By: Jennifer Kornegay / Alabama Living
The Rawls Restaurant in Enterprise is known for its steaks, oysters and creative cocktails crafted with seasonal ingredients. As of 2023, the eatery has new chefs and a new focus on elevated cuisine. But it’s in an old building.
Built as a hotel by the Rawls family more than a century ago, the Spanish-style structure served guests arriving in the area via train (the train depot is right out back, which was the original front entrance), and sometimes the legacy left by all those visitors, its previous owners and hotel staff comes alive.
“We have things that go bump in the night and during the day,” says owner Sam Gay. Faucets turn on by themselves, and doors open with no one visible pushing or pulling on knobs. The sweet smell of pipe tobacco floats in the air when nobody is smoking. And multiple people have seen an elderly man in a white shirt with suspenders — believed by some to be Jeb Rawls of the original owning family — wandering the halls. “It’s a little creepy, but whoever they are, they’re friendly,” Gay says. “Nothing really scary has happened.”
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