Ensley, Alabama Heritage Coffee -Part 1

Took a staycation to an area I moved away from 60+ years ago. Revitalization is in the works but I still have childhood memories of its heyday.

Founded in 1886 by Enoch Ensley the area  started out as Tennessee Coal and Iron (TCI) and prospered greatly. After purchase in 1907 by U.S. Steel the plant continued to thrive in the production of iron and steel. 

 

I started off in Ensley as a child but later our family was forced to move when a housing project was planned for the area. I lived two blocks from the famed Tuxedo Junction made prominent by Birmingham band leader and trumpeter Erskine Hawkins when he composed the song of the same name.

A running joke when visiting other places was that if a person was from Birmingham, Alabama it was assumed that the males in their family worked at  “the Steel Plant.” True enough this was considered a good job for unskilled laborers especially African Americans though they were paid less and put in more dangerous positions. 

Downtown Ensley was a flourishing metropolis during its prime. It had pretty much everything the community needed. In contrast by providing needed services for the inhabitants money spent by Steel Plant employees profited  business owners who rarely lived in the area.

A few weeks ago I went "up in Ensley" to see what recent changes had taken place.

Serving the Ensley community from 1922-2012.  If you couldn’t find it anywhere else you could find it at Cotton’s Department Store.

Heritage Coffee and Tres'  Fine Clothing (a Men's Clothing Store) resides in what was once Cotton's Department Store.

The second floor is housed by an attorney.

Inside  with  exposed brick walls and coffee bar along with food  and other beverages if you're not a coffee drinker. From previous posts you know I'm a coffee drinker.  The barista prepared for me a delicious caramel latte. Need I say more?

I was told future plans include those of most coffee bars and shops. Bands, spoken word poetry, various other events.

I always ask the owners before taking pictures and I was assured it was okay but asked to leave a review on Facebook which I did. In appreciation I received a free coffee # on my next visit.  I took a picture of the barista and though he consented, I could tell by his body language he didn't want to. So, J**h I didn't include your picture. 

Additional floors of the building will be used as office space and meeting rooms for those who work from home and may need to meet clients in a neutral space. 

That's it***

Next time: Part 2 Tres' Fine Clothing

 Lastly: I DO NOT LIKE the new Google Blogger platform. I have very little freedom to alter things.

Record Store Day

Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday every April to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store" (Wikipedia)

There are only two record stores in Birmingham that I know of. One is Charlemagne which has been in existence since Moses. The other is Seasick Records which is pretty new to the block.

I chose Seasick Records located in Crestwood which is closer to me. Thinking Record Store Day was April 20, I went inside and proclaimed, Happy Record Store Day to which I was told would take place on April 22nd. 
ALTHOUGH I did find out that 4/20 is Weed Day. (You can Google it or click the 4/20 link) The lack of customers and a couple of guys getting their hair cut should have been an indication that I was there on the wrong day.

I went back April 22nd and there were throngs of people actually buying vinyl also known in my era as records, LPs and 33s. 

You won't see any people on this picture because I took these on 4/20. As you can see they have a large variety of vinyl but they also sell a few CDs, Indie music and locally pressed vinyl.

Did I mention they have a two station barbering corner? It's right back there where you see the two large mirrors.

Yes, I took a picture of the restroom. They have this cool mural painted on the walls.

Since the albums were only $3, I bought a Sammy Davis Jr. and Ashford and Simpson.

 I've played the Ashford and Simpson album and it sounds great.

This poster shows pics of the guest DJs for the day. One is the mayor of Birmingham. There was a wall of flyers inside Crestwood Coffee (rt.) of Coming Attractions.

I also visited in this same shopping strip, Crestwood Coffee and the future home of Crestwood Pharmacy and Fountain.  I'll post about those in a different post.


That's it.

Sweet Tea

Located on the southside of Birmingham, Sweet Tea was spotlighted in the weekly weekend circular as one of the  newer restaurants to check out.  They are a new meat and three , something that isn't prevalent on the southside.

                                      

 In the background over the steam table is a beautiful mural of Birmingham landmarks . It is not to scale but is colorful and eyecatching.

From what I've read this restaurant has a line during lunch time so a waiting room would probably be a good thing 

This picture of Quinlan castle would be interesting to people not from Birmingham. Quinlan Castle has been much of a mystery. It was at one time an apartment building which later fell into disrepair and neglect, housing squatters . I was eventually bought by Southern Research which is on the corner next to it.

There is a monitor at the beginning of this this cafeteria styled restaurant that denotes food prices . (Click the photo to enlarge it.)  The prices are not cheap. A meat and one is $7.45. That doesn't include the beverage. To get the cliched meat and three would cost close to $10.00.

Sweet Tea advertises standard daily features. Lunch is from 10:30 am-2:30 pm.

 I arrived around 1:30 with my mouth set for the  baked/grilled fish. They had run out.  They'd also run out of the sides I wanted.  I ended up getting chicken fried steak and collard greens. People who know me well, know that I am NOT a brown gravy fan. I had the server place the gravy on the side because whether I got it or not I was paying for it.  The greens were fresh and not the canned or frozen type.  

The sweet tea from which the restaurant gets it's name and professes to be sweetened with brown  and white sugar was a disappointment.  My tea was NOT sweet. I tasted no brown sugar. I didn't get a sugar high as I had expected.

The restaurant was clean. The staff was friendly, cordial and accommodating.

The food was not  what I had expected. It was very disappointing.  My neice and a friend went that following Sunday and she too was not impressed. Apparently we aren't the only ones. A review at the Urban Spoon site has reviews  done by patrons of the restaurant.  It's listed as "Southern/Soul, Greek, American"

Maybe they need to stick with one culture and do it well.

That's It***