Restaurant Review: Five

The hot spot that opened in 2011 as a culinary treat for those who live in, or perhaps visit, Tuscaloosa has made its way to Mobile. The local Five, which opened Downtown on Dauphin Street in April, is the sixth restaurant in this small Southeastern chain. The restaurant and bar is famous for offering five selections — five snacks or starters, five entrees, five cocktails, regular beers, craft beers, red wines, white wines and intriguingly, as if added as an afterthought, one dessert, a crowd-pleasing white chocolate bread pudding. 

Prose

 

“We wanted to have a restaurant built on simplicity. Too many places have a booklet for a menu, some have hundreds of choices, ” says John Frye, general manager of the Mobile location. “Our idea was to create a limited menu that could focus on the quality of each item offered. Keep it simple, but really good.” 

- Sponsors -

The front has been renovated to include a wall of stunning wood windows, thanks to Charles Phillips Antiques, that are opened up when the weather is lovely. The eatery also offers alfresco dining along the sidewalk. A big bar dominates the warm, comfortable interior, with dining area booth seating galore and, of course, those spectacular chandeliers. The most popular pick on the limited yet diverse menu is the baked avocado. The much-touted cheeseburger is also a standout.

Happy hour runs every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. (except Monday when they are closed), and there is a Sunday jazz brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (with five selections including crab benedict, shrimp and grits, and chicken and waffles). One percent of all sales go to American Lunch, the nonprofit they founded in 2012 to fund food trucks that operate as mobile soup kitchens to feed the homeless and hungry.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding  

On the Menu

Prose
A light, effervescent pale pink cocktail comprises a lick of peach and a hint of floral. The sip comes crowned with a floating rose petal.

Baked Avocado
Half of a warm avocado is stuffed with a savory, crunchy combo of shrimp, bacon and crispy tempura drizzled with creamy, spicy aioli and a snappy Asian-influenced soy reduction. The addictive, satisfying “snack” can easily double as a small entree.

Cheeseburger
This is a superior burger. The ultra-popular, lip-smacking cheeseburger has two tasty patties with melted American cheese and festive bacon, tomato and onion relish all on a slightly sweet, buttery brioche bun.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding
A wedge of sweet, custardy bread pudding represents a terrific twist on the traditional, with more emphasis on the pudding than the bread. It is dusted with cocoa and powdered sugar and served with whipped cream. 

Five • Dinner: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. T – Th, S. 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. F / Sa. Lunch: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. F – Sa
609 Dauphin St. • 308-3105
 

text by sallye irvine • photo by blair abraham Merrills

Get the best of Mobile delivered to your inbox

Be the first to know about local events, home tours, restaurant reviews and more!