Bogue's

Bogue's in January 2007. Photo by Chris Denbow

Bogue's Restaurant is a diner-style restaurant located in the former Birmingham Fire Station No. 22 at the corner of Clairmont Avenue and 32nd Street South in Lakeview.

The restaurant was founded in 1938 by Pat and Mildred Bogue. They grew it into a formidable businessman's destination, best known for its breakfast with sweet rolls and its vegetable plates at lunch.

a Bogue's matchbook

In 1946 the restaurant moved to 3028 Clairmont Avenue and was briefly called Bogue's Highland Restaurant. A 1948 advertisement [1] featured portraits of the proprieters and promised that Mrs Bogue personally supervised the preparation of all the desserts on premises.

Andy Straynar, a veteran of Britling Cafeteria, partnered with Charlie Lawrence and another investor to purchase the restaurant from the Bogues in 1968. Sometime in the mid-1970s they replaced the tables and chairs with orange-vinyl booths and added a wrought-iron railing to the front. Straynar bought out his partners and ran the business himself until he retired on April 1, 2000, turning the restaurant over to his son, Greg.

Greg Straynar struggled to maintain profitability and sold the business to Daryl Whitfield in 2006. The building in which the restaurant operates was leased from Curt Ruttle and Maria Hontzas Ruttle of Arizona. A second location opened at 162 Oxmoor Road in West Homewood in August 7, 2007.

In April 2010 a $6 million proposal was made by Connolly Net Lease of Lawrenceville, Georgia to demolish Bogue's, a neighboring service station, and Birmingham Fire Station No. 22 to construct a 14,250 square-foot Walgreen's pharmacy with a 62-car parking lot and drive-through window. In May of the same year, Whitfield received a delinquent tax notice from the city of Birmingham requesting payment of $129,852 in unpaid taxes from the period between January 2006 and February 2010. Whitfield disputed the amounts, stating that some of the unpaid taxes were from the period before he took ownership. In September 2010, Connolly confirmed that they would be able to renovate the fire station for Bogue's and another small retail tenant. Bogue's moved to the new space in February 2012.

In February 2011, Whitfield's total unpaid taxes totaled $157,000. A February 17 hearing was set, with the purpose of shutting down the business.

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Preceded by: ?	3028 Clairmont Avenue 1946–2012	Succeeded by: demolished
Preceded by: Sirena's Latino & Seafood Grill	162 Oxmoor Road 2007–present	Succeeded by: (current)
Preceded by: Birmingham Fire Station No. 22	3114 Clairmont Avenue 2012–present	Succeeded by: (current)

References

• Angell, Glory Clark (1983) Birmingham Inside Out. Birmingham
• Kemp, Kathy (March 19, 2000) "Bogue's 'Grouch' retiring after three decades behind counter." Birmingham News
• O'Hara, Jo Ellen (August 11, 2007) "New Bogue's opens in Homewood." Birmingham News.
• Crider, Deeana (January 18, 2008) "There's a new Bogue's." Birmingham News.
• Cooper, Lauren B. (April 23, 2010) "City searching for development ideas for firehouse in Lakeview district." Birmingham Business Journal
• Erdreich, Jeremy (April 28, 2010) "4-Alarm Shock". Bhamarchitect's Blog
• Bryant, Joseph D. (May 11, 2010) "Bogue's, fire station could be razed in Walgreens project." Birmingham News
• DeButts, Jimmy (May 28, 2010) "Bogue's gets hit with $130,000 tax bill." Birmingham Business Journal
• Hubbard, Russell (February 12, 2011) "City says Bogue's owes $157,000 in back taxes." Birmingham News