Sweet Home Meats & Deli opens in Prattville

Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser
·4 min read

PRATTVILLE − The restaurant carousel continues to spin in Prattville with the opening of a new deli and meat market where another closed weeks ago.

Sweet Home Meats & Deli recently opened in a shopping center in the 700 block of the U.S. 82 Bypass. It’s near the intersection of Alabama 14 and the bypass on the west side of town. For about 10 years Queen Meats was in the same spot, before the business closed in December.

Sweet Home offers a menu of made-to-order sandwiches and homemade salads. In the meat counter prime beef will be offered and Rob will custom cut the steaks if you want. Prime is the highest rating of beef given by the USDA. The beef has a high rate of marbling, intermuscular fat that gives the meat flavor and juiciness. And prime beef is costly.

“You get what you pay for,” co-owner Rob Jones said. “We have prime beef at what I think are very good prices.”

Things offered will shift as customer demand requires, Jones says he wants to provide “… an upscale deli.” The application process for a beer and wine liquor license will soon begin, so sales of those products are expected in the future. The shelves our on the floor offer pickles, jellies and seasoning, for now.

Rob Jones stands by the meat counter in Sweet Home Meats & Deli which recently opened in Prattville
Rob Jones stands by the meat counter in Sweet Home Meats & Deli which recently opened in Prattville

“We are going to expand what we offer in that area as well, bringing in products from areas where we have been stationed,” Jones said. “We’ll have pistachios and peppers from New Mexico, peanuts from Virginia and huckleberry jelly from Montana.

Rob Jones saw the space and decided to make a career change from running a vending route for several years. Rob and Sheri Jones have been in Prattville seven years, when Sheri’s career in the Air Force brought the couple here. She has since retired as a colonel.

“We haven’t been slammed, but it’s been steady,” Rob Jones said of the customer traffic since the business opened last week. “I think that’s been helpful because it has allowed us to work a couple of kinks out.”

The couple have owned three restaurants as Sheri’s career crisscrossed the country, including a steak restaurant in Wyoming that sat 600 people. Along the way Rob has managed everything from an Arby’s location to officer clubs at various Air Force bases.

There’s been a bit of a shuffle in restaurant offerings in the city, as some long-time businesses close and new ones open. In the past months Milos and O’Charleys have closed their doors, along with the Burger King location on Cobbs Ford Road. A note on the door said the location was closed due to staffing issues.

But there has been plenty of good economic news:

  • Guthrie's opened its location in the 1800 block of the Sugar Exchange last month. The restaurant serves chicken fingers and that's pretty much all, aside from sides and drinks. The fingers come in boxes, buckets or a sandwich.

Guthrie’s locations have spread throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to the company’s website.

  • Nothing Bundt Cakes, described as a bakery by the company, opened Cobbs Ford Village in the 2500 block of Cobbs Ford Road. That’s the same shopping center as Starbucks and Chipotle.

  • Huey Magoo’s Chicken Tenders opened this week in the 1800 block of Sugar Exchange, between Panera Bread Co. and Outback Steakhouse. The Florida-based chain specializes in chicken tenders.

The Huey Magoo’s location is about a block away from the Guthrie’s.

  • The G.O.A.T Bar and Grill has opened in the 260 block of Legends Parkway. The name stands from Greatest Of All Time, and the sports bars offers more than two dozens televisions for viewing and plans on having about 70 beers on tap. The location is in the old Mellow Mushroom building and has been extensively remodeled. The menu includes burgers, wings sandwiches and appetizers.

And a few hundred feet from the G.O.A.T, site work continues for the Texas Roadhouse restaurant. That’s in the 2600 block of Legends Parkway, according to documents on file with the city's planning department.

That's near the intersection of Cobbs Ford Road and U.S. 82. Legends Parkway gives access to Prattville Town Center shopping center, which has Home Depot and Target as anchors.

The company did not return an email seeking comment for this story asking for the opening date and how many employees the restaurant will have.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Sweet Home Meats & Deli opens in Prattville