Ted's Restaurant
Ted's Restaurant (formerly Ted's Old Hickory Restaurant) is a meat-and-three which opened at 328 12th Street South near the UAB campus in 1973. It was founded by Greek immigrants Ted and Litsa Sarris. The restaurant is known for its landmark sign, with a clock now stuck at 3:22, and for its daily specials which include meatloaf, pork-simmered greens and peach cobbler alongside Greek specialties like broiled fish and souvlakia.
On May 15, 2000 the Sarrises sold the 90-seat restaurant to Tasos and Beba Touloupis. The couple renovated the interior and expanded the menu. The head cook is Romell Adams, and the pastries are prepared daily by Judy Kilgore.
In 2006 Touloupis opened Ted's to Go for catering and take-out at 1801 4th Avenue South. In addition to providing lunches to the Birmingham Athletic Club and the UAB athletic department, Ted's supports the Ronald McDonald House with free lunches and fund-raisers.
In March 2009, after it was reported that Jefferson County was considering imposing a "clean water fee" on non-sewer customers as part of its strategy to address its massive debt crisis, Ted's issued a parody press release announcing a "non-diners fee" of $12 for every county resident that didn't eat at Ted's in the past month, effective April 1.
In 2017 the restaurant updated all their signage to designs by Chris Seagle. Wayne and Bo Hughins executed the painted murals on the walls of the restaurant, including the design of the stylized city skyline.
References
- Williams, Roy L. (December 2, 2007) "'We want to expand on the foundation.'" The Birmingham News
- WIlliams, Roy L. (March 23, 2009) "Owners of Ted's parody county with non-diners fee." The Birmingham News
- Fullman, Lynn Grisard (April 10, 2009) "Dishing With Romell Adams from Ted's Restaurant." The Birmingham News
- Velasco, Eric (August 2017) "'Greek-and-three' restaurant near UAB remains city staple." Birmingham magazine
- Taylor, Drew (June 9, 2023) "Ted’s Restaurant celebrates 50 years in Birmingham" CBS42.com
External links
- Ted's Restaurant website