11th Avenue Grill

The 11th Avenue Grill was a white-tablecloth restaurant created in July 1999 at the former Breckinridge Brewery location at 1908 11th Avenue South by Jim and Nick Pihakis as an upscale alternative to their chain of Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q restaurants.

When it opened, the 144-seat restaurant used a time-stamp system to insure each meal was served within 18 minutes of placing the order, with anything later being served without charge. The menu featured several grilled fish and steak entrees, ranging up to $17. The full bar, which seated 30, featured 18 draft beers and 85 bottled beers. A later reworking of the floor plan increased seating by 50, to a total of 224.

In late 2001 the menu was expanded to include barbecue items and prices lowered. The name was modified to 11th Avenue Grill Smokehouse before 2002, and later to Jim 'N Nick's 11th Avenue Grill. By the end of the summer of 2003 the restaurant was fully transformed into the current Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q concept, which includes some items, such as grilled salmon and spinach-artichoke dip, which premiered at the 11th Avenue Grill.

References

• Milazzo, Don (August 13, 1999) "Jim 'N Nick's family reopens former Breckinridge Brewery". Birmingham Business Journal
• Lockridge, Evan and Deborah (March 7, 2002) "A welcome change." Birmingham Weekly.