The Mill

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The Mill was a casual restaurant located at 1035 20th Street South in Pickwick Plaza at Five Points South.

The restaurant, owned by neurosurgeon Cem Cezayirli, first opened in 1990 as The 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 to the 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 designed a new 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. The restaurant closed once more in September of that year.

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
  • DIel, Stan (September 18, 2010) "The Mill restaurant closes doors in Birmingham's Five Points South." Birmingham News
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