable soul food restaurant going since she bought it in 1993. With the help of her son, Jamal Rucker, Banks dishes out large servings of oxtails, neck bones, collard greens and candied yams five days a week. While Jamal manages the steamtable and his mother runs the kitchen, over the years, she has taught him a few of her cooking secrets, too. “He’s cooking, and he’s got it down pat,” she said. “I wouldn’t let him if he didn’t have it, but he’s got it.”

Eagle’s Restaurant is at 2610 16th Ave. North in Birmingham. The phone is 205-320-0099. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: The story behind this essential Alabama soul food restaurant

Ezell's Fish Camp overlooks the Tombigbee River in the tiny Choctaw County community of Lavaca. Matthews/mmatthews@al.com)

Ezell’s Fish Camp, Lavaca

Perched on the Tombigbee River in the tiny Choctaw County community of Lavaca, Ezell’s Fish Camp has been reeling ‘em in since commercial fisherman Charles Agnew Ezell Jr. started hosting 50-cents-a-plate fish fries in the yard outside his two-room dogtrot cabin in the 1930s. Nearly 90 years later, folks near and far continue to flock to Lavaca for crispy fried catfish, heavenly hush puppies and creamy coleslaw. Over the decades, the rustic cabin has expanded to include an enclosed porch, two additional party rooms and a deck -- enough to accommodate up to 300 guests. But some things don’t change. “(Customers) expect to see the same deer heads or pictures,” Mary Ann Ezell Hall, who took over Ezell’s Fish Camp from her father about 40 years ago, told AL.com’s Michelle Matthews in 2019. “We don’t move anything. If you do, you get in trouble.” (Hall’s brother, the late Charles Agnew Ezell III, co-founded the Catfish Cabin restaurant chain.) Being so close to the river, Ezell’s has experienced its share of floods, but the fish camp has held its ground. “The building, to me, is worth saving, because you can’t replace it,” Hall said. We could not agree more.

Ezell’s Fish Camp is at 776 Ezell Road in Lavaca. The phone is 205-654-2205. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Ezell’s Fish Camp is a trip back in time, with hush puppies

George's Steak Pit was founded by George and Vangie Vafinis in Sheffield in 1956. (AL.com file photo)

George’s Steak Pit, Sheffield

A Sheffield staple for more than 65 years, George’s Steak Pit was founded in 1956 by George and Vangie Vafinis. Their son, Frank Vafinis, took over the family business in 1984 and ran it until he retired in January 2022, when he passed the torch to current owners Scott and Leigh Anna Trimble. An old-school steakhouse with candles and white tablecloths, George’s has been in its current location on Jackson Highway for more than 30 years. Its proximity to the Muscle Shoals recording studios makes it a favorite of both local session players and out-of-town musicians. The menu features a selection of steaks, chops, chicken and fish, as well as appetizers such as fried calamari, Greek meatballs, oysters Rockefeller and French onion soup. The house favorite is George’s Special Ribeye, a 12-ounce, hand-cut steak that is grilled over hickory wood in George’s well-seasoned open pit. Regulars also rave about the house-made Thousand Island, ranch and Roquefort blue cheese salad dressings, which are so good that some folks get a quart to take home with them.

George’s Steak Pit is at 1206 Jackson Highway in Sheffield. The phone is 256-381-1531. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Alabama’s Best Steakhouses: George’s Steak Pit in Sheffield

Greg Gratton came home to Birmingham to help his father run Green Acres Cafe in 1993, and he's been the heart and soul of the business ever since. (Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com)

For more than 70 years, at one location or another, Green Acres Café has been the place to be in Birmingham for fried chicken wings, catfish, whiting, pork chops and chicken livers. And it’s still in the same family. William Gratton, who started Green Acres in Chicago, opened the first Birmingham location in 1950, and eight years later, his brother, Charles Gratton opened a place of his own across from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The café later moved to its current location in the Fourth Avenue Historic District in 1990. Greg Gratton, who grew up working in his father’s restaurant, moved back to Birmingham from Los Angeles to help his father out in 1993, and he’s been the heart and soul of the family business ever since. In addition to the flagship location on Fourth Avenue North, the café also has locations in Center Point and Ensley.

Green Acres Café is at 1705 Fourth Ave. North in Birmingham. The phone is 205-251-3875. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Green Acres Cafe at Steve Harvey’s Hoodie Awards

Located on Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa, the Historic Waysider Restaurant was built as a private residence in 1906 and converted into a restaurant in the late 1940s or early '50s. A favorite of Alabama football fans, the Waysider is famous for its hearty breakfasts and downhome lunches. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

Almost everything about Tuscaloosa’s Historic Waysider Restaurant -- or simply “The Waysider,” as everybody calls it -- practically yells “Roll Tide!” and “Yea Alabama!” The “Mal Moore red” exterior paint. The houndstooth awning over the front door. All those newspaper stories and Daniel Moore prints that blanket the dining room walls. And the main attraction, the two-seater table where the late Paul “Bear” Bryant sat when he came here for breakfast. While the sign outside says, “est. 1906,” that’s when the house was built as a private residence. It didn’t become a restaurant until the late 1940s or early ‘50s. A must-do on any hardcore Bama fan’s bucket list, the little red house on Greensboro Avenue is also home to one of the heartiest breakfasts in the South, with country ham and red-eye gravy, made-from-scratch biscuits, bottomless cups of coffee, and, on game-day weekends, elephant-shaped pancakes for the kids.

The Historic Waysider is at 1512 Greensboro Ave. in Tuscaloosa. The phone is 205-345-8239. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Taste a little Alabama football historic at this iconic Tuscaloosa restaurant

Oysters on the half-shell at Hunt's Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar in Dothan, Ala.(Jared Boyd/jboyd@al.com)

Hunt’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, Dothan

One of the oldest restaurants in Alabama’s Wiregrass Region, Hunt’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar has been in business since the early 1960s, when Billy Joe Reeves converted his full-service gas station into a three-stool oyster bar. In 1989, Reeves added on to the original building, attaching a seafood and steak restaurant. Now, Hunt’s seats more than 200 guests, Tim Reeves, Billy Joe’s son, is the restaurant’s second-generation owner. In addition to oysters, the menu includes shrimp, snapper, salmon, chicken, catfish, ribeyes and filets, as well as Hunt’s signature battered-and-fried grouper fingers, one of the Alabama Tourism Department’s “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die.”

Hunt’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar is at 177 Campbellton Highway in Dothan. The phone is 334-794-5193. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Alabama’s Best Oyster Bar: Five things to know about Hunt’s

Regulars dine alongside tourists at the Irondale Cafe, the meat-and-three Fannie Flagg made famous in her 1987 novel, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe." The cafe was once owned by Flagg's great aunt, Bess Fortenberry. (AL.com file photo/Beverly Taylor)

Nestled alongside the railroad tracks that cut through idyllic downtown Irondale, the Irondale Café has been around since 1928. It began as a hot dog stand before Bess Fortenberry bought it and converted it into the downhome café that her great niece, Alabama author Fannie Flagg, later immortalized in her 1987 novel “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café” and the subsequent Oscar-nominated 1991 movie. The original Irondale Café was torn down in 1980, but the restaurant reopened in a bigger space built on the same spot. Later, just before the release of the “Fried Green Tomatoes” movie, the café annexed the hardware store next door to make room for its growing clientele. The steamtable menu features the usual assortment of Southern meats and vegetables -- including county-fried steak, chicken and dumplings, black-eyed peas, mac and cheese, and those famous fried green tomatoes. While most of the customers are regulars, guests come from all over the world to dine at the small-town cafe that Flagg put on the international map, Jim Dolan, who has run the Irondale Café since he bought it in 2000, said. “The book and the movie resonated with so many people that they hunt us out,” he said.

The Irondale Café is at 1906 First Ave. North in Irondale. The phone is 205-956-5258. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Fannie Flagg on the café that inspired ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’

Martin's Restaurant, a Montgomery favorite for more than 90 years, is famous for its crispy fried chicken and crusty cornbread muffins.(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

The fried chicken is moist and crispy, the cornbread muffins soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside, and the chocolate pie is piled high with a mountain of meringue. Thank goodness, some things never change at Martin’s Restaurant, a Montgomery treasure where generations of diners have gathered for belt-loosening lunches washed down with tumblers of sweet tea. Alice Martin opened the original location of her namesake restaurant about 90 years ago, and Maryanne Smith Merritt is the current proprietor of the business that has been in her family since her father bought it in 1939. Merritt takes care of the restaurant like a cherished heirloom, and she treats her guests like extended members of the family. “If you have good customers and you have good relationships with your customers, they are going to come back,” she said. “My thing is always treat people like you want to be treated and call them by name. To me, that’s what makes them want to come back.”

Martin’s Restaurant is at 1796 Carter Hill Road in Montgomery. The phone is 334-265-1767. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: Martin’s Restaurant: The queen of Alabama’s meat-and-threes

The Bavarian pork schnitzel is one of the most popular dishes at Ol' Heidelberg Cafe in Huntsville.(Huntsville Times file/Glenn Baeske)

Open since 1972, the Ol’ Heidelberg Café is a young buck compared to most of the restaurants on this list, but by Huntsville standards, it’s practically a senior citizen. (The Rocket City’s Big Spring Café, which opened in its original location in 1922, has been around way longer, but we’ve already included it on our list of “12 classic Alabama burger joints that we can’t wait to revisit.”) The menu at Ol’ Heidelberg features such authentic German dishes as red cabbage, potato dumplings, goulash, pork stroganoff, bratwurst and knackwurst, as well as pork, chicken and veal schnitzel. The toasted Reuben, which comes with a choice of fried potatoes or German potato salad, is considered one of the best in the city. Among the must-try specials is a German take on the soul food classic chicken and waffles -- this one with chicken schnitzel and a Belgian waffle.

Ol’ Heidelberg Café is at 6125 University Drive NW in Huntsville. The phone is 256-922-0556. For more information, go here.

READ MORE: A taste of Germany at Ol’ Heidelberg

The Tally-Ho Restaurant in Selma has been around since at least the 1940s.(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

Camouflaged by trees in a residential area in historic Selma, the Tally-Ho Restaurant is one of those hidden dining gems that’s hard to find but well worth the search. Believed to date back to 1942, the restaurant had been a private dinner club at one time, and on the inside, it has the rustic look of a log cabin, with dark wood, a vaulted ceiling, exposed beams and a wagon wheel chandelier. The menu includes such appetizers as sauteed crab claws, fried artichoke hearts and French onion soup, as well as entrees such as shrimp and grits, linguini alfredo, French country chicken, fried catfish and the house favorite, a hand-cut, flame-grilled ribeye.

The Tally-Ho Restaurant is at 509 Mangum Ave. in Selma. The phone is 334-872-1390. For more information, go here.

Wintzell’s Oyster House opened on Dauphin Street in downtown Mobile in 1938, and it is still in the same location more than 80 years later. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Wintzell’s Oyster House, Mobile

Founded by J. Oliver Wintzell, Wintzell’s Oyster House started out as a small, six-stool oyster bar on Mobile’s Dauphin Street in 1938, and although the restaurant has expanded in the years since, it’s still in its original location. The Wintzell family sold the restaurant in the 1980s, but the Wintzell’s brand has subsequently grown to include additional locations in West Mobile, Saraland, Greenville, Montgomery and Guntersville. In addition to “fried, stewed and nude” oysters, the Wintzell’s menu features such coastal cuisine as seafood gumbo, crab cakes, crawfish etouffee, fried crab claws and West Indies Salad.

Wintzell’s Oyster House is at 605 Dauphin St. in Mobile. The phone is 251-432-4605. For more information, go here.

READ MORE ON ALABAMA FOOD:

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