Diamond Jim's

Diamond Jim's was a restaurant and saloon located at 2017 Morris Avenue from 1974 to the late 1970s. It was owned by Millie Wathen and her son, James Cobb, Jr and was a key component in the "Old Town Downtown" entertainment district created on Morris Avenue in the 1970s.

They restored the C. S. Simmons Produce Company building and populated it with antiques and architectural fragments including doors from a London club, a player piano from Wales, windows from the Temple Theater, a baggage cart from the Birmingham Terminal Station, a pulpit from a Belgian cathedral, and a head of Mercury from the Tutwiler Hotel. The restaurant served its first customers on September 1, 1974.

L. J. Griffis, former manager of the Vestavia Country Club, managed the restaurant. The menu included steaks, sandwiches, fried mushrooms, shrimp loaf and fruits in wine. Drinks included the "Royal Flush", served in a keepsake glass for $3.50.

The business closed as the entertainment district failed. It is currently the home of Kinetic Communications.

References

• "Morris Avenue Old Town Downtown" (October 1974) Birmingham magazine. Vol. 14, No. 10, pp. 63-6
• White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.