The Mill
The Mill 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 the Five Points Grill, 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, part of a Huntsville-based casual restaurant chain 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 oversaw a $200,000 overhaul of the decor. 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 was sold back to the restaurant through a distributor to avoid the legal restrictions of Alabama's brewpub law.
The restaurant changed to a Tex-Mex menu under the name No Way José Café for a while before resuming operations as "The Mill" in 2010.
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
- Cooper, Lauren B. (March 5, 2010) "Ruby Tuesday on Southside closes after 16 years." Birmingham Business Journal
External link
- Five Points Grill website