Gaines Ridge's Black Bottom Pie is flat out awesome

I’ve wanted to visit the Gaines Ridge Dinner Club in Camden for several years now, and did so for the first time last night when my wife and I went there to celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary.

I’d heard about Gaines Ridge for years, but my interest really ramped up after seeing it listed in two separate publications – “Off the Beaten Path: Alabama” by Gay N. Martin and the state tourism brochure, “100 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die.”

For those of you unfamiliar with this outstanding restaurant, it’s located in an old antebellum, Greek Revival Style house at 933 Highway 10 East in Camden. It’s about 40 miles from Monroeville, 85 miles from Montgomery and 120 miles from Birmingham. Wherever you live, it’s worth the drive.

Gaines Ridge is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. You can reserve the restaurant at other times during the week by calling 334-682-9707.

Here’s what “Off the Beaten Path” (Eighth Edition) has to say about Gaines Ridge.

“For a Southern taste treat, make reservations at the Gaines Ridge Dinner Club, located about two miles east of Camden on State Route 10. Housed in Betty Gaines Kennedy’s two-story circa-1830 family home, the restaurant seats about 100 guests in five dining rooms. From shrimp bisque to spinach salad and steak or seafood, everything on the menu is well prepared and tasty. (Ask Betty about the home’s ghosts.) Prices fall in the moderate range.”

According to the restaurant’s Website, Gaines Ridge, “like most old houses, has its share of ghosts - the woman who screams and calls out, and has been seen floating past windows - the incessant crying of a baby - the aroma of pipe smoke in one room, when nobody in the house is smoking - and the reflected image of a tall, gaunt man, dressed in black, with a long beard. (Old Ebeneezer Hearn, himself?) But these seem to be harmless apparitions and only serve to enhance the charm that is Gaines Ridge.”

When my wife and I arrived about 6:45 last night, we found the restaurant less crowded than we would have expected for a Thursday night, but that soon changed because folks began to stream in steadily for the next hour or so. The restaurant is so spacious though that even when a big crowd is on hand, you’ve still got plenty of elbow room.

The restaurant had a very relaxed atmosphere and the accommodations were very nice. The wait staff was also very laid back, very polite and made us feel more than welcome. I almost wore a coat and tie to the restaurant, but was glad that I decided at the last minute not to. As far as I could tell, I would have been the only person there in a coat and tie.

We ordered fried dill pickles (outstanding!), green salad (very good), sweet tea (just right), eight-ounce steaks (perfect), baked potatoes (pretty good) and small homemade rolls (delicious).

The highlight of the meal was the desert. As I mentioned earlier, the Alabama Tourism Department published a brochure several years ago called “100 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die.” Gaines Ridge made the list because of its Black Bottom Pie. We ordered two pieces and it was flat out awesome. It may have been the best desert that I’ve ever eaten anywhere.

In the end, my wife and I enjoyed our trip to Gaines Ridge, and we definitely intend to return in the near future. How many of you have had the chance to eat at Gaines Ridge? What did you think about it? What other dishes would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about this restaurant, visit its Web site at www.wilcoxwebworks.com/gr/index.htm.