Beverly Russell
Beverly Russell (born June 16, 1962 in Montevallo) is a chef and restaurateur.
Russell's smother operated the Harris Beauty Shop in Montevallo. Beverly graduated from Montevallo High School where she played volleyball and softball while also performing in the marching band. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in merchandising from the University of Montevallo in 1985 and began working at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.
Russell combined her interests in fashion and cooking with first business venture: Memorable Occasions, a catering business, event center and formal-wear rental that she founded in 1995 on Valley Avenue.
She opened her first restaurant, Beverly's, on Morris Avenue in downtown Birmingham, later moving it to Brookwood Village. She renamed that business Olivia's Restaurant & Lounge in honor of her daughter, Olivia Barnes, and moved it to U.S. Highway 280 in Inverness.
In 2010 Russell expanded with an Olivia's upscale meat and three in the former Indigo Joes at 5299 Valleydale Road. She brought the main restaurant back downtown, to the Meelheim Building at 2013 2nd Avenue North.
Russell won a competitive bid to operate food service at the Birmingham Intermodal Facility and opened Olivia’s Transit Café there in 2017.
She accepted the role of culinary director for the Hampton Inn-Tutwiler in 2021 and opened The Six Sixteen full-service restaurant there that May. Her husband, Leonard, serves as general manager. Her daughter Olivia helped develop the beverage program.
References
- Acree, Kathryn (September 1, 2010) "Olivia's Restarant and Lounge." 280 Living
- Edgemon, Erin (May 19, 2017) "Birmingham's downtown MAX central station, transit cafe opening soon." The Birmingham News
- Shaw, Jasmine (January 3, 2020) "Meet Beverly Russell: Chef, Host, Owner of Olivia’s Transit Cafe." The Birmingham Times
- Stuart, Shauna (May 17, 2021) "Veteran Birmingham chef Beverly Russell to open new restaurant at the historic Tutwiler Hotel." The Birmingham News