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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

The Dive Cajun Restaurant in Clanton has burst onto the scene with a vibrant atmosphere and stellar Cajun food that puts you in the setting of a small Louisiana town. Owners Brianna McClanahan and TJ Robinson began the restaurant as a food truck at The Dive Bar in Montevallo and now are ready to take on the challenge of a full-service restaurant.

McClanahan’s mom’s side of the family is from Opelousas, Louisiana, just a short drive from Lafayette. She spent time growing up throughout the Midwest, Connecticut and other places, but her summers were spent down south visiting her grandparents in Louisiana. She remembers going outside and getting pecans and eating them right away off the trees, going to the creek behind his house and other things that only living in the south could bring.

“That is where I was introduced to the Cajun lifestyle,” McClanahan said. “I was always obsessed with boudin, gumbo and I would tell my mom ‘I do not understand a word Pawpaw is saying.’ I loved going down there because it was a different, fun take on life.”

McClanahan started visiting The Dive Bar in Montevallo a few years ago and met Robinson. One day while visiting the bar she made gumbo for the crowd, and it was a massive hit.

“I loved watching everyone get to know my cooking,” McClanahan said.

She and Robinson grew closer and she started working at the bar. She began offering good business advice to Robinson, and she eventually bought into the bar with him.

“I told TJ ‘I think something is amiss with your business, let’s start investigating this. I gave him all the information he needed, and we were quickly able to flip the business around and get it back on track,” McClanahan said. “You will not have a fully set up business for several years, and it is not a put up a business and you are good for 20 years. You have to constantly baby it, nurture it and work tirelessly to make sure everything is going well before you can finally just take a step back and breathe.”

Robinson trusted her business instincts, and the two decided to go into business together and start a food truck in conjunction with the bar called Breeze’s Grill. The Cajun-inspired menu exploded with McClanahan at the helm, and her family’s deep Cajun history oozed out of her cooking.

As the food truck’s customers expanded, the two wanted to get bigger and explored the option of purchasing a building. The search went on for nearly two years in nearby areas like Alabaster, Hoover and Pelham, but nothing grabbed their attention — until they got to Clanton. They explored the old Boomerangs building on 7th Street South, and the aesthetics of the building were exactly what the two business partners pictured, and it became a clear choice where they wanted to establish their restaurant. And the close proximity to Interstate 65 was nice too.

“This is exactly what we were thinking of,” Robinson said. “We wanted to give Clanton something fun to do … Somewhere you can go in, socialize and just have fun.”

Robinson worked with the former owners of the building for eight months before finally settling on a price and a deal was made in October 2024. The building was in rough shape on the inside and cleaning took nearly two months to complete. However, most of the work went towards cleaning and preparing the building rather than construction work.

“This beautiful building being vacant, everybody wanted it,” Robinson said. “We just had to be better than them in a sense, and he took a chance on us. We are very appreciative of that.”

The Dive officially opened its doors on Feb. 8 this year to welcome the community inside to taste a piece of Louisiana. Each dish is a recipe from McClanahan’s family that brings out deep Cajun flavors. The gumbo is made from scratch each day, and it is clear when something is a bit off with one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes.

“These are her family recipes, and I have seen that woman taste the gumbo and say ‘Somebody did something wrong to it,’ and she will start from scratch and spend an hour remaking it,” Jessica Blevins, a manager at The Dive, said.

Along with the full Cajun menu, The Dive has a full-service bar in the back of the restaurant, does karaoke every Friday night, has live music every Saturday and does crawfish boils normally every weekend. The Dive also has a party room that is available for larger gatherings, offering many options for folks to come in and have a good time.

“We want to make sure everyone that comes here has a good time,” Robinson said. “We sell fun and a good time, we do not just sell food and booze. We sell an experience.”

The Dive is open Monday-Thursday and on Saturdays from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., 11 a.m.-midnight on Fridays and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Sundays.