Double "LL" Bar-B-Q

Double "LL" Bar-B-Q was a barbecue restaurant founded in 1950 by Louis Lovoy, who also operated the LCL Restaurant in downtown Birmingham. The original location was at 3009 Lomb Avenue in Birmingham's Central Park neighborhood.

The business was destroyed by an F2 tornado on May 6, 1967. The restaurant re-opened in the former Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q at 1731 Bessemer Road, and continued to operate into the 1980s under the management of Louis' son and daughter-in-law, Joe and Fanny Lovoy. The company was incorporated on July 7, 1977 and dissolved on September 9, 1984.

In 1985 Double "LL" opened at second location, at 2084 Valleydale Road in Riverchase, near the Lovoy's home in Northern Shelby County. The new restaurant had two dining rooms seating up to 240, as well as space for Fanny to operate an antique shop. Long-time head cook Carlene Lewis led the kitchen staff. Clark Johnston at Beacon House designed the interiors.

Another location in Vestavia Hills, formerly operated as Lovoy's Italian Restaurant at 2931 Columbiana Road, was succeeded by Tony Alexander's Ranch House Bar-B-Q in the early 1980s.

References

• "Barbecue restaurant moves to county." (c. 1985) Shelby County Reporter
• Nicholson, Gilbert (February 3, 2002) "Expansion of Royal Olds nudges out Ranch House." Birmingham Business Journal
• "Double L L Bar B Q Restaurant, Inc." at sos.state.al.us - accessed September 21, 2015