Etta's Tavern

Etta's Tavern brings a little Southern nostalgia to Five Points, where Angela and John Lindbeck, the husband-and-wife team behind Good Company Cafe, have opened a neighborhood dinner spot in the former 1892 East space. The menu reads like somebody opened the family recipe box: Mom's Spaghetti, Granny's Chicken Casserole, Etta's Burger and house-made cornbread, with red wine-braised beef and grits among the dishes previewed before opening. I have a particularly soft spot for this name. When I was a preschooler growing up in Huntsville, my beloved sitter was named Etta. She had two daughters named Dixie and Sparkle, names I never forgot, and I adored her. I only recently learned that she passed away a few years ago, so seeing Etta's Tavern announced brought back a flood of memories I hadn't visited in decades. The restaurant isn't connected to my Etta, but there's something especially fitting about discovering her name again on a place devoted to the comfort of familiar food. I haven't visited yet, but I already know this is one opening I'm looking forward to.