"There are docks and piers everywhere," Kevin Knowles told The Advertiser-Gleam this summer. "That's the pier. The lake was built in 1939. And purveyor means supplier. That's us. We're the supplier of food."
He was explaining the name of Pier 1939 Purveyor, the restaurant he opened this past spring at Val Monte Marina. Before Pier 1939, the building had sat dark. The same is true of most of what's new for an evening out in Guntersville this year. The new places didn't need new construction. They moved into a second floor, an old government office, a basement, a strip-center storefront, a former burger restaurant on U.S. 431, and a marina building nobody was using.
Knowing where those rooms are tells you how the town's evenings are laid out now.
A Marina Building Past Top O' The River
Pier 1939 sits on the grounds of Val Monte Marina, at 7001 Val Monte Drive, just past Top O' The River. It started with an introduction. Louis Crowder owns the building. After a mutual friend introduced the two men, Crowder visited Cottonfield, the restaurant Knowles and his wife Kelly opened in Snead in January 2023, and told Knowles he wanted one just like it in his building. "It was dark inside then," the Gleam wrote. Crowder handled the renovations, and Pier 1939 opened in spring 2026.
Cottonfield is about 25 miles away, and the menu here is similar but not identical. Pier 1939 has a large outdoor seating area that fills up fastest on weekends. Knowles said 160 to 170 diners on a weekend night is not unusual. Cottonfield's specialty is steak, and that's the one he picks there. At Pier 1939 he picks the snapper. The shrimp and grits made the paper's photo spread. He also said he has his eye on a third location, but he didn't say where.
The deck is the main draw, and it's the reason Pier 1939 is on this list. A dining room on the water was already standing. It needed an operator, and it found one through a friend of a friend.
Downtown Built Up Instead of Out
Downtown has added more seats in the past couple of years without adding a single new storefront. The newer places went upstairs and downstairs in buildings that were already open.
The Advertiser-Gleam calls the block "Old Town Alley," the street that "now fronts Old Town Stockhouse and Cash Allen's Pub." You'll also see it called Old Town Street. Old Town Stock House lists its address as 410 Old Town Street. Both names point to the same few doors.
Old Town Stock House anchors the block. Crystal McKone, owner and head chef, opened it in April 2015, and 256 Today described it as a downtown fixture from the day it opened. For about a decade it was the main reason to be on that block in the evening.
Next door is Cash Allen's Pub. Caitlin and Andrew Allen, who appears as Drew in the Gleam's ribbon-cutting photo caption, took over the former Pub 412 space. The full bar and pub food are upstairs. The billiards room is downstairs, in space that once held county legislative offices. The pool tables now sit in rooms that used to hold government offices.
Then in June, a third business opened on the block. Kristin Weatherman already runs N-Style downstairs, a consignment boutique with a men's shop, a children's shop, a small bar and the Lush Blow Dry salon under one roof. She opened L&K, short for Lock & Key, next to Cash Allen's. The Gleam describes it as a spot for upscale Italian wine and beer brands "you might not see anywhere else."
"This is wine you can't buy anywhere else in the area," Weatherman said. "And it's not expensive."
L&K opened to the public on Saturday, June 20, with Isaac Godwin playing live music. The hours announced at opening were Wednesday through Saturday, 3 to 9 p.m., with $5 mimosas and $7 Bloody Marys. The Gleam's business section dated the story June 16, 2026.
So one short block now holds three businesses on a combined five or so floors. Together they cover a sit-down dinner, an early wine bar and a late pub with pool tables.
Who's Open When on Old Town Alley
The three places keep different hours, and each fills a different part of the evening. One caution before you rely on any of this: some of these hours are older than others.
| Spot | What's there | Hours on record | How current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town Stock House | Full-service restaurant and bar, 410 Old Town Street | Lunch on weekdays, dinner Tuesday through Saturday | From a 2022 profile, so call ahead |
| L&K (Lock & Key) | Italian wine and specialty beer, next to Cash Allen's | Wednesday through Saturday, 3 to 9 p.m. | Announced at its June 2026 opening |
| Cash Allen's Pub | Bar and pub food upstairs, billiards downstairs | Tuesday and Wednesday 4 p.m. to midnight, Thursday 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., Friday noon to 2 a.m., Saturday 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 4 p.m. to midnight, closed Monday | From the pub's own site, updated March 2026 |
You can confirm the pub's hours on Cash Allen's website. The Gleam's earlier profile of the pub listed pool leagues on Wednesdays and Thursdays, karaoke on Thursdays, live music on Fridays and Saturdays, and pool tournaments on Sundays. That story ran with a promotion that expired at the end of November, and the pub's online events page hasn't listed anything since September 2025. Treat that weekly schedule as a starting point and check it before you go.
The Basement and the Strip Center Are Next
The next two openings in the pipeline also start in rooms that already exist.
At a recent meeting, the Guntersville City Council unanimously approved alcohol licenses for two businesses. According to The Advertiser-Gleam's council report, they are:
- Bella Terra Italian Restaurant, 1906 Gunter Avenue, in the shopping center across the street from Burger King
- Good Day Indoor Golf Club, 364 Blount Avenue, in the basement of Fants
"I'm looking forward to an Italian restaurant coming," Councilman Joe Cagle said during the work session. Councilman Pete Sparks called his vote on the golf club "another enthusiast yes," adding, "It will be a place to play golf on days it rains."
A license approval is a step toward opening, not an opening date. We haven't found a report confirming that either business has opened yet. If you drive past 1906 Gunter Avenue and the lights are on, you're ahead of the newspaper.
Even the Chain Reused a Building
Guthrie's at 1440 U.S. 431 is the chain's first restaurant in Guntersville and its 35th in Alabama. AL.com reported it open in January 2026, with about 50 jobs expected. It's a different kind of meal from the downtown places, but it took the same route in. The Advertiser-Gleam reported that Guthrie's was going into the former Highway 55 Burgers location near Guntersville High School. Of the new and coming spots covered here, not one needed a building put up from the ground.
The Room That Went Quiet
The pattern also works the other way. Rooms that fill can empty out again.
Homecoming & Company started eight years ago in the South Sauty community, where Jessica Hanners's parents had once run a café. That history is where the name came from. The restaurant later moved to East Lake. A little more than a year before closing, it moved into the historic Glover in downtown Guntersville. The restaurant's last day there was December 21, 2025. AL.com covered the closing in November 2025.
Hanners told the Gleam she could have relocated and that she'd gotten "very interesting offers." She chose a break instead, and planned cooking classes and meals to go in January and February while she decided what came next. We haven't found an announcement of a new venture from her in 2026, and we haven't found a report on what, if anything, is in that space at the Glover now.
That's the downside of a town filling its existing rooms. The rooms come back on the market, and a well-loved spot leaving one doesn't guarantee a quick replacement.
What's Left on the October Calendar
Two of these businesses have put October dinners on the Lake Guntersville Chamber's events calendar. Old Town Stock House held a Goldschmidt Vineyards wine dinner on October 7, so that one has passed. Pier 1939 Purveyor has a wine dinner on Monday, October 19, from 5 to 8 p.m., with cocktails at 5 and dinner at 6. Through October 30, the Guntersville Ladies Civitan Club Pumpkin Patch is open noon to 6 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
For an evening downtown in the meantime, L&K's posted hours run Wednesday through Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m., and Cash Allen's stays open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
We follow which Guntersville buildings are filling up and which ones are opening up, because the same buildings come up when people ask us about property in town. If you've noticed a light come on in a storefront we missed, or you'd like to talk through a building downtown or near the water, Cary and Chrystal Lowery would be glad to hear from you. Contact Us anytime.
