Soul Train Station

No reservations. First come, first served. Southern fried food. And on Sundays, you can eat it aboard a real train car. Do I have your attention? Soul Train Station is precisely the kind of wonderfully specific discovery the Flavor Forecast was built to uncover. The locally owned Harvest restaurant combines home-cooked Southern soul food with a restored dining car inspired by the music and atmosphere of the 1970s and ’80s. The menu goes straight for Sunday-supper comfort: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, greens, cornbread and the kind of plates that require both hands and your full attention. The main dining area serves regular walk-in guests, while the restored train car opens for Sunday dining and can be reserved for private occasions. This one carries a little extra history for me. Soul Train Station sits just down Highway 53 from Sparkman High School—Class of 2000 forever—and my great-granddaddy worked as a railroad switchman. Somewhere between that family connection, the actual train car and the old-school soul soundtrack, this feels like a full-circle North Alabama field trip waiting to happen.