This Historic Alabama Home Doubles As A Southern Comfort Food Restaurant

Regardless of where one roams in the world, there's always a silent pull toward nostalgic home-cooked meals — even better if they're served inside an actual home. But when that's not an option, a small town in Alabama cradles the next-best thing. It's Mildred's Restaurant and Tea Room in Dothan, Alabama, a cherished local spot dishing out Southern hospitality with every ladle of gravy, pitcher of sweet iced tea, chunk of fried cornbread, and bowl of nana puddin'. 

Tucked inside a classic neighborhood home on North Alice Street, the restaurant's aura pulls dining guests into a yesteryear aesthetic with the gentility of simpler times. There's nothing flashy and everything comforting, like the rhythm of white-wicker rocking chairs on creaky porch floors. Midlred's is Southern hospitality in tangible form, reflected in floral patterns, antique-strewn decor, and separate dining rooms draped in the past: A mahogany-paneled former law library; Victorian-style lace and playful fireplace knick-knacks; and porcelain collectibles, perfect for the fancy-up tea parties available by reservation.   

Genuine old-style hospitality is most freely expressed when sharing comfort food, and that's what Mildred's does best. Everyone is welcome here, but you better get there quick, because seating is limited and they only dish out the goodness on Wednesdays and Sundays, during a dedicated slot of hours. 

The white-columned, front-porched home now hosting Mildred's Restaurant and Tea Room came to life in 1901, known historically as the Noel Baxter Dowling house. After Dowling-family repurposing over almost a century in Dolan, the now-125-year home finds its calling under the care and cooking of a matriarch named Mildred. Since purchasing the home in 1996, Mildred now dishes out traditional Southern lunches two days a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays from 10:45 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.. 

Take it or leave it, those are the hours when the kitchen's open and food is flowing. The menu changes pretty much every week, as any home kitchen would, though standby comfort-food favorites make routine repeat appearances. From squash casserole to meatloaf, fried chicken, cornbread, pork chops, loads of fresh vegetables, and other Deep South dishes, it's simple, hearty food in family-style setups. 

Specials and seasonal dishes feature every week, but the general format remains the same. A recent posting shows "delicious fried chicken" every Wednesday, along with three vegetables choices, rolls or fried cornbread, and classic banana pudding. Sunday buffets offer a meat selection (which happens to be fried chicken on the first Sunday each month), four vegetables, the rolls and fried cornbread, plus a wider assortment of salads and desserts. Lunch customers rave about tasty home-cooked foods and all-you-can-eat buffets, many noting how it feels like eating at grandma's house. One Yelp reviewer noted "amazing southern fried chicken and pork chops! Will be going every time I get to town." Others note the warm, welcoming, quaint ambiance in the charming old home, plus the delicious food with homemade dessert and a drink, all for just $12.

Tea parties at Mildred's Tea Room get special treatment, in the most genteel way imaginable. They're similar to an English afternoon tea experience, which I've personally experienced on both sides of the pond, having spent childhood years in genteel societies of the American South, plus summers at my English grandparent's seaside cafe and catering business near London. 

It's a very similar event in many locales, including at Mildred's, featuring fragile china teacups and tiered porcelain trays daintily stacked with crustless finger sandwiches, jammy scones, parfait-cupped fruits, tiny cakes and pastries, and steaming cups of hot fragrant teas. Mildred's offers the elaborate spread by reservation only, with the option to add separate courses or soups, salads, and other light delicacies by request. 

A typical tea party at Mildred's Tea Room welcomes guests for everyday ladies-days-out, bridal showers, birthday outings, new-baby reveals, and even corporate functions. Anything's on the table at a place like Mildred's, from those down-home comfort-food lunches to the upper-crust, tea-time gatherings, with pinkies-out (or in!). As sparse as the regular dining times seem, it is possible to make lunch reservations ahead of time, and they accept takeout orders. Outside regular hours, you can arrange private dinners, special events, and catering — and of course, the well-loved tea parties in Mildred's Tea Room.