The Mill
The Five Points Grill is a casual restaurant located at 1035 20th Street South in Pickwick Plaza at Five Points South. The restaurant, owned by neurosurgeon Jim Cezayirli, first opened in 1990 as a 96-seat white-tablecloth bistro managed by Michael Cloth. Executive chef Ron Koetter produced a mild New Orleans-style menu with signature dishes like muscadine chicken with watermelon sauce and crawfish fettucini as well as fresh grouper, salmon and amberjack entrees.
The restaurant soon was re-created as The Mill restaurant, brewery and bakery - a much more casual eatery with patio dining, pool tables, and draft beer produced at the neighboring Southside Cellar microbrewey. The brewery closed a few years later, and a few years after that a dispute between the owners led to the name being changed back to Five Points Grill.
In 2007 Cezayirli brought in former Cheesecake Factory manager Gary Nemet on as a partner to rejuvenate the restaurant. Nemet has overseen a $200,000 overhaul of the decor. New executive chef Doug Morgan overhauled the menu with the goal of providing "four star food at a three-star price". Nemet also arranged for the Good People Brewing Company to rekindle the former Southside Cellar brewing apparatus, producing a "house beer" which is sold back to the restaurant through a distributor to avoid the legal restrictions of Alabama's brewpub law.
References
- Williams, Roy L. (November 3, 2007) "Five Points Grill gets facelift, more traffic." Birmingham News
- Hayes, Jack (January 28, 1991) "Chef Koetter competes with the best at Five Points Grill." Nation's Restaurant News
External link
- Five Points Grill website