Extrapolating from the hundreds lining up to buy Chef Jeff Wilson's "The Globe Restaurant Recipes" book, tastememory endures, a savor almost literally on the tip of the tongue.
Fine food appeals to a luxuriance of senses,not just via theobvious taste buds, but with aromas, touch and texture, the pleasurable visions of a well-arranged plate. Ifyou stood right outside the kitchen, you mayeven haulin hearing:the sizzle of oil hittinga hot pan, the satisfying thwack of a rub worked into aprime cut of beef, the bleak muttering of the sous chef asyou send back an entree.
Restaurants mimic the comforts of home, the requirements of life, in heightened form: Sustenance to sustain a body; atemporary place of communal shelter; and clothing is typically required, sometimes in specified styles.
So it's little wonder Tuscaloosans speak with eloquent longing for those now-gone eateries, diners and cafes that once seasoned and infused our leisure hours, and drew our entertainment dollars.
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The Globe is an easy in, acollaboration of local actors/restaurateurs Jeff Wilson and Gary Wise, opened in downtown Northport at the corner of Fifth and Main where Billy's Sports Grill now operates.Founded in 1992 as a Shakespearean-themed lunch, dinner and drinks place, it offered fine dining, but insidecasual, eclectic surroundings. You could dress up, but it certainly wasn't required.
Wilson designedthe recipes himself — sometimes named for The Bard's shows or characters, such as Twelfth Night Trout, Salmon Caliban, or Winter's Tale Lamb — blending Southern and world cuisines, for a further pun on the Globe. A faltering economy and rising rent caused Wilson, who had bought out Wise's shares in 1998, to close in 2009. Here-opened a smaller version in downtown Tuscaloosa in 2013, but struggled to find regular clientele.
Marysia Galbraith and Jeremy Butler went on their first date at The Globe, then a few years later, held their wedding reception there.
"Way at the top of my list is The Globe," she said. "Early on there was a salmon in parchment. And the Thai Emerald Curry was another favorite."
Cypress Inn
Many respondents paired The Globe with The Cypress Inn, perhaps in nods to each offering a wide array of items,in casual yet visually charminglocations.
Cypress Inn began in 1984 as a co*ck of the Walk franchise, which featuredan extremely limited menu: just catfish and cornbread, though they'd fry chicken on command. As probably the first Tuscaloosa restaurant to build directly on the Black Warrior River, it commanded a good view, but puzzled diners didn't return for more of that one dish, so owner Drew Henson swiftly dropped the theme, changed the name, and expanded the menu.
Cypress Inn closed in 2019, though its river-adjacentpavilion is still available for rentals. Henson later opened a restaurant named River, on the other side of the Black Warrior.
Richard Wallace chose as his favorite long-gones The Globe,and Cypress Inn, circa 1998.
"When I was in college at Birmingham-Southern, we used to go to Cypress Inn for our holiday party among the student theater staff," he said."When I came to see shows at the university, though, I would go to the Globe in Northport."
Celeste Davis-Dill also paired the Globe and Cypress Inn.
"Both had great food and great atmosphere, and I have a lot of good memories from both places," she said.
Thom Jolly choseCypress Inn for its white barbecue chicken and yeast rolls.
"I worked there in college and loved it. Drew was good to us," he said.
Jolly also brought up another place known as much for atmosphere as menu: Storyville, at 1006 Seventh Ave. adjacent to the UA campus, sought to bring a New Orleans-style cuisine and flavor to town, with a sprawling courtyard where jazz and blues bands played. It opened in 1980. The location changed hands a number of times over the years, becoming Capstone Grille, Yazoo Courtyard Grille,andArman's Coyote Café, among others.
"Storyville next to campus was my favorite late night place, on the patio, drinking cheap sparkling wine in the summer," he said.
Go back a decade or more before, and you could find a famous name glowing in green off the sign at 607 15th St. E.,roughly where Hokkaido stands today: Joe Namath's Restaurant.
Those who didn't come for the steaks, or the possibility that some Crimson Tide or New York Jets stars might be loitering —even Broadway Joe himself — probably came to hear pianist and singer Carole Hennessey. She worked with a number of local musicians, including the University of Alabama jazz professor Steve Samples, her longtime friend and bass player Dave Reynolds, Jerome Hopkins, Marshall Fields, Zelpha Wells, and many more.
She also met her second husband at Joe Namath's, the man her obituary named as the love of her life, Crimson Tide Coach Lawrence Haviland "Dude" Hennessey. When the musicianpassed in 2017, at 82, Namath was one of her honorary pallbearers.
Of even earlier vintage was the Lamplighter Restaurant, built adjacent to the Moon Winx in Alberta, back when that was considered out of town. It specialized in steaks and seafood, served ina family atmosphere. It closed in the late '80s. A business filing from May 19,1981 put its age at 41 years, so it probably opened in 1940.
"The Lamplighter," said Mary Ellen Cone, "tied with the restaurant at the Stafford Hotel (now Stafford Plaza, 2209 Ninth St.) for Sunday lunch."
The Landing, Moon Gate Inn
The Landing opened in the 1970s, at the McFarland Boulevard spot where Olive Garden now stands, as a fine-dining choice offering prime rib and steaks. It became popular notonly for sit-down meals, but for the connected bar and dance floor, where DJs spun dance music, sendingthe upper crust on course to learning The Electric Slide. It closed in 1993.
Ron Robel, a UA history professor specializing in Chinese language and philosophy, opened the Moon Gate Inn in 1973, said to be the city's first real Chinese-cuisine restaurant. It stood where the Downtown Pub operated for many years, until the pandemic killed thatbar, and its conjoined Subs-n-You Café.
Sam Fleming picked a number of menu favorites: "Moon Gate Inn for the lemon chicken, Mr. Ho's for the rest of the Chinese menu. Solomon's for the smoked-turkey-and-super-sharp-cheddar sandwich. Pure Process for anything to do with ice cream. ... Storyville for the atmosphere and the Chocolate Fudge Mess."
Many rhapsodized over a specific dish. No one mentioned the old Ireland's, on Hargrove Road just east of McFarland Boulevard, in a building that later became the popular bar Tivoli's, without talking up mouth-watering steak-and-biscuits.
"I worked at Ireland’s many decades ago, and when the steak and biscuits were fresh, the steak medium rare, you couldn’t beat them," said Janet Mego. "They also had wonderful vegetable soup. And the grilled cheeseburger; mmm."
Cotton Patch
Speaking of specificsbrought up the late Cotton Patch. Though not in Tuscaloosa, it seemed to be filled mostly with diners from the Druid City who'd make a30-minute drive, especially after it became a favorite of coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant, and his Tide staff and players.
The original opened in Eutaw in 1937, but that rustic spot burned in 1975. Owner Bradley Brown, who'd bought the business in 1972, rebuilt in 1977 on a larger plot of land just at the exit where you'd turn off for Greenetrack, the old dog-racing venue.
Constructed as if a sprawling log cabin, with huge roaring fireplaces, the Cotton Patch offered basic Southern-fried soul food. Onion rings, watermelon-rind picklesand drop biscuits went along with pretty much everything. You could choose from a variety of steaks, but fried chicken was thespecialty. Its motto, printed on the old menus: "To get a better piece of chicken, you'd have to be a rooster." The 38-acre site closed in 2008.
Not nearly as far out, but seemingly distant, tucked away as it wasin a smallish buildingat 3510 Loop Road, Kozy's at one time boasted an intricate, upscale bar with an extensive wine list, French-American fusion on the menu, and Henderson Huggins playing the upright piano. It opened originally in 1986, and went through a couple of newer owners before closing in 2013.
"I would knock down someone’s grandmother to be able to have Kozy’s beef stroganoff again," said Julia McNair.
Naturally enough for a college town, diners and cafes with on-a-budget offerings created hot stuff. Many lamented the loss of steamed subs from 1970s-era Uncle Andy's, next door to what would become the Storyville location, and at Solomon's on the Strip. Solomon's grew at the corner of University Boulevard and Wallace Wade Avenue, a plot that's been vacant for decades.
Solomon's
Solomon's had both its upstairs deli and downstairs lounge, with a live stage for some of the bigger local acts, and the occasional touring group, such as The Silos, Starbuck, the legendary Alex Chilton, and a pre-stardom incarnation of Phish. Solomon's also operated a deli for a time in University Mall; the Strip location ran from the 1970s through the early 1990s.
Just around the corner, roughly where Bama Stuff is now, rested the Kwik Snak, where bothRudy the ambidextrous shorthand cook and Aretha the waitress with curling-long fingernails (left hand only;she needed her right hand trim to write down orders) seemed to be working 24-7. It was basic diner food at easy prices, specializing in burgers, breakfasts,and fried stuff.Tater Tots warmed many a belly otherwise full of Strip-bar-poured liquor.
"I miss Posey's and Kwik Snack. They were so affordable," said Frannie James. "I remember having some kind of meal pass for Posey's. And so many hours with friends were spent at Kwik Snak over coffee and pancakes."
When Kwik Snak renovated, bringing down ceiling tiles temporarily, patrons were encouraged to scribble on them. After they went back up, folks tried to sit under "their" table. It closed in the early '90s.
If Kwik Snak was the early morning-late night place, Posey's Cafeteria was a favorite for lunch, with its home-cooking-style meat-and-three, at the corner of Eighth Street and 12th Avenue, just a short walk away, off the Strip. It operated from the mid-'70s through to the late '80s.
Bama-Bino Pizza
Though it was generally more takeout than dine-in, Bama-Bino Pizza was mentioned by as many people as any other now-defunct sit-down place.
In its heyday, from the '70s until a Greek house boycott slammed the business in '91 — owner Fran Viselli's son ran for Student Government Association president against the Greek-approved Machine candidate in 1988 —Bama-Bino Pizza originated in a hole-in-the-wall, almost literally, next to the bar Carey's Cornerat Sixth Street and 23rd Avenue, andacross from Clancy McQue's, where later Globe Restaurant co-creator Gary Wise had worked.
Building on generous toppings and fresh ingredients, and a marketing scheme in the collectible yellow-green-redplastic drink cups with the jaunty Bama-Bino elephant, Viselli movedfrom that narrow spot to larger stores on Hackberry, where Jack's is now, and University Boulevard, roughly at the current Newk's. Healso created the Rolling Pizza Party, years in advance of the food-truck boom, and tried exporting frozen pizzas to farther-flung grocery stores.
"It was great pizza," said Brandie Bowden. "I mainly remember us getting it from a food-truck-before-that-was-a-thing at local events like CityFest, so that little red elephant is associated with great pizza and fun times."
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Others missed Cafe Venice, opened first as Old Venice Pizza Co., with its Italianate settings, and choices ranging from pizzas and sandwiches to filets, seafood and pastas, with one of the city's then-far-ranging wine and beer selections. It was at 231 University Blvd., roughly where Urban Bar and Kitchen is now.
More that folks wish still existedinclude: 15th Street Diner, aka Moma Jewel's; El Rincon Mexican restaurant; Ruan Thai;Horne's barbecue on 15th Street, next to Forest Lake; downtown German bakery Edelweiss;International Deli; Ezell's Catfish Cabin;El Burrito; Pasquale's; MIlagros;Liberty Café; Prima Vera;Johnny's; Siam House; Epiphany; Papa's College Custard; Cancun; andMaggie Diner. Many recall it as Maggie's, but the sign outside, at 1307 T.Y. Rogers Jr. Ave., clearly read Maggie Diner.
And a list such as this can't top out without one of the longest-lived,much-loved andsorely missed: Pure Process.Founded as an ice plant in August 1925, on River Road near Greensboro Avenue,the business began making ice cream in 1933. It grew to include banana splits, milkshakes, sundaes, ice-cream sodas and more, serving generations the real deal, made in-house.Pure Process closed in the '90s.
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