On the far end of downtown Wisconsin Dells, right across the street from Famous Dave’s, is Alabama’s Dixieland BBQ and Suds, which opened in March. The old interior of previous tenant Gilly’s Island has been replaced with a southern/country theme, complete with live music each week.
I really enjoyed the food here, if not the prices, and I’m sure I’ll be back to have seconds of some of the restaurant’s platters, which come with corn bread and two sides. Let’s start with the half rack of ribs ($14.99), which weren’t quite fall-off-the-bone tender, but were meaty and full of flavor. You certainly didn’t need to add any of the homemade sauces, though I did drown my fries in them, they were that good (especially the hot sauce).
Onto the fried catfish nuggets ($11.99), which were light and flaky on the inside and not overly battered on the outside. I’d like to put them in a small popcorn cup and have them as a snack sometime.
I would describe the brisket ($17.99) and pulled pork sandwich ($10.99) the same way: juicy and well prepared, but a bit pricey. I don’t think brisket should be more expensive than ribs; this dish would be better priced at $13.99 (that’s also what Famous Dave’s charges), while the sandwich should have been less than $10. Other dishes’ prices were just as puzzling, such as the hot wings ($15.99), smoked turkey leg ($18.99) and 16 oz. T-Bone steak ($29.99).
I had nearly every side item on the menu. Hits were the Hillbilly baked beans, corn bread, corn fritters and pig tail fries (somewhat-curly versions of the steak fries). I was indifferent to the green beans and fried okra, and I couldn’t stand the potato salad, which was too pungent.
Remember, the word “suds” is in the restaurant’s name, and there is a full bar here with a two-page cocktail menu. I enjoyed a glass of the bacon-infused bourbon, which was surprisingly smoky and not at all salty.
Alabama’s Dixieland BBQ and Suds serves lunch, dinner and carryout. You’ll find street parking nearby.
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See more photos in our Alabama’s Dixieland BBQ and Suds Flickr set.

The highly visible
On to dessert. The Kissel soup was an adventure. I could certainly taste the tart cranberries and powerful pickled ginger, but both were tempered nicely by the vanilla ice cream. I also had a double chocolate brownie ($6) with a side of spiced nuts. Interestingly, I enjoyed eating them together, even though I normally dislike brownies with nuts. Wade also doesn’t like brownies with nuts, which is why he created the dish this way.
I was really looking forward to the
Another sandwich I enjoyed was the Cowboy ($8.99), consisting of braised (shredded) chicken, pecan-smoked bacon, Cowboy Caviar (aka black beans), guacamole and peppery Parmesan sauce. Overall, a tasty concoction. I really liked that sauce, which reminds of me what you could pour over some chicken wings, and I wish there was more of it. I appreciate that the chicken was moist, and the bacon was a nice touch, even though I couldn’t tell if it was really pecan-smoked.
