The Velvet Spoon Soul Food Café Open Now in Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa entrepreneurs have opened a new soul food cafe which is drawing big crowds to a corner on Skyland Boulevard in Cottondale that has housed popular restaurants for decades.

Owner Tavarus Hatter & his wife Shakeithia have opened the Velvet Spoon, a family-style restaurant and catering business, at 5833 Skyland Boulevard East, which was the home of Southland Restaurant from 1989 until they closed in 2023. 

The Cottondale Southern Kitchen opened there shortly but did not last long.

Get our free mobile app

Now the Hatters and a team of cooks, servers and more are trying to make the Velvet Spoon a success there.

The restaurant, which opened a few weeks ago, boasts true southern-style soul food served best in meat-and-three combos. They also offer a chophouse menu with burgers, sandwiches, wings, catfish and more.

The everything-made-from-scratch kitchen serves oxtails, neckbones, pig feet and more, plus their signature blue velvet cake dessert.

The Velvet Spoon is open now on Skyland Boulevard East in Cottondale. They serve from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day but Sunday when they're only open from 12 noon until 5 p.m.

For more coverage of restaurant and retail development around west Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.