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Things to do in Montgomery, AL
Montgomery is known to be one of Alabama’s liveliest cities, filled with delectable restaurants, bustling life, and historic museums and monuments. There is really no shortage of southern hospitality here in “The Gump.” Our team at Barrington Place has put together a list of our favorite restaurants and activities to make it easy for residents to enjoy the city we call home.
Top 5 Restaurants in Montgomery
Jan’s Beach House Grill
The
Gulf Coast is famous for providing the southern states with some of the
freshest seafood in America. Montgomery sits two hours north of the coast,
which provides local foodies with the ultimate ocean-to-table experience. Jan’s Beach House Grill takes
advantage of this proximity and has been cooking up the city’s best seafood
dishes since 2012 with dishes like fried catfish, grilled tilapia, and grouper
fingers. They’ve even won awards for their seafood gumbo, voted best in the
state in 2017, and their cornbread, which won best in Montgomery in 2021.
The
menu is set anew each week and is built around the traditional “meat n’ three”
style, where a protein is served alongside three sides. Guests can choose from
a long list of seafood as well as pork chops, roasted chicken, country-fried
steak, and meatloaf.
Jan’s
Beach House Grill is one of the best places in Montgomery to enjoy down-home
southern cooking filled with traditional Gulf Coast flavors.
Pho Life
Nothing warms the soul quite like a piping hot bowl of pho, complete with rich, flavorful broth, chewy flat rice noodles, thinly sliced onion, fresh bean sprouts, basil, jalapeno, and aromatic spices. It’s the ultimate comfort dish.Located
just 15 minutes south of Barrington Place at Sommerset, Pho Life
serves up some of Montgomery’s best Vietnamese cuisine with a large selection
of pho options, bahn mi, egg rolls, vermicelli salads, and more. Fans highlight
the Pho Gau made with fatty brisket, the Mi Hoanh Thanh, a wonton soup made
with pork and shrimp, and the Bahn Mi Thit Nuong, a Vietnamese-style hoagie
made with grilled pork. As far as appetizers go, the favorites are the Cha Gio
crispy eggrolls and Bo Nuong Cuon made with grilled beef and wrapped in rice
paper.
The
large menu gives visitors reason to come back again and again.
La Jolla
La Jolla is a new American bistro that prioritizes taste, creativity, and superb presentation, focusing its menu on dinner, drinks, and dessert. Opened in 2002, the restaurant has found recognition thanks to an ever-evolving menu and chef Gary Garner’s vision. One of the big draws is the culinary team’s use of The Big Green Egg, a specialized grill that allows meat to be cooked at a consistent high temperature. This technique is the secret behind their seared swordfish, 24 oz pork chop, and melt-in-your-mouth ribeye.
The drink list offers patrons unique pairings with their entrées, including adventurous cocktails, draft beers, and a curated wine selection. After dinner, don’t forget to check out the dessert menu which features a chocolate banana cheesecake, key lime posset with raspberry marmalade, and a cobbler made with fresh peaches from Chilton County, an agricultural area 45 minutes north of Montgomery.
As you can tell, the attention to detail at La Jolla is unparalleled.
Chris’ Famous Hotdogs
With over 100 years in business, Chris’ Famous Hotdogs is more than a simple hot dog joint, it’s a tried-and-true historic landmark infused with the spirit and history of Montgomery. The legendary eatery was opened in 1917 and has earned the title of “the oldest family owned and operated restaurant” in the city, with a menu that has remained relatively unchanged since the beginning.
They keep it short, sweet, and simple, serving hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken fingers along with classis sides and fountain drinks. That said, the flavors are outstanding and pull in hot dog and hamburger enthusiasts from across the world. The secret ingredient behind the notoriety is Chris’ famous chili sauce which is prepared daily in batches of 5 gallons. Just order Chris’ Famous Hotdog or Chris’ Hamburger to get the complete chili sauce experience.
This really is one of the city’s rarest gems and is worth a visit or two… or three, or four!
KIMCOOK
This family-owned operation is the realized dream of owners Kyung Han Kim and Cheol Mi Yang, who moved to Montgomery in 2020 with the vision of opening a restaurant that blends traditional Korean recipes with street food staples that are sold on the sidewalks of cities like Seoul, Busan, and Incheon.
The heavy hitters at KIMCOOK are the Korean corn dogs, the chicken teriyaki bowl, and the savory fried chicken wings that come with a choice of sweet & spicy sauce, sweet soy sauce, or honey smoked BBQ. Fans of the Korean fusion restaurant are also quick to point out the exceptionally friendly service and speed at which the orders get to your table. KIMCOOK offers an all-around 10/10 experience
Lucky for Barrington Place residents, KIMCOOK sits just 10-minutes west in the Bell Plaza Shopping Center. Stop by for a dine-in experience with a welcoming atmosphere or order take out and enjoy inside your own home.
Top 5 Places To Go In Montgomery
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts stands stoically beside a pond on the northeast corner of Blount Park and showcases an eclectic mix of artwork from internationally recognized artists like Edward Hopper, Edmonia Lewis, and Thomas Hart Benton. With over 4,000 different works of art, weaving through the halls is a continually engaging experience.
The MMFA features a permanent collection, rotating exhibitions, an outdoor sculpture garden, and an interactive gallery called “Artworks” where guests are encouraged to learn about the art making process and create with various materials like building blocks, easels, and digital tools. The museum also hosts free workshops throughout the month for enthusiasts to hone their skills alongside professional artists.
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts makes it easy and exciting to take a deep cultural dive that will inspire visitors of all ages.
The Shoppes at Eastchase provide east Montgomery with over 700,000 square feet of retail space that includes clothing stores, grocery giants, restaurants, department stores, and much more. The team behind the development of The Shoppes at Eastchase aimed to create a seamless outdoor shopping experience that some patrons describe as an “inside-out mall.” Rather than being stuck indoors, the Shoppes are connected by well-kept sidewalks that feature pristine landscaping and bronze sculptures.
Running out of things to do and places to visit will not be an issue here at The Shoppes. You’ll find everything from Costco to Dillard’s, DSW to Whole Foods, and Sephora to Banana Republic. All your needs in one place.
Residents of Barrington Place at Sommerset are only 10 minutes away from an endless expanse of shopping, dining, and entertainment that everyone can enjoy.
Montgomery is known as the birthplace of the civil rights movement— the city where Martin Luther King began his career as a preacher, as well as the site of the Montgomery bus boycott where Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus. Located downtown, just a few blocks from the Alabama State capitol, the Civil Rights Memorial Center honors this transformative moment in American history.
The centerpiece here is the memorial itself, a circular black granite table inscribed with the names of 41 people who were killed during the civil rights movement. Behind this, a thin sheet of water falls over a black granite wall that reads, “…until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream,” a quote from the bible that Martin Luther King referenced in his “I Have A Dream” speech.
It’s a solemn, yet powerful sculpture that memorializes the heroes who paid the ultimate price in the fight for freedom and justice.
The Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park is one of Montgomery’s most active parks, a sprawling 293-acre green space that features an iconic stone bridge, winding walking trails, gardens, lakes, and so much more. The park is home of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts as well as the Alabama Shakespeare festival which hosts theater productions throughout the year.
There’s so much to explore. On the south end, you’ll find the Hannah Daye Ridling Bark Park, a fenced in area where dogs can roam free while their owners enjoy the crisp air. Just north of this, the iconic stone bridge crosses the southern lake and provides visitors with a taste of the architecture found throughout the English countryside.
The park is multifaceted and the perfect place to wander, relax, and get in touch with the rhythms of nature. Between the park itself and the museum of fine art, it’s easy to fill an entire day with adventures at Blount Cultural Park.
The MOOseum is an educational museum that celebrates the history of Alabama’s cattle farming and beef industry. Located in the heart of downtown Montgomery, visitors are treated to a fully interactive experience that demystifies the process that your beef takes from the pasture to plate.
The exhibits highlight the long history of the cattle industry in Alabama, the elaborate infrastructure that makes beef production possible, the unique anatomy of cows, the various breeds and why they’re chosen, and even grilling techniques to cook up the best beef possible. There’s also a gift shop called “The General Store” where guests can stock up on cattle-centered clothing, aprons, artwork, and other knick knacks.
Lastly, be sure to take a photo alongside the “Beef Wagon,” a classic 1965 Dodge A100 van that carries atop a life size cow statue and encourages each passerby to “Eat More Beef!”