FIVE Tuscaloosa

FIVE in Tuscaloosa is a refreshing take on upscale casual dining with a Southern soul. True to its name, the menu is beautifully streamlined—five appetizers, five entrees, five wines, five cocktails—keeping things simple but far from ordinary. The atmosphere hits that perfect balance between trendy and cozy, with exposed brick, ambient lighting, and live music often setting the tone for an inviting night out. Whether you’re seated inside or enjoying the vibe from their outdoor patio, the service is attentive without being overbearing. Favorites from the menu? The white chicken chili is rich, warm, and full of flavor—a crowd favorite for good reason. The shrimp & grits delivers big with creamy texture and bold seasoning, while the Filet is tender, perfectly cooked, and beautifully plated. Their FIVE Burger is a comfort food home run with gourmet flair. Cocktail-wise, the bar does not disappoint. The FIVE Mule and the House Old Fashioned are excellent, and the wine list—though short—is well-curated. In a city filled with college-town staples, FIVE stands out as a spot that feels a bit more elevated, yet still approachable. It’s ideal for date night, catching up with friends, or just treating yourself to a really good meal. Rating: 4.7/5 Refined, flavorful, and always consistent—FIVE proves less is more.

Happened to pop in on a Sunday afternoon and had the best experience. Place was full with high energy. Ordered the breakfast burger which was perfection. None of the flavors overwhelming. Burger was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Icing on the cake was an incredible musician playing live music on the saxophone (and other wind instruments). It was just such a great experience. Can’t wait to go back for another Sunday. Must try.

The Five Tuscaloosa offers a warm, inviting atmosphere and stellar cuisine. The red snapper, shipped fresh from Harbor Docks in Destin, is flaky and flavorful. Save room for the delicious vanilla bread pudding—a perfect finish!

Everything about this place is awesome! The food exceeded my expectations! For the price you’re not gonna do any better! I would call this place a gem but everybody knows about it. Lol. Super friendly Staff; beautiful downtown location. If I could give the food six out of five stars I would. It really does stand out in Tuscaloosa.

I wanted a delicious burger while visiting the area and I got it! I sat outside, ordered the cheeseburger, and it was everything I needed for a delicious dinner. It did take a few minutes for a server to greet me after the host sat me, but I was in no rush and was enjoying sitting on the patio. I'm excited to go back and try something new, even though it will be hard to not want to order this burger again!

Went after a game to grab dinner. Loved the atmosphere and service was great. Our meals totaled $170 for four people. Two burgers with fries, chicken pasta, and fish with potatoes. Four entrées w/ waters, one appetizer (fried tomatoes)and one beer. You have five entrees to choose from. The food was bland. Not terrible. A little salt helped a lot. Not saying I wouldn’t recommend. Just advise on what to expect.

Sometimes in life you come across restaurants that make you go, “Yeah, I mean, it was pretty good.” That is this place to a tee! The service was great, and the atmosphere was awesome. The food itself, now, heh, let’s just say, THATS A DIFFERENT STORY. Not bad, not great - my cheeseburger was a little overcooked, and the two patties together are probably the equivalent of 3/4 of a regular burger. The fries are unremarkable. Still filled me up though, haha! I was like, “Come to papa, ahah!” Anywho, if you’re still reading this, I’d say, yeah, it was pretty good. Not like, “Oh, you GOTTA try this restaurant” good, but, “You wanna hit 5?” “Yeah, sure, we haven’t been in a minute” good. Update: went here graduation weekend and my dad got the cheeseburger and he really enjoyed it. I had the fried shrimp and it was pretty baller as well.

Neat place, loved the atmosphere & food was terrific. There is only a brunch menu for Saturday & Sunday so I plan to go back during the week to try out some of the highly recommended items on the full menu. I had chicken & waffles & they were GREAT

When you roll through Tuscaloosa make sure you hit FIVE BAR... Name comes from only 5 entree items on the menu whether it be brunch or dinner. Nice cocktail list, exceptional service in a laid back clean relaxed environment. We dropped in for brunch I started with a cup of fresh coffee and the beignets... entree was the grilled shrimp and grits, which have the right amount of ghost peppers and goat cheese! Highly recommended!

This place delivers very flavorful food in an casual setting. Although it was pretty busy we got seated and served rather quickly. Their menu is very small but they zoned in on what they do well. For apps the baked avocado, yellowfin tuna dip, & uptown chicken were all big hits with our group. The paneed chicken was tender and flavorful. I chose the grilled chicken option versus the fried way it comes with to save on calories and to not be so heavy but still packed good flavor.

Love love love love love love love. Best salad in town. Super cute ambiance, great prices. Their honey mustard is to die for!

Five Bar. I get it. There are just 5 entrees each night for dinner and it also has a beautiful historic bar. It's spacious and wide open inside the historic building. The bartender, Matt, was on point in keeping our adult beverages full. There is an incredible collection of hand painted pop-type art paintings on every wall. The food was very good and prepared in a small kitchen. The wait service did a good job taking care of us as the place got increasingly busy on a Saturday night.

Mimosas 8/10 Food 10/10 the sauces prepared with the food were amazing. Ambiance 7/10 Service 7/10 It's my birthday, the waitress knew that....a group of 4 came in 10 minutes after we ordered our food and they're food was prepared and given to them before my husband and I were given our food.

Five is one of my Tuscaloosa's Favs. The Paneed Chicken, the shrimp, & The Infamous Cheeseburger will not disappoint. Wash it down with a spicy Margarita or Prose and you'll leave fully satisfied.

Come on who doesn't love chicken and waffles? Especially when the chicken is crispy and well seasoned and the waffle is fluffy and served with pecans on top. Certainly I loved it. It is a bar making the Bloody Mary bar, included pickled okra, a nice touch.

We've eaten at several places lately that we don't usually go to, as we got several gift cards. While not inexpensive the food was some of the best we've had and the waiter was relaxed and attentive. We will go back as we have another gift card, then probably only for special occasions.

Terrible experience here on Easter Sunday. Had a 30 min. wait to be seated. I'm OK with that. Once we were seated it took 1 hour and 20 min. to get our food! This is no exaggeration. There were people so frustrated they just told the wait staff that they were leaving because of the long delay. This was totally unacceptable. we won't be going back any time. BewARE!!!!!! And on top of that you would think they would Comp. part of the bill. But we received no comps.

5 stars! This place is a total vibe. We sat at the bar, our bartender was friendly & get us everything we needed. We even saw her squeeze fresh orange juice & grape fruit. We had 2 Mimosas & the Bordeaux Bourbon which were both phenomenal! will definitely be back!

The food quality has really gone downhill. Service was mediocre. Ambiance was okay the chairs outside could use some replacing. This was a last resort choice because all of our other restaurants were slammed. I guess we should have known since they weren't on a wait the experience was going to be subpar.

Excellent brunch! Had the picture of mimosas and beignets to start. Then we had the chicken and waffles for the main dishes. Very delicious! Loved the live jazz. Great and friendly service

EVERYTHING HERE IS GOOD! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! We frequent Five, usually for dinner, but I recently went a few days ago for the jazz brunch for the first time, and as expected, everything was great. I ordered the shrimp and gouda grits, my friend ordered the chicken and waffles, and we shared a mimosa pitcher. Even with the simplicity of the menu (only 5 main entrees), I never get tired of the food. They also have daily happy hour and throughout the week, there may be other specials, such as ladies night (check their website). The service is always good. We are usually able to get a table or spot at the bar immediately. If the weather is nice, I highly recommend sitting outside on the patio. The only negative (and it's not really their fault) is the parking situation. There are parking spaces in front of the restaurant, but it may be hard to score one of those spaces with other restaurants, bars, and now a hotel on the same strip. However, the free parking garage is not too far away, and you can almost always find a spot there.

All very good. I got the peneé chicken. The chicken was crispy and not dry and the salad was delicious. The mash potatoes were rich and creamy. Also the atmosphere was great as well.

Food was excellent! Service was great. The ambiance is exceptional! I enjoyed the dining experience!

Super good but service was really slow with not a lot of people there. we went on five dollars cheeseburger day, and our waiter did not do five dollar cheeseburgers. And took extra long.

Five Bar was amazing!! Perfect food and great service!! It's a fun bar with a great ambiance!Would highly recommend!

Service and experience was great. We both ordered the steak and it was horrific. No taste and a horrible cut of meat. Almost like it was boiled then put in a skillet to heat up. I have never eaten a steak that tasted that badly. Both were severely under cooked as well. The fries and onion rings were great. The drinks from the bar came quickly. Just never order steak

Fire is a cozy restaurant bar located in downtown Tuscaloosa. We had dinner while in town for a college visit. They have a pretty solid bar with lots of options. It was our waiter Oliver's first day on the job (we visited in November 21) he did a nice job. As an appetizer we ordered the uptown chicken which was really good, tasty and well cooked. For entrees we ordered the Ribeye and fried shrimp blackened. We shared the entrees and enjoyed them both very much. Overall I would say this is a great option if you are looking for an upscale meal in downtown Tuscaloosa!

What else can I say, ever since 5 Bar started 5 Java about 8 years ago I have had my morning coffee and breakfast at least 6 mornings a week, every month for every year since.

This is such a relaxed brunch spot to go to on Sundays if you are ever in town visiting or maybe even after church. There is live saxophone player and he is amazing!!! The food here is also really good too and the mimosas are SUPER cheap but I would recommend getting a pitcher if you like to drink more than one. I would rate them 5 stars but I had to go through LITERALLY 3 different mimosas because each time our waiter brought it out to me there was a whole bunch of unknown black stuff floating in my drink (The waiter nor the bartender knew what it was or where it came from) But overall the cool thing that I really like about this place is that there are only 5 things of each on the menu. So for someone who is very indecisive this is the perfect place to go because there is not much room for decision making or that overwhelming feeling of reading a book just to find something to eat.

Love the atmosphere. Even though it was a Friday night, we were seated quickly. Our server was very friendly and attentive. The food was delicious. Even though it was a thin piece of chicken, it was not dry or over cooked. Very flavorful. The portion sizes are just right. My favorite part was the bread pudding. I'm not a huge white chocolate fan, but this was one of the best desserts I've had in a long time.

Service was great! Food was good. Atmosphere was welcoming. Well worthwhile. I'll be sure to stop by for a Sunday brunch every time I'm in town.

Always good service at five bar. Although the food options are limited (because it's five bar) their chicken is a weekly order for me. Jazz brunch is also nice on Sundays with parents.

I love the simplicity of the menu! Everything is wonderful and the ambiance is relaxed and comfortable. Make a reservation!

The ambiance was great. The service was excellent and the meals were reasonably priced.

We have been here on numerous occasions. The food is always delicious and service has been very good. Definitely recommend.

This is a nice place for meals. The Bloody Mary bar for their brunch is outstanding. Excellent food. Give it a try.

Limited menu makes things difficult for people with food allergies. Really nice ambiance, but the menu was just okay.

I like this place pretty well! The servers have always been incredible. the food stays really good. I always eat outside because inside can be a little loud. only thing worth mentioning is that sometimes there's a wait but you can get added to the waitlist and walk down to throw some axes at civil in the mean time :)

The people here are so nice but the food, not so much. We arrived at 11:00 am and ordered shortly thereafter. Food arrived at 11:40 and was all stone cold. I had a steak sandwich that was supposed to have beer cheese. It was mostly bread with fatty, FATTY steak and barely any cheese. Is was SO dry. My husband had fried chicken which was also cold with no chicken breast as expected, just a leg and thigh. The mac and cheese and whiskey sours were great. The pics are AFTER we finished our meal that we couldn't eat much of. We left Five Bar and went to another restaurant for a pizza. We will never go back.

I love this restaurant, but they seem to have a supply issue. I have never eaten here when they actually were serving everything on the menu. Last night, 2 of the 5 entrees were sold out, and 3 of the 5 appetizers. And it was only 7:30 (and not yet busy season in Tuscaloosa). After waiting 45 minutes for a table, it's disappointing to only have half the menu available. Perhaps they could post an 86 board near the host stand, so patrons aren't disappointed when they sit down? There are so many other options downtown, and we honestly would have eaten elsewhere last night had we known how much was sold out.

The service was excellent, but the food was horrific. My ribeye was thin and tough; a cheap and terrible cut of meat. It was nearly raw, definitely not medium. I got tired of chewing. We left hungry. Too expensive for way way subpar food. Otherwise, we always love the ambience and service. Do better in the kitchen, Five.

when I walked into this place, my expectations were not very high. there were not many people there, except for the bar which may be a little skeptical at first, but we were hungry. we sat down and had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan who took care of us and made all of the recommendations including the uptown chicken which is an absolute must. in fact, I liked it so much that I asked for sauce on the side for my cheeseburger and fries. I know the reviews here average about a four, but I have to give it a five just based on the simplicity of the menu, the service, and the two items that I ordered. I also had a margarita which was on point. however I did make a change to the recipe and asked him not to put pineapple in it. Overall, I was extremely pleased with the place and I can't wait to go back for that uptown chicken. Oh, and by the way, by the time we left, the restaurant was packed.

Went for Sunday Brunch...such a waste of time and money. The service was okay. Our waiter was fine, but there were kids that looked like they rolled right out of bed bringing out food. The food was TERRIBLE...very obvious that they were not staffed. A breakfast burrito that was to have onions, peppers, sausage, etc. was a tablespoon of egg with a clump of low grade sausage and cheese...no flavor, peppers, onions etc. in a tough, doughy wrap. Absolutely gross! It was also on a plate of burned potato strings sopping in grease. My husband got chicken and waffles. The waffle was fine but his chicken was a huge chicken back and drumstick that was fried and sopping in grease. I'm mad at myself for not sending it back and leaving. Yuck!!! So

That chicken and waffles snapped!! The chicken was so damn good. Well seasoned and cooked to the right temperature and timing. Some of the juiciest chicken I ever ate. Their house made ranch was superb!!! I am so thankful to have had my experience their . I celebrated a graduation .

What a cool local place. Not a large menu, just FIVE appetizers and FIVE entrees, but all TEN are done exceptionally well. I had the pork chop with a side of Mac/Cheese. Pork Chop was excellent and Mac/ cheese was taken up a notch, definitely worth getting.

Simple menu with well executed dishes. Really cool atmosphere for a quick dinner and drinks

Great Food Great Drinks Brunch is their best menu! Mimosas are ok... but you can't beat the bottomless deal :)

Last night was my first time visiting FIVE Tuscaloosa and I must say that really love the Feng shui of the restaurant -- how it is decorated, the lighting, chandeliers, etc. The inside could be used for a really good photo shoot. Overall, I really liked the vibes and energy that the entire restaurant was giving off -- extremely relaxing. Thursdays are 'Ladies Night' so there are $2 off wine by the glass and $5 specialty cocktails. So, I started off with a Prosé and I really liked how it tasted and the size is more than enough to last through your meal unless you just want to have multiple drinks. I ordered the Paneed Chicken and I really liked the chicken it was crispy and very juicy. The piece of chicken was really big and more than enough for me to eat. The mashed potatoes were good, too and the goat cheese was a really smooth addition to the salad. I love some goat cheese! Now, their White Chocolate Bread Pudding is DIVINE. It's the best bread pudding that I have ever had! Like it is definitely a little slice of Heaven so make sure you order this! It is BURSTING with flavor and gives you all the textures -- smooth, creamy, sweet, savory, with a little crunch. I really enjoyed dinner here and I will be back to visit for sure!

One of my favorite spots to eat at in Tuscaloosa. I came by for lunch and enjoyed a nice afternoon on the patio. Service was great and my waiter checked on me regularly. I was craving their burger and it is one of the best in town for sure. The thin fries are excellent as well. While everything on their menu is good, I almost always go with the burger. They have great drinks as well.

The bartenders are so cool! Definitely enjoyed my time! See Max & Hannah are the best!

Underwhelming for the price point. The idea of the menu is cool, but the last 3 times I've gone it's been the same menu. If you aren't a fan of what they have, you won't be coming back. Difficult to bring a group of people for this reason. Wine glasses and silverware were also dirty.

Five stars for Five Bar! I specifically prefer the Tuscaloosa location over the Birmingham location because they have the Uptown Chicken! Their panned Paneed Chicken is delicious, always crispy and cooked perfectly, I only wish they added a bit more sauce to it. The side salad served with most meals has strawberries in the summer and cranberries in the winter, both are exceptional. The dressing used complements the goat cheese and fruit. Their drink options are also great, I usually get the strawberry lemonade.

Excellent. More on the pricey side for the casual vibe it strives for, but executed to perfection. Wonderful ambiance for casual-dressy dinner.

It was busy due to parents weekend, but did not receive our appetizers until after we received our meals...which took quite a long time. Two of the meals were inedible and cold. Not a great experience for a place that has a cool atmosphere.

The Jazzy Brunch...was an overall great experience with smooth jazz creating a good atmosphere along with good food and service. Moreover, the wait time was very reasonable for brunch on a Sunday. The selective menu did not take away from how the food was presented and prepared. I ordered the the steak and hash; it was cooked to the correct temperature and had the perfect amount of seasoning that compliments the potatoes. On top of that the bread pudding was rich and was not overly sweet. Definitely will come back!

This is an update! It's been nearly a year since my last review on this restaurant! This visit I can say I was much more satisfied with my service and meal! Our server was much more attentive and mindful about her service quality! I got the ribeye at medium rare. It is served over very nicely seasoned mashed potatoes with a side of the house salad. This plate was very well thought out. Now I must admit, when they say goat cheese is sprinkled on top of the salad... they mean doused with goat cheese. It was very over powering versus the mild white vinaigrette that is served over the mixed greens! The steak was ALMOST, not quite, but almost overseasoned, and honestly my request of medium rare was brought out closer to medium/medium well. However, it was still super tender and very tasty. Now that I've been back here and had such a better experience, I will definitely be back in the near future!

Went to Five Java and fell in love with the atmosphere and food! Smoothies are 10/10 and loved the BLT sandwich. Great place for brunch. Would recommend to anyone

This is a really cool bar that would be great for a date or happy hour. I ordered the Baked Avocado to start and it was fantastic. It is stuffed with bacon, shrimp and spicy mayo on a bed of lettuce. I took my out of the peel and put it on the lettuce to make a salad. The mayo they make has an Asian flavor to it. All the items on the menu looked appealing (they don't offer dessert). There was a cheeseburger, paneer chicken, a ribeye, porkchops or fried shrimp. Wed-Sun there is a nightly special as well. For Sunday it was fried chicken with mac and cheese. I almost went for the fried chicken, except that the only choice was that it comes with two legs and a thigh. All entrees come with a grey salad that had romaine, strawberries, craisins. Almonds, nuts and s really good honey mustard. I chose the cheeseburger, which comes on a great bun with two patties of meat, American cheese, a wonderful bacon relish, house made dill pickles. That was a very good recommendation. The service was very good.