excellent menu...and everything else. the most important thing about red bone alley is that their menu is wonderfully unique and perfect. the second is that the atmosphere is the most unique you will find in the region. the restaurant inhabits an old two story department store at the old shopping mall and is decorated to look as if you are dining outdoors in charleston. everything i have ever ordered there has been exceptional. it is truly one of the best places in florence. my favorite dishes there are the quail and grits, the shrimp and grits, and last but not least--the bermuda triangles. their grits are cooked perfectly every time and so is the quail and the shrimp, which both taste so awesome, you can't stop eating them. the grits dishes are alsogreatreheated, if you do end up taking leftovers home. the steak has a delicate flavor and is sooo tender! the cajun étouffée is very tasty and the tea is absolutely perfect. i hear the desserts are wonderful, but i couldn't tell you firsthand, as i never have room for anything. there is free ice cream available for children (and the occasional intrepid grown-up) in an indoor ice cream truck. dining here is a must if you are passing through the area.
edit: i went back in february 2013 for my birthday (sorry for the delay) and to my chagrin, one of my favorites here, the quail and grits was discontinued! never have i been as disappointed with a restaurant! what a sad birthday! please bring back the quail--raise the price if need be! advertise it, offer it as a special, do what you have to! i can't remember what i ordered in it's place, but i know that it was good. we did get the bermuda triangles appetizer and that was as tasty as ever.
edit: we went back in august 2018, as we noticed they had added the quail and grits back to the menu. i was skeptical until i got there, but there it was. i didn’t care what else was on the menu—i was ordering this and only this. once i received my order, i was immediately and decidedly irked. i’d been waiting years to experience this dish again and figured this would be the last chance to say goodbye to it properly before they got rid of it again for good; but it was a consummate disappointment. forget the fact that they couldn’t provide ripe tomatoes in the middle of summer and that they had to bring me the forgotten chopped scallions—the re-entry of this quail dish was poorly executed. don’t mess with my emotions, people. the quail is now served bone-in, split down the middle of the bird, and deep fried without any breading that i could see. though thoroughly incensed at the sight of the dish, knowing what it should have been, i let it go at first—but then i tasted it. i don’t normally complain, but i had to this time. the problem with serving bone-in half-birds atop grits, is that the diner must now pick up a grit-laden bird and eat it by hand, gnawing on it and getting grits all about his countenance. that’s annoying enough, but it also means that the quail is no longer an integral part of one unified dish that can be cleanly and conveniently eaten with a fork. the diner is basically now eating ham and grits, and then picking up these unwieldy and messy half-birds in a separate and vain struggle for which they were not prepared. all this i could infer upon first sight, yet i was still prepared to forge through my depressing mastication wordlessly. but then i tasted what resulted of the vain and tragic sacrifice of those noble birds, of which there were two. they were very dry and stringy, with very little volume of meat, and little to no flavor. i was deeply saddened by the loss of this dish and the loss of these beautiful birds. when i finally complained, the waitress and kitchen manager (i gathered) tried to bring me whatever other meat i wanted to replace the quail i refused to eat, but they never offered to take the meal off of my bill. insult to injury.
everything else at the table was as delicious as usual, including the grits that served as the final resting place of the unfortunate birds, but i now feel as if i lost my beloved quail twice. i know the rest of the menu is great, but i can’t go back without “a sad and lonely comfort in the hollow of (my) eyes,” to quote the band hurt, which is indeed how i felt, as well as betrayed.
so, with that out of the way, i highly recommend this restaurant otherwise.