Tracy's Cafeteria
Tracy's Cafeteria was a meat-and-three restaurant located at 75 Church Street in Crestline Village. The restaurant closed in January of 2017.
The restaurant was the third location of a business which Bill and Jimmy Tracy first opened in 1974 as a hot-dog stand in the Lakeview District on Southside.
In 1983, they moved to a small green, granite-faced space on the ground floor of the Town House Apartments at the northeast corner of 20th Street and University Boulevard at 727-729 20th Street South. In the late 1980's Tracy's purchased the City Federal Savings & Loan located adjacent to the restaurant (on the left side) and in the late 1990's they purchased Scotty's Discount Drugs that was located on the right side of the restaurant. This gave them the 725-731 address space in that block.
Tracy's Southside location served fresh-made lunch specials as well as cook-to-order breakfasts. For a short period of time in the late '90s they had a second location on the 5th floor of the UAB Center For Psychiatric Medicine. A third Crestline location, opened in June 2007, served three meals a day. It closed in January of 2017.
The company also operated a catering business and offered pre-made meals, sides and casseroles through its Crestline restaurant and at Piggly Wiggly stores in Homewood, Crestline and Clairmont Avenue and Western Supermarket in Mountain Brook.
Tracy closed the Southside restaurant without explanation in September 2008. Charlotte Hatcher started as a cook and waitress and rose to manage the Southside restaurant and greet customers for most of its existence before transferring to Crestline when it closed.
References
- Williams, Roy L. (September 24, 2008) "Tracy's Cafeteria near UAB closing after 25 years in Southside." The Birmingham News
- Staff (August 1, 2010) "Tracy's: Restaurant Showcase" Village Living