<p>It’s good to see another 24/7 dining option near campus. The staff at the other Tuscaloosa-area Waffle Houses have mentioned this new location, but were thinking that it was opening in January rather than February.</p>
<p>Yes, glad to see a 24/7 place open on the Strip. Just wish it was a little better than Waffle House. At least at this location its customers should be mostly only students.</p>
<p>In light of the recent thread on Microtel, I’m going to ask again - what are the asterisks for on the hotel list? I was planning to stay at Microtel but may be reevaluating. Anyone know anything about the Fairfield Inn?</p>
<p>we have stayed at that microtel a few times and have had no roaches or other complaints. our only complaint was the late night noise from the very enthusiastic couple next door. >:[</p>
<p>Oh my, that would probably mortify my two teenage sons! LOL We always travel with a white noise machine though, so hopefully it would drown out the noise. :-)</p>
<p>The reviews on Trip Advisor for that Microtel are great, so I think we will probably stay put. It’s only one night anyway. Thanks for the reassurance though.</p>
<p>Re: The asterisks.</p>
<p>I copy/pasted the list from some site, but I don’t know which. Don’t remember what the asterisks meant.</p>
<p>bump for visitors</p>
<p>Things to Do</p>
<p>Visit Paul Bear Bryant Museum…southeast side of campus</p>
<p>Walk/visit/drive by The RiverWalk…which is on Jack Warner Hwy along the Black Warrior River…very pretty area to walk, jog, sit, drive by.</p>
<p>Walk thru or drive by “The Strip”…on University Blvd…immediately West of the Stadium…many student hangouts, restaurants, stores, cafes, a major grocery store (Publix), etc.</p>
<p>Visit the front of the Stadium (north end)…see the statues, and the floor plaques on the Walk of Champions. The south end of the stadium is new and has some restaurants and other new stuff there. </p>
<p>Downtown…an area that has been renovated (and still some reno going on) …on University Blvd…west of campus…west of Queen City Blvd…many shops, restaurants, civic center, etc. </p>
<p>Midtown Village…on McFarland and 15th St…It’s an “outdoor lifestyle mall” that has shops, restaurants, etc…there’s a Best Buy and Barnes and Noble there as well. There are two stores there that sell Bama spirit wear: Bama Fever…and…Alumni Hall.</p>
<p>The new Tuscaloosa Outdoor Amphitheater…located on the river by Lurleen Wallace Blvd.</p>
<p>Does anyone have a recommendation for vegetarian food? (Hopefully near the campus)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I can only think of the Pita Pit on the Strip for veggie cuisine. Possibly Ruan Thai or Surin (both also on the Strip) as well.</p>
<p>pamayawaa,
Here is something if put together and emailed my son:</p>
<p>Below is a compilation of posts from College Confidential discussing vegetarian places to eat in Tuscaloosa:</p>
<p>But there’s this really good one called Spiral Diner</p>
<p>Sitar advertizes that it is vegan-friendly.</p>
<p>My H (who isn’t a vegetarian, but sometimes prefers a no-meat meal) will go to Jason’s Deli and make an enormous salad at their salad bar…he particularly likes the edamame/bean entree that is on the salad bar. I don’t know if you eat eggs, but if you do, they also have shelled-hard-boiled eggs on the salad bar that my H likes adding to his salad. Of course, there are also fresh fruit offerings on the salad bar.</p>
<p>Found this…</p>
<p>The best Vegan Friendly Restaurants.</p>
<p>1.Mugshots Grill and Bar
2.Kozy’s Restaurant and…
3.Sitar
4.Kobe Japanese…
5.The Olive Branch Caf</p>
<p>I think there are some veggie options at Jason’s Deli as well…but it’s not close to campus.</p>
<p>Don’t know if Swen’s Chinese has some veggie options, it might.</p>
<p>Do you eat fish, cheese, eggs at all? If you eat cheese and eggs, then there are probably more choices.</p>
<p>Where is Spiral Diner?</p>
<p>Los Calientes has closed or moved. In any case, it is no longer on McFarland Blvd next to the Waffle House (which itself is not longer there - demolished and rebuilding I’m guessing).</p>
<p>Yes…Los Callientes has closed according to their Facebook page…Right now, they have no plans for a new location, but you never know if they decide to re-open somewhere.</p>
<p>Don’t know where Spiral Diner is. We ate at Los Callientes last fall, thought it was just “ok”. Didn’t know it had closed.</p>
<p>I can highly recommend the lunch buffet at Sitar (in a strip mall at the Northeast corner of 15th and Hackberry Lane just south of campus), even if it doesn’t look like the nicest place from the outside (or even from the inside).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>i think we ate at Sitar…Indian? If so, it was very good for dinner.</p>
<p>Yes…there are some restaurants that don’t look so great on the outside (or inside - Nicks in the Sticks) but their Divey looks are part of their charm.</p>
<p>^Yes, Sitar is Indian. Part of it’s charm for me was how friendly the staff was to our son, who had eaten there several times before.</p>
<p>Thanks randomparent and others for the suggestions. We are visiting next week and my daughter was concerned that there wouldnt be many vegan options. Now it will be hard to choose since we will only eat one meal off campus. Spinach burritos sound great!!</p>
<p>pamayawaa, Our son started at UA as a vegetarian (no meat, poultry, fish), but became a vegan (no animal products what-so-ever, which means no eggs and no dairy). I don’t know how many on the list I provided are vegan friendly versus vegetarian friendly. For example, our son hasn’t gone back to Sitar since he became a vegan because his favorite dish there had cheese in it. Mugshots has a really good blackbean “burger” that he likes. From my experience, many restaurants that are listed as vegetarian and/or vegan friendly may still only have a few menu items to select from.</p>
<p>randomparent - thanks for the clarification. She is recently vegan, but will eat eggs and dairy products if she know they are from “cruelty-free” farms.</p>