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Dreamland BBQ in b'ham. "ain't nothing like em' anywhere"
I love Dreamland because the BBQ is the kind that "still has a little pull to it" when you take a bite. I like to actually chew on the rib and get all of the beautiful little pieces of meat off the bone.
Sauce and white bread. Just like they have been doing since 1958. Notice the "fine china." they seriously do not have a dishwasher, just the finest plastic stuff.
The sauce is the best in the world. You can put thus stuff on anything. Everything from the ribs to the mac-n-cheese.
It is some of the best in B'ham.
About the restaurant: Pulled pork sandwich was superb. The barbecue was excellent, sauce was classic, the bun was pictureque. I had mac & cheese as the side and it was very good. The sweet tea sets the standard. My waitress did a fine job. My visit was one and only. Would like to try more menu items but have to hope I can return.
About Yelp i-Phone app: I had a meeting in downtown Birmingham and determined to get to the address then search for the best nearby barbecue. Dreamland topped the list 1.7 miles from my inquiry. I couldn't be more pleased with the find and never would have gotten there without this tool. Five stars.
I'm a bit of a "Yankee", so I'm not familiar with the history behind this establishment and I'm not one to hold allegiances to any particular BBQ joint.... yet.
That said, Dreamland is a great place to get your fill of fantastic ribs and sides without breaking the bank. There's so much stuff on the walls here that the ambiance is never dull. I counted at least ten or so flat screen TVs around the room so you're bound to have a good view of the game on football nights.
The menu is ULTRA simple. Would you like a few ribs, some ribs, or a lot of ribs? You need to order the pudding when you're done. It's fantastic, but the health nut in me would recommend getting a small portion.
Overall, I don't have anything bad to say. Dreamland is exactly what you should expect of a BBQ place.
I have nightmares about Dreamland BBQ.
I take my BBQ as seriously as Tiger Woods takes his golf game. I was thrilled to visit the famous original Dreamland BBQ shack tucked away in Birmingham on a recent road trip to Louisiana. I hope this review doesn't win me a Crann Tara in my front yard, but damn y'all if you are only going to do one thing, do it well. The ribs were overcooked and literally had to be knawed off the bone. There are basically no sides (chips, slaw, beans) and so if you are going to only serve one meal of ribs, do them well, and they better be falling off the bone.
A group of us were in town for the Vintage Moto race out at Barber, and being from Portland, OR we were all very excited to have some "real southern BBQ". We asked around our hotel, checked out Yelp and a few other sites and ended up here.
It was unanimous among the six of us at dinner, Portland has WAAAAY better bbq. The ribs were dry. Sides (Mac & cheese, potato salad, slaw and beans) were all decent, but not great or amazing by any means. And no greens???? Really??? There weren't any greens at the bbq joint we went to last night either. Are greens not a Bama thing or what????
I will say this though, the service was excellent.
I still haven't made it to the original in Tuscaloosa, but it's on the list of things to do before I die.
My first Dreamland experience was in Montgomery. I went one night with some friends, and proceeded to go again for the next four nights I was there. Needless to say, it was delicious.
So then I took my family to the Dreamland in Birmingham, and it's pretty good, too. This location strikes me as more of a college hang-out, with all kinds of SEC and other team paraphenalia. Hey, you're in the South, what do you expect??
Delightful pulled pork sandwiches, great sweet tea, good variety of sauces, excellent baked beans, and amazing banana pudding. Sounds pretty heavenly, huh?
The place smells and tastes great and is the perfect place for Sunday lunch.
Pappa Hall used to make the best cue in the state, since the family sold off the business its gone downhill, same food minus the love and dedication. This was my favorite place as a child in Tuscaloosa when the only thing they had on the menu was ribs and white bread- which changed on the first day they sold off the business. nothing kills q like a corporation... BOO.
Its standard food now, and not even a shell of its former glory.
Could almost be a 5 if I had eaten there... I had a list of BBQ joints to hit in Birmingham while on a family visit this J4th and Dreamland was on the list... after a brief sightseeing jaunt through downtown Birmingham on 20th Street (where there were almost no people), was meandering up a hill looking for a back way up to Vulcan park and came across a busy little place called Dreamland Bar-B-Que... had to stop and get takeout even tho already had dinner and no place to additional food... so a half rack and pint of banana pudding later... was on the way to BBQ heaven... the ribs were awesome... meaty, great sauce that wasn't sickeningly sweet and topped with what seemed like a half a loaf of bread... did not eat them until the next day and from the fridge to top it off... they were awesome... best I've had in some time... okay it helped to have one of the best store bought banana puddings (my favorite desert) to back it up... but that was gone the previous evening (I didn't say we'd had desert yet)...
So there you go... wish I had not eaten and could have enjoyed the ambiance of the place... could tell they were busy as a dining tent had been erected outside the restaurant to held overflow...
No farting. Heed the sign!
Mouth watering ribs, sauce, banana pudding. Yup, everything here is delish!
*See pics*
I know nothing about BBQ but I know a lot about banana pudding and the pudding they have here is the best I have ever had in my life. In my life.
I love BBQ but am probably not qualified to rate it but the ribs I had were great.
This place needs to be visited on the merit of their banana pudding alone. It is seriously fucking delicious.
Bottom Line Up Front: I wish I had two bellies.
Thanks to good reviews on Yelp, a business partner and myself decided to try this and neither of us were disappointed. I'm not sure where the negative reviews of dreamland on yelp are coming from, but I found all of them COMPLETELY unfounded.
Dreamland turned out to be a great place for bar-b-que, and follows one of the principals that I find in most great dining establishments - keep it simple. They have no paper menus, you order from a few well placed signs on the walls. And they served a very limited number of items. You could easily place the whole menu on twitter in one twit if you had too. Ribs, sausage, or pork or chicken sandwiches with a few sides (Brunswick stew, potato salad, slaw, beans) are pretty much it. And banana pudding for desert. And a fair beer selection.
Everyone gets fresh white bread and bar-b-que sauce on their tables before your order arrives, served much like chips and salsa at a mexican joint, and I finally figured out what that is all about - it is to make another sandwich with all the pork that falls out the jumbo sandwich that you ordered. All the portions are crazy big.
We didn't try the ribs or sausage, 'saved for another trip, but everything else I've mentioned we tried, between the two of us, and all was very, very good. I recommend it - just bring another belly or order small!
Dreamland's food is between average and pretty good. Pretty good in that have quality ribs, but average in how they cook. I find the sauces to be average as well. Quite honestly I haven't found any place that holds up to the Smokehouse's pork ribs in Hilton Head, S.C.
Service seems to be either very good or non-chalant depending if you're at a table (good) or the bar (just okay). You might be better off trying some of the independents outside of Birmingham, or by the abandoned steel factories on the other side of BHM.
Dreamland changes your life. Take it from me. I converted from vegetarian to carnivore after my visit.
You just have to...
They also ship nationally, so if you want to give a friend a good taste of the south, order them some ribs, pulled pork or potato salad. It comes frozen with lots of sauce and is totally worth it.
Over-Rated. Food is average at best. If you are looking for the best ribs...look somewhere else.
I was in Birmingham recently for the NCAA basketball tournament and asked around for the best barbecue place in town. Every single person led me to Dreamland, and I'm forever grateful that they did.
I love this place. The ambiance is awesome, the decor is interesting and unique, and the food is amazing. I love the fact that the menu is on a small, glowing sign on the wall. I love that you have a choice between ribs, chicken, smoked pork in various forms, and about four side dishes... and that's it. You don't need anything else. The ribs are amazing, the baked beans are amazing, and if you don't save room for their banana pudding (the one dessert on the menu) order it anyways and shove it in there! Or at least order a pint to go. It's well worth the stomach-ache that follows the gorging.
If you want to eat yourself into a stupor with some of the best ribs in the state, or the south for that matter since they are also in Georgia, come to this place! The ribs are tangy, juicy, 500 napkins ain't enough delicious. I also had their beans, slaw, and banana pudding, all of which are scrumptious as well, but they take up space their supernaturally excellent ribs should be occupying!
The best sauce in the land! That is absolutely true.
I've never been to the one in Tuscaloosa. I would suspect that it has a little more personality than the one in Birmingham, but, obviously I can't really say. What I can say is that the banana pudding is one of the two best things I've ever eaten in my life (the other is the ice cream at Persico in Buenos Aires--UNREAL).
The ribs? They are really, really good. However, they are a bit... hmmm... how could I say this? I liked them a ton... they had their own thing; but they were... a little sterile. Really, really good. Super. But maybe a tad sterile.
The white bread and BBQ sauce is a present from God and while it's not the most refined thing in the world, it is one of the most yummy.
I liked this place a lot. I bet the one in Tuscaloosa deserves a 5.
Yay! I'm a fan.
Driving through Alabama on a road trip from San Diego to Atlanta, the boy and I craved barbeque, and not that crazy cow-based barbeque we'd had in Texas the day before. Alas, Yelp!'s not yet comprehensive enough to cover the smaller cities of the deep South, but some Googling around turned up Dreamland as an exemplar of the hickory-smoked ribs and sauce style. We bypassed the original restaurant in Tuscaloosa (no offense to Tuscaloosans - we just weren't hungry yet), stopped in Birmingham, and were not disappointed.
The Birmingham location is just down the road from UAB, in a nice little area. Inside, rib racks are being turned by hand on a giant indoor smoker. Seating is ample, and very casual - take a booth, complete with paper towel dispenser (you didn't expect ribs not to be messy, did you?), and order off the menus, which contain only about 10 items, and can be found on the walls. Your waitress will bring around the signature sauce (it's sweet/spicy, not particularly vinegary... sorry I can't be more specific for the BBQ fans, but I'm a southern transplant myself) and slices of white bread to dip in it.
We got a rack of ribs, corn on the cob, and finished off with an order of banana pudding. I stayed full all the way to Atlanta.
There's Dreamland and then there's everyone else who try. I'm not saying these guys have the BEST barbecue, I'm just saying some of the best barbecue can be found at Dreamland. No, they don't have all the wild exoctic sauces, they just have the best basic flavor you will find anywhere. It's funny how other BBQ extablishments make attempts at degrading Dreamland just to put thier restuarant of choice on top, but they all seem to mirror the one and only.
I grew up in Birmingham, lived there for 19 years. Dreamland was a staple in my up bringing. When ever on the southside or on UAB campus, Dreamland was a stop I had to make. Even when i wasn't hungry, you stopped anyway.
Keith Jackson always visited Dreamland whenever he was in Birmingham to work an Alabama football game. Jackson was the ABC Sports college football announcer during the 70s and 80s. He made Dreamland somewhat famous by mentioning his visits to the restaurant on the football broadcasts.
The ribs are fantastic, but what really makes them special is the sauce. It has a tangy flavor with a little kick. Not really a spicy kick, but more vinegar based. The sauce is so good that it is served with plain white bread for dipping while you wait for your order. Very yummy!
Well, I read the reviews on Yelp and decided to give this place a try. I ordered a half ribs, half sausage and cole slaw. The Sausage is great, I loved it. But the ribs and cole slaw have so much vinegar, it is just not for my taste buds. I"m not sure if this is the local flavor or not, but I'm not a big fan of it. The ribs I had in NC is so much better.
loved it ! ribs cooked perfectly, with excellent sauce. I thought the white bread and sauce thing was a bit odd but whatever. This is totally better BBQ than anyplace ive been in my home state of California. Eat here if you get the chance.
One of Birmingham's must-eat locations. Located downtown near the UAB campus, it's in a wonderful atmospheric location...seemingly behind and away from all the noise of the city. The interior setting screams southern "manly" nostalgia. Sports, car, and other memorabilia covers the walls. The plastic board menu is centrally located in the middle of the restaurant above the rib pit.
Must try the ribs, complimentary loaf bread in the BBQ sauce, and the banana pudding; comes in under $15 per person.
I hear the Tuscaloosa location is even better...
Dreamland BBQ is good, but I don't get the fascination with this place. I haven't been here in over a year, but I'm sure not much has changed. They make a basic BBQ sauce; a bit on the sweet side and not terribly original. They do prepare their ribs well, but that's something most high-end BBQ joints do anyway. This place doesn't hold a candle to some of the BBQ restaurants in Kansas City, plus there are several out of the way BBQ dives in Alabama that make a much better sauce.
I lived across from Dreamland for a year and had multiple visits but it just never does it for me. The sauce- its not as off the chain as everyone says it is. I've had better. The white bread dipped in bbq sauce confuzzles me but I am a northerner. The banana pudding though- it is as good as the legends say. Ambience- good. Waitstaff- good.
Just got back.. I ordered two items to be fair. Pork Sandwich and the Ribs..
I couldnt put down the ribs they were pretty good. (plain old ribs, but the sauce is what makes them special)
.. I ended up picking the meat out of the sandwich. Wasn't all that enticing.
tried the nana puddin like everyone else on yelp said was devine.. It was pretty good. not "outstanding" or "out of this world" but pretty good which to me is a bit better than good.
The sauce is what makes this place thrive.. Tangy, Sweet, and has some bite.. I gave it three , because I liked it, but it didnt blow me away.
Dreamland originated in some shack out in the cuts. The fact that they've opened a mainstream establishment in the heart of Birmingham is a testament to their original recipes. Their menu is simple, and despite the fact that I don't eat pork and their specialty is ribs, it remained clear that it is the best place to grab some home style BBQ in town.
I took my boyfriend (at the time) to this place after we had a huge fight that was totally my fault. Needless to say, after eating these divine ribs, and thick, fluffy bread... he forgave me. Now we are married. He would probably give this place a 5. Its kind of fun, in a back street with neon lights kind of way. Not much for ambiance, but holy cow, is the food AMAZING.
Same ribs, but far from the same "experience" as the orignal location in Tuscaloosa. If you're watching a football or basketball game on television in Alabama and the announcers mention "Dreamland Ribs", they're talking about the T-town location. This one is too clean, the staff is too nice and they have too many sides! :)
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Birmingham, AL. 4 years and one college degree…
