Dreamland Barbecue is located in Birmingham, Alabama where my son goes to college. When we first visited Birmingham, locals were asked to recommend a place to eat. Dreamland BBQ, also called Dreamland’s, was the unanimous recommendation. When locals all recommend the same restaurant, you can expect that it will be good.
Dreamland BBQ is as good as the hype. It is not a very attractive restaurant, and it’s located in a less than prestigious area of downtown. It’s also hard to find parking. Inside, you’ll find a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. The walls are decorated with license plates from all over the world, and boxes for “to-go” that patrons have decorated to represent universities across the country. (I couldn’t find an Ohio State University Box and I hope to rectify this in my next visit. The restaurant has televisions that broadcast sporting events throughout the day. Dreamland’s food is the best part of Dreamland… it has such amazing flavors!
On a wall-mounted menu board, you’ll find ribs with coleslaw and potato salad. There are also baked beans, banana pudding, and baked beans. Dreamland’s sweet and spicy southern barbecue sauce is a perfect match for the smoky ribs. We order family-style, which is usually two slabs of ribs with a pint of each coleslaw or potato salad and generous amounts of bread for mopping up the sauce. We eat until we are bursting, and clean every rib down to the bone. If only I could have taken a photo of my sons with their fingers covered in sauce. My own hands were a little too gooey to take the shot.
Dreamland’s is always on our list, even though we have many restaurants in Birmingham to visit. Yep! It is really that good. Dreamland Barbecue is located in eight different locations in Alabama and Georgia. The original opened in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1958. Visit Dreamland Barbecue on your next trip to the south.
Birmingham is a great place to visit. What restaurants should we try?