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gbacounselor 15 years, 2 months ago.
Fryer Tuck,
Sorry to hear about Joy Yung’s. We impoverished college students loved that place! I don’t rembember King’s Catfish King, but I do remember UAB hospital’s cafeteria before the hospital took over downtown. If you’re over in Roebuck, a family friend has a restaurant called "The Chicken and Shrimp Box" that has wonderful roadfood. The restaurant and owner Paul Galiagno have been featured in Southern Living.
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Originally posted by Fryer Tuck
Do you remember "King’s Catfish King"? Wish I had their Catalina French dressing recipe.
Fryer,
There’s a similar place still open outside of Atlanta – The Rio Vista, which is located on "42 Highway" – U. S. 23 – southeast of Atlanta toward (and just into) Clayton County. They have a similar sweet red salad dressing that you can buy there. The stuff is wonderful on their slaw; I add a copious amount of black pepper to cut the sweetness at least somewhat.
Ensaladationally, Ort. Carlton in Grayer-Than-Graysville-Ever-Was Athens, Georgia.
Nothing in Cardiff or Brookside. Closest thing is Uncle Mon’s and Green’s Steak House, both in Graysville.
Try the Fried Mushrooms at Green’s and tell them that Walter sent you.
Alfredo,
I think you are referring to Joy Yung’s. It was a great place. Key word "was". Do you remember "King’s Catfish King"? Wish I had their Catalina French dressing recipe.
Ahh…..Dreamland. When it first opened in Tuscaloosa it was an old house and John cooked on old 55 gal. drums. Up until his daughter opened in B’ham and the Dr. bought and franchised it, the only items you could get were ribs, loaf bread, beer and soft drinks. Like the sign said, "nothing else, don’t ask." I get a strange feeling when I eat at the store in Baton Rouge. Seems a little out of place.
You sure can’t go wrong at Jim and Nicks, another multi store chain.
In Bessemer, I like Bob Sykes B.B.Q. and, believe it or not, U.A.B. West Hospital dining room draws a lot of the business crowd for lunch. Great cooks there.
Dearfolk,
But what about Bob Sykes’ BBQ in Bessemer? – Plus, there’s another old,long-established Italian eatery out along the Bessemer Super Highway through Fairfield or Midfield or Brighton or some other such exurb.
Just don’t go to Cardiff expecting an out-of-the-way joint. I don’t think there is any place to eat within the city. You might try Brookside instead.
And if you end up out in Mineral Springs, remember that the post office there is Watson.
Obscurer And Obscurer, Ort. Carlton in Amazing Athens, Georgia.
How could we not mention DREAMLAND here? Home of some of the best ribs and BBQ. Don’t mind the "NO FARTING" sign or the fact that they only have banana pudding for dessert.
We loved Jim ‘n Nicks BBQ in Bessemer too………their BBQ was fantastic but the stewed okra was the best.
Fryer Tuck,
Do you remember the name of the Chinese restaurant across from the Birmingham News office? I remember the buffet being good and cheap, and it might be another choice for gbacounselor.
And Bill, don’t pick on Vulcan! When I was a kid, Vulcan’s light changed colors. If it was red, there had been a traffic fatality, green meant no traffic fatality that day.
Oh, I almost forgot, always keep your oil hot.
John’s is a very good restaurant. You just have to go to Niki’s West on Finley near the Farmers Market. It is a meat and three that offers eight or nine meats and around fifteen or more veggie’s. In addition, they have a very good menu. They also have a good country breakfast.
A few blocks down Finley is The Smokehouse which is another good restaurant.
The Fish Market on southside. Fresh seafood trucked and flown in daily. Don’t miss this place.
A fifteen minute drive south to Bessemer will take you to The Bright Star. Been there since 1907 and just keeps getting better. They have an arrangement with a restaurant in New Orleans in which they exchange Chef’s a couple of times a year. My Mother was a regular here for eighty two years.
I have never been disappointed at any of these places, and I’m not easy. (at least when it comes to food)
Since you mentioned it, Ort. Carlton., these are all Greek owned and operated and I can gain five pounds just driving by any of these and the ones that you referred to. I had an office straight across the street from Ted’s and it was an almost daily meeting place.
All of the above are in the moderate price range. I hope y’all enjoy your trips here and I’m glad I happened to find this web-site.
Someone told me that John’s is very good.
The Vulcan statue is hilarious.
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Originally posted by alfredo
Ort,
I grew up in B’ham, and fondly remember Lovoy’s and Ted’s. Enjoy your stay. If you’re headed out towards Forest Hill, you might look for Carnaggio’s, another Italian restaurant (if it’s still around.)
Alfredo,
My thought is that it’s still there. Letme get back to you on that one. Looks like it’ll be a week or two before I’m able to make the trip.
UnVulcanically, Ort. Carlton in So-Near-But-Sometimes-So-Far Athens, Georgia.
Ort,
I grew up in B’ham, and fondly remember Lovoy’s and Ted’s. Enjoy your stay. If you’re headed out towards Forest Hill, you might look for Carnaggio’s, another Italian restaurant (if it’s still around.)
gbacounselor,
Land sakes, yes! Right now I’m planning a trip to Birmingham to do some research, so I’ve scoped unknown-to-be roadfoodish eateries in the city.
The Magic City seems full of Greek-family-run places dotted out all over the various neighborhoods of the city. Here are a few likely spots for your consideration.
1) LAG’s Eatery – 903 Broadway Street # A in Homewood. A tiny, well-recommended meat-and-three that also does breakfast. "Small but cheap and yummy," the reviewer says.
2) Ted’s Cafeteria Restaurant – 328 – 12th. Street South. This near-U. A. B.-place has been there since 1973 and is family-owned. Check out their website for confirmation. Mercy. This has to be a sure winner.
3) The Anchorage – 2826 South 18th. Street in Homewood. Breakfast and lunch Monday – Friday. Recommended to me.
4) Demetri’s BBQ – 1901 – 28th. Avenue South. In Homewood for 40+ years. Serves breakfast also.
5) Lovoy’s Italian Restaurant – 420 Green Springs Highway in Homewood. An old standby.
6) The Purple Onion – 479 Green Springs Highway. A local chain with three or four locations. Opens for breakfast and stays open until around 2:00 A.M. nearly every night; yet later on weekends.
All of these are near to where I’m going to need to be – Elmwood Cemetery. No, I’m not trying the place on for size… besides, it’s even more immense than I ever would get if I ate fifteen pieces of Royal Cafe’s meatloaf a day. I have ongoing research that only can be continued after a trek through to obtain information.
When I have time, I’m going to check out restaurants on the northside near the other cemetery I need to visit – Forest Hill. I’ll have another list for you at that time.
Let me know what you run across on your own.
‘Hamming It Up, Ort. Carlton in Lovely Athens, Georgia.
Every year our entire school staff goes to Birmingham for a regional conference. We usually stick to chain restaurants, but this time four of us ventured out to some local places. They were all recommended to us by some of our former students who are now at Samford University. I will be interested to know if other Roadfooders have tried any of these places and,if so, what your opinion is.
The first night we ate at Taziki’s, which is a Greek restaurant with three locations in B’ham. I had the daily special- Spanokopita Roll-Up with "grilled chicken, fresh spinach, and feta cheese in a griddled flour tortilla." The atmosphere was casual and the food was good. The next night we went to Bongiorno Italian Restaurant in Mountain Brook. My Chicken Parmigiana was average at best, but my fellow diners found their selections to be very good. The neatest feature seemed to be that there were at least eight or nine different ways to prepare one’s seafood order. After dinner we went across the street to the Heavenly Creations Bakery, where the owner insisted that we sample every flavor of gelato he had…YUMMY!
We ate breakfast both mornings at V. Richard(s?), an interesting little place on Claremont about a mile from St. Vincent’s Hospital. This place looks like a small specialty grocery store when you walk in, but in the back is a small room with six or eight tables. The first morning’s food was excellent, but, as my mother used to say, we should have left well enough alone. The next day three out of four of us had problems with our order.
We’ll be going back to the convention again next year. We always stay in the Mountain Brook area. Anyone have suggestions of other places we could try?
Birmingham Roadfood Experience
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