Dram announcing on Facebook couldn't find an agreement with landlord and are shutting down. Was curious how it would work out with Avo shutting down since upstairs and downstairs were intertwined access wise
With a good group on a slow night I found it enjoyable but yes Birmingham's version of the $60k millionaire was all over that place
I scrolled through their yelp a few minutes ago.... employees openly drunk and not giving a shit. Possibly they knew that they were losing the lease and would close.... or they are just closing because they drove off customers.
Anyone a big fan of Icehouse in Mtn. Brook Village? I've had it twice and neither time did I really enjoy it. Hard to see it sticking around very long unless I'm in the minority and others really love it but I've yet to hear of anyone that does.
I have had some food that I really liked there. I just don't care for the atmosphere and it isn't on my radar very much.
The MB Village Western is what every grocery store should be. Can’t believe Publix is going to ruin it with their fake Whole Foods gimmick.
I'm so livid and sad about this. There is no way a Publix Greenwise survives in that space right? I don't think the people that shopped at that western specifically for good produce and meats are gonna pay the mark up for publix's gimmicky Greenwise bullshit just bc it's got "organic!" on the label.
Agreed it won't survive more than a few years. Publix got hyped in the grocery store thread a few months ago, and I romanticized it. When I moved back to Birmingham, one of my first stops was Publix. What a shitty overpriced grocery store with fairly limited selection. On the other hand, I go out of my way to visit the Mountain Brook Western, and I imagine I'm not entirely alone in that. It's a great grocery store.
Western is pretty expensive, man. I would imagine Publix Greenwise will be cheaper. What will probably kill it is that there is zero chance it has a comparable wine selection. That Western sold a fuckload of wine.
Oh I'm not discounting the fact Western was expensive, I'm just saying that Publix Greenwise products pale in comparison yet are also marked up. This is what I was driving at as far not being able to survive in that space based off what Western provided
Exactly. Running to a party at the last minute and forgot to buy something? Grab a nice bottle, some flower arrangement that the people at the counter will make look good, and some cheese you’ve never heard of but they let you sample. The employees there are great.
also it felt much better to pay a little more at the western because it was locally-run and operated rather than paying out to the publix behemoth
Western could be priced reasonably if you were shopping deals. Esp. beer and meat. I do Aldi for everything except that, honestly. It's right by my house, too, so that's part of it, I guess, and we have the nicest one in town at Eastwood.
If you are buying bags of chips and bottled water the Western wasn't the place for that. They had fantastic wine/meat/produce and I will for sure miss it.
I feel like the Pig is gonna clean up big time. The OTM and Highland Park versions of Pig and Western stores are much more similar to each other than any are to a Publix.
just circling back, fuck publix. i'm absolutely distraught by this news. Western's wine section was amazing.
Crestline pig will benefit. Homewood pig is a decent store. Clairmont/Lakeview pig I don't think has the client base or location to be anything more than it is. The highland park pig is getting demo'd along with the package store and that whole strip for a new development...
Went to El Zun Zun tonight and liked it. The food was really tasty, nice drink selection (especially tequilas/margaritas) and good ambiance. Not sure if our waitress sucked or the bar was really slow, but drinks took forever.
I used to like Publix a lot. Then I moved to Houston and discovered HEB. Don’t think I could go back to shopping anywhere else. Growing up with old dirty Food Worlds and Winn Dixie’s made Publix seem really nice.
They originally said they intended to go mixed use and keep retail on the bottom floor but I haven't seen anything else on it since the original soft announcement. Probably just said it to ease people's fears about Western closing anyway.
Is highland package moving somewhere else? I remember when that was about the only place to buy good beer in bham. Bought a lot of milk jug growlers from there
I used to go to their cigar/hookah bar when it first opened. You could fill up growlers upstairs and smoke a cigar in there. It was always a weird crowd, but a fun happy hour changeup when I was young and single.
Lukewarm on this although I'll admit I've never been to the Summit location Edit: did not realize he was the executive chef at Bamboo, I am now very interested http://www.otmj.com/abhi-to-move-into-former-avo-space/