Banana pudding is layered Nilla wafers, sliced bananas and vanilla custard, topped with meringue or whipped cream, the canonical Birmingham barbecue dessert.
Banana pudding became the canonical Southern barbecue dessert through the 20th century, with Nilla wafers (Nabisco, since 1898) and the post-war condensed-milk shortcut recipe popularized through the 1950s and 1960s. Saw's BBQ runs the canonical Birmingham version with crushed Nilla wafers on top; Niki's West runs the steam-table cafeteria version with custard and whipped cream. Eagle's Restaurant in Smithfield runs a soul-food version with meringue.
3 editor picks for Banana pudding in Birmingham, ranked by editorial score. All Birmingham signature dishes · Banana pudding across every city.
Niki's West ★ 4.6
acipco-finley · 233 Finley Avenue West, Birmingham, AL 35204
Niki's West on Finley Avenue West in Birmingham has run the canonical meat-and-three since 1957, with a cafeteria steam table by the Alabama Farmers Market.
Saw's BBQ ★ 4.5
homewood · 1008 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL 35209
Saw's BBQ in Homewood near Birmingham is the 2009 Mike Wilson original, the room that introduced Alabama white sauce on smoked chicken to the city.
Saw's Soul Kitchen ★ 4.5
avondale · 215 41st Street South, Birmingham, AL 35222
Saw's Soul Kitchen on 41st Street South in Avondale Birmingham is the 2012 sibling to Saw's BBQ, mixing Alabama white sauce barbecue with soul-food sides.