Tuscaloosa Restaurant Week: New Generation Continues Commitment to Clean Food at Manna Grocery & Deli
Good morning and welcome to the first feature highlighting a participant in Tuscaloosa Restaurant Week, where we're talking with Anna Drennen and Savannah Barder, the owner of Manna Grocery and the manager of its deli.
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.
A Long Family History of Healthy Food
For nearly 50 years, Tuscaloosa's home for healthy foods has been Manna Grocery and Deli. There, shoppers can find clean, fresh, and often locally sourced ingredients to take back home, or stop in for a bite to eat in-house, at an always-evolving deli growing more popular all the time.
As previously reported by the Thread, Manna is now owned by Anna Drennen. Her parents, Frances and Earle, got their start in entrepreneurship by opening Harmony Natural Foods on the Tuscaloosa Strip in 1972, then launched Manna after a brief stint in Boulder, Colorado.
"I always say they were almost evangelical about bringing health food to Alabama. They both grew up in Alabama, tried living out West for a while, and then really wanted to bring the ideas of the 70s, the kind of hippie movement out there, back to Alabama," Drennen said. "I like to joke that when they first started, we got made fun of all the time for our homemade bread with alfalfa sprouts and hummus spread for our lunches. But they were passionate about bringing health to West Alabama, doing a lot of education, and providing customer service. Those were the foundations of the business."
The first Manna Grocery store opened on 15th Street in 1980, and in 1989, it moved into its current home on McFarland Boulevard, across from Snow Hinton Park.
An Unlikely Owner Takes the Reins
Almost 50 years since the first sign went up at Manna Grocery, Anna said she never expected to step in and take over ownership.
"Growing up, I never would have thought to take over the business. We saw how hard our parents worked in the early 80s and 90s, and how hard it was at times to make ends meet, which could be really, really difficult," Anna Drennen said. "So I went off and worked in higher education, with a government pension, insurance, and good vacation, for a very long time for that very reason. I just did not want to live on the edge for a mission, even though I believed in it. I wanted to have financial security."
But Anna moved back to Alabama to be near her aging parents, and Earle's death in 2023 catalyzed conversations with Frances about the store’s future.
What began with her name being added to some bank accounts, just in case, led Anna to fall back in love with the store her parents had built.
She also saw, with fresh eyes, a Tuscaloosa where the cultural moment had finally caught up to what Manna had been doing all along.
"There's potential to do more education, because these trends are things we've been doing all along, and it kind of comes naturally to us," she said. "Of course, we're not going to put food dyes in the desserts. Of course, it’s going to be cane sugar, not over-bleached sugar and over-bleached white flour. Now the times have caught up, and it’s trendy and beneficial to eat this way."
An Ever-Changing Menu
Now Anna is fully at the helm, with her right-hand woman, Savannah Barder, managing the deli to show off how good clean food can taste.
"The great thing about Manna and why I love to work here is that we're always doing something new. We have three different specials every day, two fresh soups and two fresh desserts," Barder said. "That just keeps things really exciting, keeps it fun, lets us be creative when we can. Anna and Frances really let me have such creative freedom, and it just makes working here so exciting. We get to do something different every day."
Drennen said under Barder's leadership, the deli's quality is off the charts, the price is affordable, and its popularity is rising.
"Manna Deli means really great food. We use quality ingredients, local and organic when possible," Barder said. "I love to eat clean, and love to eat local when I can, and I'm very fortunate that Manna Deli gets to pull from so many local farmers and local restaurants when possible. That's obviously something that we strive for in our deli."
With specials and ingredients changing often, Barder said she keeps things fresh, literally and figuratively, at the deli. Customers can find anything from Baba Ganoush to tofu dishes, salmon croquettes or sandwiches with alfalfa sprouts and hummus, just like Anna's parents used to make.
The deli is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every day except Sunday.
Drennen said she and Barder have also ramped up Manna's presence on social media and elsewhere online to help bring the store to its next generation of customers.
Barder also did not take credit for the deli's success alone. She said a steady group of longtime employees who share the vision helps to craft the menu and then cook it.
"My team and I get together and decide what we're going to do. I like to get their opinions on whatever they want to try. It's great to have so much freedom in the deli and really get creative with it," she said. "My team is really part of my creativity because sometimes there are days when I'm not feeling my most creative, and they may have a really great idea that I didn't think of. So, they are highly beneficial to the deli’s success."
A Place Friends Gather for Fresh Lunches
The seating inside Manna reflects what it is - a dozen four-top tables, a few two-tops and eight bar seats tucked into the back of the grocery store. But Drennen said the space is more than the sum of its parts and has become a community gathering place.
"For those that don't know the Manna Deli — we have so many customers who eat here every single day," Drennen said. "I was just laughing because I was having a work meeting in the Deli and six or so different parties came in and interrupted the meeting. I love that folks feel that way — knowing that if they don't have a lunch partner, they'll find somebody, some table to sit down with and have a great conversation. A lot of times, folks come to the grocery store and realize, 'Oh, there's a deli in there.' We like to call it this hidden gem in the back of the natural food store."
This year, Manna is creating a special dish for Restaurant Week in partnership with a previous feature subject, Ben Rosario of Ben's Bread.
The Italian Roasted Chicken sandwich on his handmade bread will feature housemade pesto, basil from Snow's Bend Farm in Tuscaloosa, organic tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and balsamic glaze.
Anna also teased an expansion of Manna's grab-and-go offerings this summer, including a new row in the freezer case stocked with family-style pot pies, lasagnas, burritos and other Manna Deli meals — perfect for a quick weeknight dinner at home or a meal to drop off for a friend in need.
To taste the limited-time sandwich and all the rest on offer at Manna Deli, visit them Monday through Saturday for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The larger grocery store is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 2350 McFarland Boulevard East, next to Jason's Deli.
This is the first 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!
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (6/8 - 6/15)
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
More From Tuscaloosa Thread
