Girls` Night Out: The Best Nightlife Spots of Shelby County

Board In Birmingham, the area’s first and only charcuterie restaurant, offers custom charcuterie boards for individual customers or for groups, a gift shop full of eclectic merchandise, and an unbeatable drink menu, with a generous selection of beers, wine, mocktails, and their famous wine-based cocktails. Located on Highway 280, this spot sits in a prime location and has curated a fun, Bohemian vibe that will serve as the perfect setting for good memories between friends (and perhaps an Instagram post or two). Keep your eyes peeled for their weekly deals, like “On Wednesdays, We Wine” deal every Wednesday from 3 to 8 PM, when they serve half-off on glasses of wine and appetizers, or their “First Course Fridays,” when you can purchase a glass of wine and charcuterie cup anytime on Friday for just $20.

Cat-n-Bird Winery, honored with Shelby Living’s award for Best Wine Selection in Shelby County in 2024 and 2026, is the perfect location for you and your girlfriends to spend a summer afternoon.  Surrounded by a beautiful green landscape and importing grapes and juice from all over the world, this Shelby County winery offers an unbeatable wine and spirits menu that offers hard-to-find international wines as well as some familiar favorites. The grounds are open on Saturdays from 12-6, when there will be food trucks stationed from noon to 3 PM and live music performances from 1 to 4 PM. Cat-n-Bird may not have a vineyard onsite, but when you see the place, you won’t know the difference. Because the winery serves as one of the best private event and wedding venues in Shelby County, make sure to call beforehand to confirm their Saturday hours.

Noted for their intimate customer service and the trendy atmosphere, Cattywampus Cocktails and Spirits is one of Shelby County’s best places for a chill night with friends. Cattywampus’s ever-changing menu allows for you to nurse on old favorites while venturing into new, adventurous flavors in your cocktails. If you wanted our recommendations, we’d suggest the Columbiana Margarita, a pineapple margarita with a red wine float (what more could you ask for in a drink?), or the Praline Old Fashioned, a Southern spin on the classic bourbon cocktail. Happy Hour is until 6 PM every weekday, so Cattywampus will be an affordable, accessible favorite for you and your friends whether you’re in for a late night or the ever-necessary post-work debrief.

Who doesn’t love a good margarita? Margarita Grill has stood as a familiar favorite in Pelham for twenty years! This Tex-Mex, family-run-and-operated restaurant delivers on providing its customers with authentic Tex-Mex cuisine, using a Mesquite firewood grill and a special flour tortilla machine to prepare food that is fresh, hot, and leagues ahead of the rest. While you’re enjoying Margarita Grill’s food, you need to have some of their top-tier margaritas (offered on the rocks, frozen, or swirled!). Check Margarita Grill’s socials to possibly line up your Girls’ Night Out with one of the Grill’s live music nights, and make sure you take advantage of the budget-friendly $2 Taco Tuesdays and til-6 PM Happy Hours (with $6.99 margaritas!). One GNO, and you and your group will soon realize why Margarita has become a local staple.

Ozan Vineyard, Winery, and Spirits is a little piece of Napa nestled in Shelby County. Book a wine tasting with friends at their acclaimed Café Vino while enjoying a charcuterie board or flatbread, all looking out over the lush, green vineyards below. Ozan is also dedicated to standing out as one of Alabama’s premiere vineyards, offering a variety of events in collaboration with the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum . On select Saturdays, embark on a unique and can’t-find-anywhere-else dining and tasting experience where you and your party will taste and sip the vineyard’s wines from an operational historic train car (open-air or air-conditioned!). Ozan’s distillery, YH Distillery, hosts a similar event, Bourbon and Brisket, also on select Saturdays. You and your group can even enroll in a one-night class where you learn how to blend your own bottle of your favorite red wines. However you choose to experience Ozan, you and your girlfriends are going to leave trying to schedule the next time you come back. Walk-ups are welcome for the café, but because of the high demand of this Shelby County hotspot, reservations are required for other events (and recommended for Vino Café on Saturdays)!

This elevated pub and grill is one of our favorite spots in Shelby County. Perfectly merging together the casual and dressier dining experience, The Anvil Pub and Grill is perfect for any occasion. You can dress up if you would like to sit at the bar or claim a table, or dress more business casual and enjoy some of their comfy outdoor seating. Either way, you are sure to enjoy The Anvil’s amazing apps and even better drinks. Inspired by English drinks and cuisine, this spot brings an often-neglected cuisine to the greater Birmingham area. If you have any English soccer fans in your group, this is one of the only pubs in Shelby County that televises international sporting leagues, and if you and your group are interested in Afternoon Tea, The Anvil is one of the best authentic Afternoon Tea experiences you can find in Shelby County, complete with tea-style sandwiches and pastries. The Anvil is also in the heart of The Village at Lee Branch, making it a perfect place to stop before or after a shopping spree in one of the county’s shopping outlets.

Beer-lovers – this spot in Pelham is going to be for you. With nearly seventy beers, ciders, and seltzers on tap, there are few brews that you will not find at The Beer Hog. The Hog’s pool tables, outdoor patio seating, and 50-inch flat-screen TVs also make it the prime place to go to watch any big games with your friends. Regularly hosting events such as themed trivia nights, live music, and karaoke, the Hog can be your one-stop shop for nearly any and all nighttime fun that you and your group want to get up to. However, if you’re still craving more fun for the night, you’re in luck! The Beer Hog is located in Campus 124, Pelham’s quaint “entertainment district.” Play a game of mini golf with state-of-the-art lighting and sound design at the neighboring Putter Up, or heighten the stakes of your games of pool by moving the fun next door to Poppa G's Billiards!

The Provincial Pub just might be the exact definition of Southern charm. The juke box, dart boards, and pool tables will evoke a familiar, Southern bar ambiance, suited to make anyone feel at home. Focused on comfort and community, this spot in Columbiana hosts regular events such as live music performances, cornhole tournaments, and country-two step nights. Their patio is the perfect place to spend a casual night taking the edge off with good drinks and even better company. This Pub prioritizes its Southern hospitality, so whether you and your friends are first-time visitors or you all begin to be dubbed “regulars” at the summer’s end, you will always be treated like family by staff and fellow patrons alike.