Cypress Inn Alum Serves Southern-Cajun Fusion at 20/59 Restaurant

Good morning and welcome to the second feature highlighting a participant in Tuscaloosa Restaurant Week, where we're talking with Melvin Cannon, the owner of 20/59 Restaurant & Bar in Cottondale.

Each day this week, the Thread and Visit Tuscaloosa will profile one of the businesses participating in the annual event, presented this year by Huntington Bank.

Hungry to learn more? Over 50 participating eateries will offer unique items or special discounts on their most popular orders when the extended Tuscaloosa Restaurant Week returns June 18th through 27th. Learn more and get connected at the Tuscaloosa Restaurant Week website now.

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When Melvin Cannon decided to open his own restaurant after more than two decades in some of Tuscaloosa's best-known kitchens, he had no interest in joining the pack downtown.

Instead, he chose an old Ruby Tuesday off the interstate in Cottondale — just seven miles away from the University of Alabama campus, but far enough that most students there have never made the drive.

There, Cannon and his team run the 20/59 Restaurant & Bar. It's his first foray into small business ownership, but he has learned from and worked alongside some of the area's industry legends, including Drew Henson of Cypress Inn fame.

Two years into his run, Cannon said he's brought his life's culinary journey under one roof, offering a menu of Southern and Cajun favorites.

Out on Interstate Drive in Cottondale, the restaurant is close enough to the heart of Tuscaloosa that any resident or visitor can swing by to try it, but distant enough that you'll always have a place to park.

A Cypress Inn Education

Like a lot of the city's most successful restaurant operators, Cannon got his start working for Henson at Cypress Inn, which also produced Christian Williams at Sugo, Gary McGee and Grover Ryans at Urban Bar & Kitchen, Justin Holt at Southern Ale House and others still.

"I started off at 19 years old, bussing tables, and I worked with Drew for a long time, even helping him out in the yard - I cut his grass and did little odd-end jobs for him," Cannon said. "We became kind of close, and he started depending on me for a lot of stuff. They moved me to the kitchen, where I helped on the expo line for a little while. Then I trained on the opposite side, frying fish and setting the plates, with a good friend, Michael Knight, who helped train me how to make soups and gumbos."

Cannon said he learned as much as he could about all sides of the operation until one day, Henson approached him while he was working to get seven plates out.

"Michael was on vacation, and I was doing some work in the kitchen, just grinding out seven plates by myself, and Drew came up to me one day and asked me if I wanted to be a manager at the Northport Diner."

Cannon has held kitchen leadership roles since then, at Northport Diner, then on an all-star team at Cypress Inn before it closed in 2019. He has also spent many years cooking for nursing homes through Heritage Healthcare & Rehabilitation.

Taking the Leap

After Cypress Inn closed, though, and so many of his former co-workers there started their own restaurants, Cannon said he felt the call to take the same risks and open up his own place in 2024.

"I always wanted to do my own restaurant. Gary was the first person I talked to about it. I ran some ideas about it by him, and he was like, 'Man, go for it. Just try it out,' because I've been wanting to do it for years," Cannon said. "I had my menus and my business plan already done, everything lined up for years. I just never took action on it because I actually was scared. But I said I'm just going to go for it. I'm just going to step away from everybody else and just do my own thing."

Eventually, after driving past the closed Ruby Tuesday time after time, Cannon decided to take the leap.

"I stay probably five minutes down the road from the restaurant. And I passed by this restaurant for years, just looking at it and dreaming about it. I said, 'One day I'm going to get into that building,'" Cannon said. "And finally, I saved up a little cash and got in touch with one of the realtors, and he put me on the path to get here."

A Travel Spot Off the Interstate

The concept is a restaurant for travelers, where Cannon says anyone from long-haul truckers to football fans can come off the interstate and find a plate of great food and a strong drink waiting.

"We do all our recipes fresh. All our food is fresh, and we cook everything to order. We serve steaks, ribs, snapper, pastas, burgers and wings. We do a little bit of everything," Cannon said. "We're kind of unique in that way — to do a little bit of everything so everybody can get something they want off of a very good, diverse menu."

The space inside 20/59 is large and easy to reconfigure, and Cannon said they're ready to seat sorority or family parties of up to 40 people on most shifts.

The food is a fusion of traditional Southern cuisine with Cajun influences, which Cannon said should not scare anyone away from trying it.

"I'm not from New Orleans, but I like to cook with Cajun food. And our Cajun food is not spicy; it's more flavorful. So people can eat it, and you don't have to have a bottle of water with you when eating the Cajun food here. And we don't do anything just pre-made or just prepped up. It's going to take a little longer to come out of here, but at least it's going to be fresh. You can guarantee that."

The menu also features Cynthia's home-made peach cobbler, inspired by and named for Cannon's late mother. He said he's never seen a more popular dessert item.

There's great food, friendly staff and signature drinks like the Gameday Route Margarita, the 20/59 Banger or a blackberry lemon drop. But Cannon said a key part of the restaurant's allure is its distance from the University of Alabama, downtown Tuscaloosa and other more crowded parts of the region.

"We get mostly local people who just live in the neighborhoods. I don't get a lot of foot traffic like restaurants downtown does, but I tell everybody, if you want a place to eat that's good and you've got somewhere to park, you can come here," Cannon said. "And I'm not knocking downtown — I appreciate that you can do really good down there. I just don't want to be crowded in with the next space."

Fighting to Survive, Eyeing What's Next

Cannon also teased the possibility of launching another concept down the road - maybe in fresh collaboration with Gary McGee from Urban Bar & Kitchen - but said for now, he's just trying to get through tough times in the food industry.

"We're fighting to survive like everybody else is. We just want to make it to another year," Cannon said. "I would love to have another spot open up, and Gary and I have talked about doing something together at some point. But right now, my main focus is just keeping this thing going, keeping it open and trying to serve the community."

For Restaurant Week, Cannon and 20/59 are offering 25 percent off a catfish dinner with two sides, whether baked potatoes, asparagus, squash, sausage mac and cheese, cabbage or broccoli.

Find the restaurant at 6421 Interstate Drive in Cottondale, where Cannon and his team are open every day but Monday.

This is the second profile in this year's series, which partners with Visit Tuscaloosa to highlight locally owned businesses each summer. Tuscaloosa Restaurant Week 2026 is presented by Huntington Bank.

For ongoing coverage of restaurant and retail development in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread!