Cypress Inn

Great place! Good portion for the price. No complaints. Best thing on the dessert sampler was probably the cream cheese pie with strawberries. Easy reservation, fast service. My favorite thing about this restaurant is the location in which you can overlook the black warrior river.

We have dined at Cypress Inn many times over the 30 years. This particular time on Sunday was outstanding. Even though the place was packed, the service was excellent. We started with their signature crab claws and delicious muffins. I had fried shrimp with cheese Gouda grits, along with a cup of their famous gumbo. Michael, a student here from Sacramento, Ca, was our server and fantastic. Food came quickly, considering the large crowd, and was the best I ever remember. This place remains one of my favorites. If you visit Tuscaloosa, do yourself a huge favor and give this place a try. Plus, one of the best views of the river you will find.

GREAT EXPERIENCE! We celebrated my wife’s birthday tonight and the meal was fantastic. Had the Filet special and the country club squash and Gouda grits. Crab claw appetizers and peanut butter pie for dessert. Everything we expected and more.

Came for the Sunday Brunch the Pot Roast was awesome ! Grits and sides were also. Miss their sweet tea. Our service from Katie was great.

Went here for lunch and it was great. I tried the smoked chicken with the white BBQ sauce, smoked gouda grits and hoppin’ john. Everything was great from the fresh rolls and muffins they sat at the table before the main course to the cheese pie I had for dessert. Great taste and right serving sizes. Only complaint, I wished the grits were a lil thicker, that’s personal perference.

2.5 stars, but since this isn’t an option, and I wasn’t crazy about this place, I’m going to have to round down in this case.
Cyprus Inn was alright. Not a restaurant I am in anyway eager to rush back to.
I had the catfish entrée with two sides. The catfish its self was good, fried nice and crispy. The two sides were average, or slightly below, baked potato was plain as could be, cheese with broccoli? uhm — ok I guess. As appetizers we tried the fried green tomato’s — these were sliced so thin, I’ve definitely had better. We also tried the fried crab claws– again these are just alright. Service was pleasant.
Two things that really turned me off were,
#1 The carpet in the restaurant
#2 They bring the food out with plastic tops/​covers — this was just weird and made me feel as if the food had just come out of the microwave.
One thing I do have to give credit for was their pies. The peanut butter pie and key lime pie were both very good. I could see myself returning for a slice of these to-​go (they sell them by the slice in the front)
All in all, this is not a place I would return to on my next visit to Tuscaloosa, there are better options. Sure the view of the river is nice, but you can get the same view if you just walk down Riverwalk.

Located on the Black Warrior River. This restaurant continues to simply get better at all they do. A favorite for many.

We had a party of 8 adults for someone’s birthday. Only reservation we could get was 5:45 on a Friday night, two days in advance, but the restaurant was not full or was there a wait while we were there.
A $ 35 bottle of chardonnay came in a chilled bucket, but was room temperature. The pork chop was dry, no flavor, and shriveled. The gouda grits had so much cheese, it was not edible. My blackened fish should’ve been a steak with runny mango sauce. The bread was the best part. The mashed sweet potatoes were average.
The restaurant is outdated and there was a horrible garbage smell coming up the front stairs. I give them a 4 out of 10.
However, my waitress was great.

The bread and hush puppies were perfect. Oysters were Slightly over done. Breading too crisp. Steak perfect. Potato was bland. Dressing list while large was missing some general standbys. Which we wanted. Service excellent.

I’m only giving them a 4 because I haven’t eaten here. I was there for the Dragon Boat races and the grounds and river view are awesome. I can’t wait to go back to eat.

This should be 4.5 stars. I had the shrimp and grits tonight and it was delicious. I would come back any time just to eat that. The people I was with enjoyed their meals as well. The food came out really fast. We didn’t even have time to eat our salads before it arrived (not sure if that’s good or bad). Our waiter wasn’t very knowledgeable and kept on referring to his notes. He didn’t seem to know what he was doing.

Good but just mediocre. Prices are higher than quality. I’d find somewhere else next time.

The good:
The view
The wine
The salads
The bad — everything else
The service. Our waiter disappeared for long stretches of time.
The food. Wrong food, cold food, bad food. We had to go out to dinner after our meal.
I am not a person who gets upset about a bad meal and rarely complain even when the service is poor. But this place takes the cake, when the check arrived i agonized about how much tip to give such a cluster of a meal. For the first time ever I left no tip and a note to our server.

Average food and average service. I had a filet which was good but not great with broccoli that was kind of cold. The salad came out with the entrée. Nice looking restaurant with a great view though.

New chef, new management. GOOD STUFF!

Came out from San Francisco to see our son at UA. Visited on Friday night, ¹¹⁄₂₁.
Made reservations (based on so many recommendations). Got an 8PM.
Large place with a number of rooms. Placed us in a way back of the building. The table they sat us at was right in the isle way. Noticing a table next to the window with a river view I asked if we could sit there. They told me they were holding the table in case the large party they had set-​up in the room, might need it. After conferring with someone else, they seem to reluctantly let us have that table.
Cocktails — Brandy Manhattan up — came with the ice (& diluted) — Jack Daniels, neat — came with ice (& diluted).
Bread/​rolls — Waiter noted we were shorted, but more in the oven and coming soon (never came)
Dinner —
Fried Green Tomatoes — not bad, sauce was tasty.
Wife had the Filet Mignon — cooked, but barely warm — baked potato was not completely cooked through. Not worth $ 28, that’s for sure.
I had the jumbo gulf shrimp broiled with wine sauce — hardly jumbo, but tasty. Again, really just warm. Side of country club squash was some kind of squash with a lot of cheese — not really worth eating. Mustard greens were pretty good.
Adult Kids — Cypress Inn Shrimp & pasta — Angel hair pasta, shrimp on top, cheddar & creamed cheese melted over the entire plate — this reminded me an old fashioned casserole from the 70’s. Not imaginative. Boys said it was so-​so.
It appears our dinners sat waiting to be served since it seemed our service was so slow.
The bill — Brandy Manhattan — they charged a premium for Makers Mark because they did not have any other brandy (failed to tell us). Jack Daniels — again, premium charged since they did not put Coke in it (it was more alcohol).
Bad night? End of night (the place was pretty empty by the time we left)? Probably not going back.
Less than Meh…

Here’s my issue with Cypress Inn. It’s one of those restaurants that tries to be fancy, but in reality it’s not. The interior of the restaurant reminded me of an old folks home, or maybe a very outdated country club. It’s safe to say they need to up their game when it comes to atmosphere. Another reason I would say it’s not by any means as fancy or as classy as what it seems they’re aiming for is because the food presentation is not at all there. It’s just piled onto the plate with little plastic cups overfilled with sauce on the side.
I went here for a romantic night out in September, mostly because I always wanted to see what the view was like. And it didn’t disappoint. The Black Warrior River at sunset paired with Cypress Inn’s lights really made for a beautiful show. It almost made me forget about the fact that my boyfriend and I were pretty much the youngest people in the restaurant at the time. My boyfriend, who is foreign, kept asking me throughout our dinner if we were at a restaurant for old people. Anyway, I ordered the grouper special with a house salad and mashed sweet potatoes. I hated the sweet potatoes, but my boyfriend’s mashed gold potatoes were decent. The grouper was just okay. I love grouper, so even though I enjoyed mine at Cypress Inn, it wasn’t anything special. It was as average as grouper can get and actually pretty bland. My favorite part of the meal was dessert. The fresh made Key lime pie and peanut butter pie were phenomenal. I was hesitant to order the Key lime pie because, growing up in Miami, I know the perfect Key lime pie. Well done, Cypress Inn, because the Key lime pie here was pretty authentic and all around delicious.
All of that being said, I would return here only for the view of the river. And seeing as Cypress Inn is amazingly one of the only restaurants in Tuscaloosa with a riverfront view, I’m sure I’ll be back someday.

I dined here for the first time a couple of weeks ago while in Tuscaloosa for work. I was traveling alone and dined by myself at a window that directly overlooked the river in the evening. It was a week night and I was able to get a table without a wait. The service was bit slow, but the server’s friendliness more than made up for this. I started with chicken noodle soup (the bowl was huge) and it was some of the best chicken noodle soup I have had in my life! I had grilled chicken for my entrée and had some type of cheesey side — both were excellent. They had some type of homegrown peach cobbler for desert, but I just didn’t have any room for desert (unfortunately).
It was a bit pricey for the area (around $ 25 for my tab with tip), but I would say the meal was worth it. After dinner, I spent some time walking around the property along the river edge — very peaceful and pretty. I understand that locals dine here for special occasions and it seems that it is a good venue for this as well as a nice dinner with others (or alone).

Very classy… right on the river, great for dates. The food was average. The menu looks delicious, and out of a huge group, everyone enjoyed their meals. But it wasn’t anything special. Gumbo was mediocre, shrimp and grits were good (but too many peppers and onions for my liking).

$ 37 and done. Pretty darn awesome! Blackened Tilapia with 2 sides x2. Muffins and yeast rolls were great, fish was perfect and baked potato was cooked just right.
Blackening seasoning was tamed down with a butter glaze that kept the flavor of the fish without overwhelming it.
This was our first time here and we were impressed. The only thing preventing a five star was 1. The house salad, although it had a seemingly homemade dressing, was a little lame, small and short on ingredients. 2. Our server was ok but a little slow on refills.
Nice view and good atmosphere. Waited about 25 minutes for a seat.