Five Beloved Birmingham Eateries We Wish Were Still Around

Over the years, we've witnessed Birmingham transform into one of the South’s culinary hotspots, boasting a vibrant restaurant scene and home to multiple James Beard Award-winning chefs.

But before Birmingham's rise to fame, a previous generation of chefs and restaurateurs had already established the Magic City as a culinary melting pot, offering a rich variety of dishes from hot dogs and barbecue to seafood, soul food, Greek, and Asian cuisines.

We could easily fill a phone book with the names of long-gone but never-forgotten eateries. Here are the five Birmingham restaurants we miss the most:

Joy Young Restaurant

Famed for its egg rolls and chop suey, as well as American favorites like fried chicken and crabmeat au gratin, Joy Young Restaurant was a downtown staple for about 60 years. Many Birmingham residents marked birthdays, graduations, or anniversaries in the restaurant's curtained private booths.

Founded in 1920 by Mansion Joe, who immigrated from China, the original establishment was known as King Joy on Third Avenue North. It was believed to be Birmingham's first Chinese restaurant. Later renamed Joy Young Restaurant, it moved to 20th Street North, across from the old Tutwiler Hotel, where it remained for another 55 years. After closing in 1980, it briefly reopened at Brookwood Medical Center in Homewood before shutting its doors for good.

John’s Restaurant

In 1944, Greek restaurateur John Proferis opened John’s Restaurant on 21st Street North, now Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North. For more than half a century, John’s was the go-to spot in downtown Birmingham, offering both casual meat-and-three lunches and elegant, white-tablecloth dinners.

Proferis sold the restaurant in the 1970s to his nephews, Phil and George Hontzas, who later moved it to a larger location nearby. After Phil and Jimmy Hontzas passed away in the 1980s, George and his sons, Tom and Pete, continued the tradition. Eventually, the restaurant became John’s City Diner, which closed in 2023 after 19 years. Memorable menu items included trout almondine, broiled Greek snapper, and crabmeat-stuffed flounder, but no visit was complete without their iconic cornbread sticks and shredded cabbage with house-made dressing.

Pete’s Famous Hot Dogs

Once upon a time, downtown Birmingham had a hot dog joint on nearly every street, but none was more cherished than Pete’s Famous Hot Dogs. For 63 years, Constantine “Gus” Koutroulakis served up hot dogs in his 7-foot-wide cubbyhole on Second Avenue North. A visit to Pete’s Famous, complete with a bit of good-natured scolding from Gus, was a rite of passage for anyone who lived or worked in Birmingham. And despite the reprimands, we kept coming back for more.

Browdy’s

In 1913, Victor Browdy opened Browdy’s delicatessen in downtown Birmingham. The deli, known for its corned beef sandwiches and crispy fried chicken, stayed in the family for three generations and 96 years. It also featured a meat market offering kosher salami and hand-cut steaks, and a bakery that sold rye bread and cheese blintzes.

Browdy’s relocated to Mountain Brook in 1944 and moved to its final location next to the old Western Supermarket on Culver Road in the 1990s. The deli closed in 2009, marking the end of an era. For owners Stan Browdy and Marilyn Browdy Leonard, Victor Browdy’s grandchildren, turning out the lights that last night was a deeply emotional moment.

Cobb Lane Restaurant

On a beautiful day in Birmingham, or even on a cloudy one, there was nothing better than enjoying a meal in the oak-shaded courtyard of Cobb Lane Restaurant. The restaurant’s signature she-crab soup and chocolate roulage were the highlights of the menu.

In 1948, Virginia Jemison Cobb, a Birmingham businesswoman, opened a dress shop along the brick alleyway in Five Points South. Over time, her tea sandwiches became so popular that the dress shop evolved into a full-service restaurant. Cobb continued to run the restaurant well into her 80s, and after a 1982 revitalization project, the alley was renamed Cobb Lane in her honor. Although the restaurant changed hands after her death in 1987, many of her dishes remained on the menu, and her recipes are still cherished today.