Crumbl Cookies, Bates House of Turkey both open in Montgomery this month
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the store's hours. Crumbl's regular store hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to midnight. They're closed on Sundays.
You've heard of chicken and waffles. Well, Montgomery is putting a new spin on turkey and cookies this month.
Both Bates House of Turkey and Crumbl Cookies have grand openings just ahead — Monday (May 8) for Bates in the Westminster Shopping Center (corner of Carter Hill and Zelda roads), and the week of May 15-19 for Crumbl Cookies at Zelda Place shopping center.
Try them both out. You're bound to get stuffed.
It's been almost 30 years since Bates had a full restaurant in Montgomery
Montgomery is no stranger to Bates House of Turkey, but since the mid-90s there’s only been a couple of options for Montgomery residents to gobble up their offerings.
One, of course, is to do a turkey trot south on I-65 and visit their longtime restaurant in Greenville.
Another is to wait for the pop-up shop Bates has been offering in Montgomery during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The only other way to take in one of the Bates birds locally is to watch one of Alabama’s governors pardon a “Clyde” turkey for Thanksgiving.
The long treks and waits are over. Bates has already had a soft opening for its new restaurant site at 2938 Carter Hill Road, and the grand opening is set for Monday.
It's known for a variety of hickory smoked turkey sandwiches, roast turkey plates, plus a Thanksgiving meal worth of sides like cornbread dressing, potato salad, fresh vegetables, soups, salads and more. They’ve also got a variety of homemade pies and cookies for dessert.
Their turkeys come from the Fort Deposit turkey farm started in 1923 by Willie and Helen Bates. Their boy, W.C. “Bill” Bates Jr. would open the Greenville restaurant in 1969.
Montgomery's new Bates site isn’t the family's first venture into city's restaurant scene. In 1977, a Bates House of Turkey opened at 1060 Eastern Boulevard, according to Advertiser records. It had guests loosening their belts for around 18 years and was a frequent meeting spot for different Montgomery groups and organizations.
By 1995, the location had been taken over by Lone Star Steakhouse.
"I was fixing to put in a drive-in in Montgomery," Bates told the Advertiser in 1999. "I had brought the property to put it around back when Lone Star made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
Today, Bill Bates' granddaughter Michelle Sloane is at the new restaurant, and the turkey tradition runs strong in the family.
"We have a lot of us in the business, and we felt like now was the time to try it again," Sloane said.
Sloane said the soft opening continues through Thursday. The Montgomery spot will be closed Friday ahead of Monday's grand opening. After that, they'll be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Crumbl Cookies bringing a world of flavors to Montgomery
After months of teasing Montgomery cookie lovers with a “coming soon” sign at Zelda Place, this week Crumbl's corporate office confirmed the May 15-19 grand opening date.
The cookie giant has a weekly rotating menu of more than 170 cookies made from more than 200 flavors. Along with their award-winning Milk Chocolate Chip and Classic Pink Sugar, some of their specialty flavors include: Muddy Buddy, Biscoff Lava, Funfetti, Snickerdoodle, Coconut Lime, Chocolate Caramel, Hazelnut Sea Salt, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Rocky Road, S’Mores, and Pumpkin Pie.
In Alabama, Crumbl already has locations in Alabaster, Daphne, Decatur, Dothan, Huntsville, Madison, Mobile, Opelika, and Vestavia Hills.
Crumbl's regular store hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to midnight. They're closed on Sundays.
Keep up to date on their weekly cookie offerings at crumblcookies.com.
If you’d like to join the cookie crew, resumes and applications are being accepted at al.zelda@crumbl.com.
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Crumbl Cookies, Bates House of Turkey open this month in Montgomery
