Velma's Place

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Velma's Place is a bar and grill located at 1911 Gadsden Highway in Trussville.

The bar was founded in 1938 and named for the founder's wife. Over the next 75 year it moved at least once, and changed owners several times. In the 1990s and 2000s Velma's Place was the only licensed bar in the city limits of Trussville. It served lunch and dinner, and was known for its burgers and BLTs. Karaoke was offered nightly.

Then owner Terry Simmons sold the business and leased the property to Frances Salumn in 1996. In 2009 the lease became a month-to-month agreement. In 2012 Simmons accepted an offer from restaurateur Matthew Norman, who invested $73,000 to renovate and expand the building for his Parish Seafood and Oyster House. Velma's was asked to vacate before August 17.

Salumn began exploring other potential locations for Velma's Place, including the former Tipsy's bar nearby inside the Birmingham city limits, but never accomplished a reopening. The neon sign for the business came into the possession of Phillip and Marsha Mims, who displayed it in their Marty's TV bar which opened in 2022 in Trussville Plaza.

Meanwhile, Norman's seafood restaurant closed and the building on Gadsden Highway briefly housed Sky Bear Confections. When it came up for lease again, Tammy and Royce Butler took the opportunity to open a new Velma's Place in the same space. They renovated the space and developed a new menu based on the original, and planned to feature nightly karaoke as before.

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