Let me amend one part of my first post, with respect to the BBQ category:
BBQ - For Pulled Pork sandwiches I like 306 BBQ located in the same block as Rosie's in Downtown Florence, For BBQ Chicken I like the Wilson Dam Location of Southern BBQ as well as Smokin on the Boulevard which has great BBQ Chicken and at a great price but you have to take it home for there is no provisions for eat in and I'm still on the hunt for the best Ribs although I really like Sam's Grille's Ribs of the ones I've tried around the area but I've heard Smokin' on the Boulevard has some really great ribs.
I neglected to add/put **** Howells and also add Sledges to the list for sandwiches and both deserve to be named along with 306 BBQ. I'm sure I missed others that are equally as good as well. Howell's at Seven Points always has great sandwiches and have for years. Sledges doesn't often get mentioned as while he was in business for a while he, without notice, closed down only to reopen months to years later out off Chisolm Rd about half way in between Wilson School and Mapco and located adjacent to the storage buildings in a nice brick building and he's also constructing a new smoking building. So along with the above Sandwich location of 306 I'd like to add Howell's at Seven Points and Sledge's BBQ off Chisolm.
As for places that are now gone but not so forgotten I really miss the 2nd Street Rib shack which was a locally owned startup by a family out of Russellville who actually cooked the ribs at their house, in Russellville, brought them to the Rib Shack, on 2nd Street, in coolers, and reheated/finished cooking them there. Still, to today, some of the best Rib's I've ever eaten. Gone but not forgotten.
Bad Boy's which was located on Woodward and was originally from around Memphis was also very good and tasty and did a good business for a while but just didn't last. It was in the old Long John Silver's building in Muscle Shoals.
Thomas BBQ, not local and was located in Madison, AL but was a very good, long time family owned business that the family apparently just got tired of being in business. They had some great BBQ and were always packed out with the drive thru traffic almost always backed out and onto Hwy 72 there in Madison. Today the building has been demolished and a new Rick's BBQ built on the site.
Last but not least Famous Dave's a Northern BBQ restaurant that had a very good product and also has several other locations down South such as in Chattanooga, TN and Knoxville, TN but just didn't make it at the Florence location. I always liked their product and thought they did good but admittingly later on they began to drop off in quality either due to bad management or just not caring. They always seemed to have good product and ribs and usually had a fairly good business in that large building they had where Rick's BBQ is now located on Cox Creek Parkway. I wish they had made it and was equally sad to see the Shoals location of Dreamland not pan out. I guess, as far as Dreamland is concerned the original Tuscaloosa location is king and the one where the magic happens as I've heard that the Huntsville location, although still open, just isn't as good.
as usual Bon Appetit