The Official Shelby County Small Business Celebration (Calera, Columbiana, and Montevallo!)

The brick buildings and rolling green landscape of Calera make it a favorite place to explore. While you're exploring the beauty and whimsy of Calera, take advantage of its local businesses!

Calera is called home by many of Discover Shelby’s favorite Shelby County small businesses. Peruse the selection of nostalgic locally-sourced goods at Cowart Drugs and Gift Shop, host a game night after picking a game from R.O.E. Hobby’s extensive collection, or order your flower arrangements from Calera’s charming florist, Winged Blossoms!

You can find delectable bites to eat at Bertolone’s Classic Italian Restaurant, Beulah Mae’s, Chubbfathers, Ichiban Express, and Happy Dragon. Authenticity is the name of the game at Bertolone's, a family-owned restaurant in Calera that serves delicious Italian flavors. Beulah Mae's Southern Kitchen, founded by siblings who wanted to uphold the recipes of their grandmother, serves a rotating menu that guarantees you will walk out their doors each time with a new favorite soul food dish, and In Calera you’ll find authentic Asian cuisine at Happy Dragon, which cooks Pan-Asian dishes with exceptional customer service and care put into every order, and Ichiban Express, where you can taste an exciting fusion of Chinese and Japanese flavors. Taqueria El Gavilan, if you’re in the Calera and in the mood for authentic Mexican dishes made with the freshest ingredients, will be an instant must-try-again. In Alabaster, Chubbfathers has rightfully earned the title of a local favorite and serves top-tier sandwiches, burgers, and po’boys, while Rancho Escondido Mexican Grill offers delicious dishes and soft serve margaritas with a weekly rotating list of flavors! No matter the particular flavor you’re looking for, the restaurants of Calera are ready to serve you!

If you’re not hungry enough for a full meal, Adventurer's Coffee Co. for perfect options for a snack that will satisfy all of your cravings! Adventurer’s Coffee Co. imports coffee brews from Colombia and Brazil to create a coffee experience unlike anywhere else in Shelby County. Take your iced coffee to go and head out back for a walk around their charming Main Street. 

Columbiana's old-fashioned downtown area exemplifies what anyone could want from a quaint, Southern small town. This area, home of the county seat, has in store for you some of our favorite places to explore and shop.

Looking for a place to share a drink with friends? At Cattywampus Cocktails and Spirits, order one of their unique drinks (the Columbiana Margarita and the Pickle-tini are both an absolute must!) and lounge with friends in the trendy atmosphere. Just A Tish, Wine And More on the South end of Main Street Columbiana, stands as the best wine and spirits shop in town. Stocked up with artisanal gifts and a diverse wine selection, you can lay back and enjoy the shop’s ambiance while nursing a glass of your favorite drink. The Provincial Pub provides a more laid-back setting and an outdoor seating area suited for live music that makes it a favorite of much of the residential Columbiana community. Cattywampus Cocktails, Just a Tish, and the Provincial Pub are all the perfect places to sit and sip!

For any enthusiasts of an afternoon sweet treat (us included!), look no further than Chula's Bakery and Pastries on Main, both located across the street from one another on Main Street Columbiana! If you check out our “Sweet Treats of Shelby County” content series, you can get a glimpse into some of the treats of these local “sweet spots”! You want our recommendation? Get the chocolate brownie from Pastries on Main or Chula’s chocolate ice cream sundae!

Columbiana's shops perfectly reflect Shelby County’s small-town charm! Pink Sheep Boutique supplies some of the cutest children’s’ and women’s’ clothes around, and just next door at Sweet Tweets & Things, you can buy locally crafted pottery and gifts from a diverse group of community vendors. Make your way farther down Main Street and find The Farm Company, the town’s absolutely adorable independently owned home goods store, full of handcrafted items and available to embroider, sublimate, and laser/woodwork items of your own. At the nearby Davis Drug Company Gift Gallery, check out the selection of merchandise with cute designs celebrating your favorite sports teams and local outdoor activities. While you’re there make sure to get a milkshake from Davis Drug’s classic malt-shop-style snack bar!

If you have an upcoming event that requires floral arrangements, businesses like Amazing Flowers & Occasions, Dwell & Flourish, and Main Street Florist will be the perfect stops! These floral shops all promise top-tier customer service brimming with Southern hospitality!

Hungry? Columbiana houses some of the best places to grab a bite! At Discover Shelby, we love any of these Columbiana staples:

• Blue Agave Cantina: a Mexican restaurant with a menu that is cost-effective, tasty, and expansive
• Golden City: a regional, family-owned favorite for dine-in and take-out Chinese meals
•  Los Michoacanos Restaurant: where you can find anything from your favorite Mexican dishes to wings, burgers, and pasta
• Leaders' Corner Coffee & Tea: Columbiana’s home town café
• Pizza Star, the great local place to get a pizza pie (or two!)
• The Local Oyster House and Seafood Restaurant: for those hungry for a taste of the Gulf
• The Point Grill and Bar Lakefront: if you’re wanting to admire the beauty of Shelby County’s Lay Lake
•  Tin Top BBQ 2: the second location of a Shelby County BBQ staple

If you’re visiting the University of Montevallo or American Village, you can’t miss out on the local businesses that give you a glimpse into why this community has become such a beloved one by so many through the years.

The selection of sweet treats in Montevallo goes unmatched. C's Cake & Coffee House serves a selection of house made coffee, sandwiches, and cakes, fit for every mood at any time of day, while Sunrise Donuts bakes hot-and-ready donuts that are here to fuel you for the rest of the day that lies ahead. If you’re looking to find a new favorite dessert, La Conchita Bakery sells over 100 types of bread and authentic Mexican desserts like Danish Croissant Cuernos, Magdalenas, and Cubiletes (mini cheesecakes!).

Shelby County’s foodies should direct themselves to the robust choices of Montevallo restaurants:

• Main Street Tavern: unique burgers (we personally recommend the Clyde Burger), delicious wings and salads, and an elevated, yet relaxed, sports bar atmosphere mean that everyone will be find something they like at this Montevallo landmark
• Moe & Moore's BBQ: this community favorite serves the barbeque that any visitor to the Southeast could ask for, with a menu of baby-back ribs, BBQ sandwiches, and all the fixins!
• Sophie's Kitchen: a soul food and meat-and-three joint that offers some of the best renditions of your classic comfort foods
• Xcaret Grill Mexican Restaurant: try out this Montevallo restaurant’s happy hour deals and the rotating $10 daily lunch special
• Zapopan Mexican Montevallo: the generous portion sizes, large and diverse menu, and customer service all make for a hidden gem that we cannot recommend enough
• China Mix: the best spot to check out for anyone craving excellent Chinese and Japanese cuisine
• Hey Bebe Where Y'at?: inspired by the food of the Big Easy, this restaurant offers authentic, family recipes of jambalaya, shrimp n grits, boululatta, and much more!
• Los Angeles Burrito: we love this local, family-owned business and their diverse menu of customizable enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, and fajitas--plus, they serve breakfast burritos and tacos all day, which offer a culinary experience like no other in Shelby County

Whether you’re looking for a casual lunch over a glass of wine or a fun night out with friends, Montevallo’s got you covered. Meri Moon’s diverse drink menu of coffee and wine, as well as their food menu of Southeastern classics like boiled peanuts, make this one of the most hopping lunch spots in the county. When the sun goes down, The Dive Bar and Grill provides a lively and friendly nightlife scene that embodies the values of Southern hospitality.

Montevallo’s art scene means that local vendors and artists run abound! Six Kids Quilts, founded by a Montevallo community member, designs and sews custom quilts, re-vitalizes older quilts to new condition or transforms them into something delightfully new, and hosts The Sewcial Club, where sewers can use the Six Kids space to make creations of their own! Meanwhile, The Flower Shop showcases the art of curating a flower arrangement. This shop has been servicing the Montevallo community for nearly 30 years and always creates the most special arrangements for any occasion.