As part of my recent roadtrip in search of the Hell’s Gate Bridge in Oxford, Alabama, I’d intended to stop by my (then) favorite restaurant in the nearby town of Anniston for dinner. That place was crowded like crazy with a waiting line stretching around the parking lot, so the lovely missus and I decided to seek out some other colorful locale. We discovered the Peerless Saloon and Grill, and I’m so glad that we did.
The food was terrific, to begin with, but you don’t come here to read food reviews and I’m not really interested in writing them. No, the Peerless merits coverage on this site because of its history and its ambiance.
The Peerless is the oldest saloon in the state still in operation. Around the turn of the 20th Century, the upstairs of the saloon was a brothel. One night, the Sheriff came to arrest one of the johns who was busy being “entertained” and things went south.
As he fled, the lawman shot at him—and instead hit and killed one of the ladies. It is her ghost that still wanders the Peerless, which looks much the same today as it did over a hundred years ago.
By all means, if you’re ever passing through Anniston, make it a point to stop in and have a drink or a meal at the Peerless, and visit with its fulltime unseen resident(s).
Dinner at the Peerless Saloon
