Places to eat in Birmingham (Mountain Brook, Irondale: house, neighborhood, restaurants)

[Mommy24kids]

My children and I will be visiting next week. We plan to take a tour of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Where would you reccommend we have lunch? Price is not an issue but we would like someplace that is locally owned....not a national chain restaurant.

Breakfast? In case we arrive before planned????

[cpg35223]

For breakfast, I recommend two places on Southside, Bogues on Clairmont (Cash only) and the Original Pancake House in Five Points (20th Street South and 11th Avenue).

Birmingham has a ton of great, great, locally owned places. If you're bringing kids, however, I recommend some places that are not necessarily haute cuisine, but fun places for lunch:

Dreamland Barbecue -- 13th Avenue South and 13th Street (I think. Pretty close to there anyway). Great ribs. The kids will probably enjoy the neon No Farting sign, too. If ribs aren't your thing, but you still like BBQ, then I'd recommend Full Moon BBQ or Jim n'Nicks.

Irondale Cafe -- About six-eight miles east of downtown, it's an old fashioned Southern cafeteria that's to die for. It's also the place that "Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistlestop Cafe" was based on.

Browdy's -- This place is in Mountain Brook. Kind of an institution.

Rojo -- Highland Avenue by Rushton Park

Silvertron Cafe -- Also down Clairmont, but about 3/4ths of a mile past Bogues. My kids always loved eating there.

As far as dinner goes, where are you staying? There are a lot of really great restaurants in Birmingham, particularly in the Southside/Forest Park area, and the suburbs immediately to the South of Red Mountain.

[cpg35223]

Some other cool kids things to do in town: The McWane Center (Hands on science and an IMax just a few blocks from the CRI), the Birmingham Museum of Art (Also downtown), Vulcan (Up on Red Mountain. Can't miss it), the Barber Motorcycle Museum (Ten miles outside of town but totally worth the trip), and the Zoo, just for starters.

[Mommy24kids]

Thanks cpg. We're just passing through on our way to North Carolina. We won't be staying for the night. After lunch we'll be getting back on the road.

I really appreciate all the information. Which restaurant is closest to the church? I don't want to venture out too far. We are from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and are traveling to visit family in NC. My children read a book "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" that has a huge reference to the church. I wanted to make sure they had a chance to visit.

It's so cool of you to help and provide the above information. :-)

[jakabedy]

cpg's suggestions are all good. There is nothing right by the church (are you going to the Civil Rights Museum also? It's right across the street from the church). Dreamland is fairly close -- maybe 3 miles. It's sort of buried back in a residential neighborhood, though, so let your GPS be your friend if you have one.

[Mommy24kids]

jakabedy, thanks for the suggesstin on the Civil Rights Museum. I had no idea it was right across the street. I will definitely put that on our itinery. I do have GPS and will most definitely be using it next week.

[Mommy24kids]

Originally Posted by Mommy24kids

jakabedy, thanks for the suggesstin on the Civil Rights Museum. I had no idea it was right across the street. I will definitely put that on our itinery. I do have GPS and will most definitely be using it next week.

Thanks for all the good advice on Birmingham. My children and I had a wonderful time. We visited the Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church. Everyone was so friendly. What a wonderful town with so much history. This was an awesome educational opportunity for my children. Thank you again.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Mommy24kids

Thanks for all the good advice on Birmingham. My children and I had a wonderful time. We visited the Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church. Everyone was so friendly. What a wonderful town with so much history. This was an awesome educational opportunity for my children. Thank you again.

We're so glad you had a good time. Where did you eat?