There is a new downtown lunch spot called Bama Bistro on Commerce Street next to Servis First Bank in the old Boomer T location right next to a chech cashing place the food is good it just opened yesterday. They serve burgers, chicken, vegatarian, soups, and meat and three. This is good news with the Alley Bar opening as well downtown is continuing to take shape.
I walked up the Alley a little while ago and saw folks putting the finishing touches on the bar and the outdoor seating area. They seemed pretty upbeat about tonight; laughing, talking loud and even a little dancing as the Bar's sound system was blasting some Stevie Wonder songs through the Alley.
Seafood Eatery Coming to Downtown
By Cosby Woodruff • June 6, 2009
Work will begin Monday on Wintzell's Oyster House in downtown Montgomery, according to a spokesman for the company that owns the building.
Bill Lang, spokesman for the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center, said workers will begin Monday on converting empty space at the corner of Bibb and Commerce streets into the seafood eatery.
It is scheduled to open in late September, he said.
The location will be Wintzell's first in Montgomery, but it also will be the first leased commercial space at any of the Point Clear Holding Hotels.
Ray Ezelle, a sales executive with the hotel chain, said the space in the hotel, which opened early last year, has always been set aside for leasing to a service provider.
He compared the restaurant's opening to that of others in the area, particularly in the Alleyway development.
"The hotel benefits as long as it benefits downtown Montgomery," he said. "We are excited by everything going on downtown, and we are excited about being in downtown Montgomery."
The hotel operates its own restaurant, The House, but Ezelle said there was no fear of the tenant hurting the hotel's own business.
"The House will continue to be successful," he said. "They are two different kinds of restaurants, and we are in favor of anything that brings people downtown."
Ezelle said the hotel is looking for anything that makes it easier to book large meetings and conventions, and additional services at or near the hotel are a large part of that effort.
Wintzell's is a Mobile-based seafood restaurant that has no other location in the Montgomery area.
At one time it announced plans to open a Prattville location in a fire-damaged Shoney's restaurant, but Shoney's repaired and reopened in that location.
I know this has been discussed for a while... but it is good to hear that there is now a firm start date.
Bama Bistro is owned by my friends Massey and Will. Massey was a server at Cuco's for a long time. They had a place on the other side of the interstate before moving into the downtown area. When i ate at the other place they had I was impressed with the soul food and the portions.
Like it or not, it's slogans and names like "Bama Bistro" , that are going to make Montgomery's Riverfront/Alleyway into a Beale Street, Bourbon Street, or Underground ATL eventually IMO.
I'm not crazy about the name Bama Bistro either. It's like the proposed Bama Bayou that was going to happen down at Orange Beach. It was going to be one of those places with dolphin shows and the like, but to me it sounded more like a muddy place with 'gators and mosquitos.
As for Wintzell's, yall are gona enjoy it. The one down here in Mobile is great.
Blurry image, but a nice aerial of the RSA Judic and some of the state complex.
I guess I never gave this much thought during the protests, etc. dealing with the construction/appropriateness of the RSA Judicial Center, but it appears the new tower will probably block the view of the State Capitol from the Capital City Club.
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The one down here in Mobile is great.
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