Cobb Lane Restaurant
Cobb Lane Restaurant was a fine-dining restaurant located at 1 Cobb Lane in Southside.
The restaurant, which featured Southern cuisine, was founded in 1948 by Virginia Cobb. It quickly became popular for its large shaded courtyard and quaint interior dining areas, as well as for its she-crab soup, chicken supreme and other signature dishes. The interior accommodated 100 diners, with another 80 in the courtyard. The street was renamed in Cobb's honor in 1982. Cobb passed away in 1987.
Tim Kreider took over ownership about 1997. He kept head chef Ovetta Rowe, but reduced the kitchen's operating hours to lunch only. Mike Ragsdale purchased it from him in 2004 and resumed evening hours and Sunday brunches, adding special cocktails to the menu and booking live jazz entertainers.
Ragsdale envisioned making Cobb Lane Restaurant the centerpiece of a chain of Southern-food restaurants, but instead sold the business to chef Jeff Stykowski. After months of slow business beginning in 2008, Stykowski was forced to close the restaurant on January 31, 2009.
References
- Mahoney, Ryan (May 21, 2004) "New owner will revive Southside's Cobb Lane." Birmingham Business Journal
- O'Hara, Jo Ellen (January 11, 2008) "Birmingham's Cobb Lane Restaurant marks 60th anniversary with wine dinner." Birmingham News
- Carlton, Bob (January 23, 2009) "Cobb Lane Restaurant to close at the end of the month, owner says." Birmingham News
External Links
- Last day at Cobb Lane Restaurant photo set by Brooks Brown at Flickr