EAT, SEE, DO – HUNTSVILLE
EATING AND DRINKING IN HUNTSVILLE
Campus No 805
Campus No 805 is a former middle school that has been converted into a dining and entertainment venue. Here you’ll find bars, restaurants, events, and my favorite – a speakeasy! Some highlights include:
Pints & Pixels which is an arcade bar. You can pay $12/person to play unlimited games.
Straight to Ale – This brewery features fun, custom beers that are usually space or hell themed, like their Monkeynaut pale ale or their Stout at the Devil. They also have bar food like warm pretzels, burgers (veggie burgers and meat burgers), and cheese curds.
Speakeasy Bar – A speakeasy behind a set of lockers!? How cool! If you enter the building from the main school entrance, go to the right and walk all the way down the hall. You’ll pass three sets of lockers on your right and the bathrooms on your left. Keep walking to the end of this hallway, then turn right. You’ll see a small set of lockers. Slide them to the right and voila! Speakeasy!
Hops N Gauc is a standard Mexican restaurant with a ton of beer – like an entire wall of draft beers. I think they said they had 45 or more! Go for the Mexican food, but stay for the beer.
Bandito Burritos
Bandito Burritos is a hole in the wall that came highly recommended from nearly every person we talked to in Huntsville. They are famous for the Green Bean Burrito, which at only $2.75 you can’t really say no. While it isn’t the best Mexican food we’ve ever had, if you’re looking for super cheap, divey Mexican food (that won’t make you sick!) check out Bandito. Margaritas are also strong and around $5 – $6 depending on the flavor.
Honest Coffee Roasters
This is a great spot in downtown for breakfast or a coffee break. The breakfast burrito and acai bowl are both great. For drinks, their specialty coffees (especially the horchata latte) are super yummy, and they have a wide range of teas for nearby local provider Piper and Leaf Co. Try the peach tea if you’re looking for a flavorful tea on the lighter side. You’ll also find ample space to work or study.
Gold Sprint Coffee
Right near Lowe Mill Arts Center you’ll find Gold Sprint Coffee. The coffee shop has a super cool vibe and has plenty of tables, couches, and counter space, making it a great location to get some work done. The matcha latte with vanilla is fantastic and packed quite the caffeine kick. The breakfast biscuit is also not to be missed – it has bacon, eggs, and cheese, but the secret is the drizzle of honey. It adds just a touch of sweetness.
Edgar’s Bakery
Edgar’s Bakery is a local Alabama chain with a few locations spread across the state. They have solid breakfast sandwiches and omelets, as well as pastries, like cinnamon rolls, cakes, and cookies.
Yellowhammer Brewing
Yellowhammer Brewing has a solid selection of draft beers and is located in Campus 805. You can order wood-fired pizza from Earth and Stone pizzeria, located right in the brewery.
MUST-SEE IN HUNTSVILLE
Downtown Huntsville
Meander around the downtown and pop into cute shops, restaurants, and bars.
Blue Spring Park
Close to the downtown you’ll find Blue Spring Park. A little park with some ponds that is perfect for walking, biking, or scooting.
Lowe Mill Arts Center
Lowe Mill Arts Center is a massive arts center in Huntsville, Alabama. Originally a textile mill, the historic building has been transformed into a vibrant hub for artistic creation and appreciation. There are over 150 working art studios here, as well as art galleries, a performing art space, and some quick serve food stalls (like a slice shop and a coffee bar). Visitors can explore the creative spaces and chat with the artists if they wish. We spent about 15 minutes here doing a quick walk through – we didn’t want to bother the artists and it was pretty quiet on the day we visited.
Twickenham Historic District
Right near the downtown you’ll find Twickenham Historic District. Twickenham was the first established district in Huntsville and the architecture here is truly stunning. The massive antebellum houses (mansions!?) will have your jaw dropping. We parked on a side street and just walked through the neighborhood admiring the houses. You’ll know you’re in the Twickenham District if you see an icon of a tree on the street sign. Depending on the direction you walk, you may also see street signs that say “Old City” on them. This means you’re entering the Old City which was the second established historic district in Huntsville, after Twickenham. Houses here are similarly impressive and some date back to the early 1800s. Occasionally the town offers guided walking tours that dive into the history of the houses, or you can do your own self-guided walk like we did.
WHAT TO DO IN HUNTSVILLE
Visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
Nicknamed “The Rocket City”, Huntsville has one of three main NASA Space Centers in the USA, along with the centers in Houston and Cape Canaveral. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a great place to learn about space exploration. If you compare the Huntsville center to the Florida or Houston locations, Huntsville is slightly smaller, and has more of a focus on the engineering of the different pieces that go into building rockets, missiles, and military vehicles. Here you’ll also find space camp (for adults and children), children’s programs, rides, and activities. I learned totally new pieces of information here, even after recently visiting Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Plan to spend at least 3 – 4 hours if you want to see the bulk of the park, but you could easily spend longer if you want to read every sign, participate in their interactive exhibits, and watch movies in their planetarium. General admission is $30 or $38 if you add on an IMAX movie.
If you’ve been to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this center is a little different, so don’t expect the same magnitude or caliber that you saw in Florida. In my opinion, Kennedy Space Center is like Space Disney – they have rides and exhibits and you take a shuttle bus to different sections of the park. You can (and should) spend a full day exploring Kennedy Space Center – and I highly recommend visiting if you haven’t already.
Huntsville Botanical Gardens
Take a stroll around Huntsville’s Botanical Gardens. My favorite sections were the Japanese Garden, the open-air butterfly house, all of the wildflowers along the pathways, and the lily pond. It will only take an hour or so to see the whole thing.
Huntsville Art Museum
Right off of Big Spring Park you’ll find the Huntsville Art Museum. The museum is only $12 per adult and offers a large collection of 19th and 20th-century American art, mostly from the Southeast.
Hike at Monte Sano State Park
If you’re looking for some hiking within close proximity of the city, head over to Monte Sano State Park. It’s only about 20 minutes from downtown. Here you’ll find a couple different short hikes of varying intensity levels – mostly easy or moderate hikes.
For an easy hike, I liked the North Plateau Loop. It’s a 2 mile loop that offers great views of the nearby mountains. If you’re looking to add on a slight challenge, you can extend your hike to a 2.5 mile loop by following the Sinks, Stone Cuts, and North Plateau Loop trail – it has about 500 feet in elevation gain.
NOT DONE TRAVELING?
Check out our guides of nearby areas:
Gulf Shores
Caving at Stephens Gap
Huntsville to Chattanooga