“Alabama’s Best Restaurant” is the newest addition to Dale Mabry. I have heard many good things about Guthries—including the good reviews on their mouth-watering Signature Sauce. Guthries opened on Oct. 20 and I was finally able to check it out. The fact that they are voted the #1 restaurant in Alabama set my standard pretty high. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.

When I walked into the Guthrie’s Chicken Fingers on Dale Mabry, I immediately observed a southern, yet modern vibe. Their first room of tables has booths with accents of red everywhere. Throughout the restaurant, you will find walls of paintings of Guthries’ logo, some of their achievements, and what they are all about. As you move farther into the restaurant, past the register counter, you will find an additional room of tables and booths, still incorporating the red accent, creating a happy, alive and southern atmosphere for the customer. Long lights hanging down from the ceiling add depth and warmth to the space. Even though the restaurant itself is happy and pleasant, it in no way can compare to what is prepared behind the kitchen doors.

Guthries’ menu consists of only a couple of food items, but the different combos available are numerous. I tried the Regular Box Combo which came with fried chicken fingers, fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, and one of Guthrie’s signature sauce.

Side note: Guthries’ signature sauce is a sauce created by the founder’s four children after many varieties of experimental sauces. The moment Guthrie tasted the final product, he knew it was the one. The moment I sank my teeth into the tender, tasty chicken I also knew it was the one. There was no way I would leave this restaurant with food still on my plate.

The only thing stopping me from scarfing the food down was the temperature of the chicken. Since it was right out of the fryer, it was extremely hot—but fresh. It was so hard to pace myself, but while I was waiting for it to cool, I went ahead and tried the coleslaw. The cold, vinegary taste immediately soothed the burning in my mouth, but not for long. The chicken was just too tempting.

This was basically the “norm” for the rest of the night— the food was delicious but, I had to pace myself in order to keep my mouth burn-free and to keep my stomach from filling up too fast.

I don’t know how they raise their chickens, but regardless, they are delicious. I would 100% go to check them out on Dale Mabry. Take a dive into the mouth-watering chicken tenders and sides, you won’t regret it.