For more than forty years, the building which now houses The Filling Station Pizza Cafe & Bar in the Crestwood neighborhood of Birmingham, was a full-service gas station – the kind where they actually pumped your gas for you and cleaned your windshield.
Starting in 2015, the chef and his staff at The Filling Station now pump out a broad range of appetizers, handmade pizzas and calzones, pasta dishes and sandwiches that are sure to satisfy any craving you have. The old service bays are now filled with tables and a bar. Behind the bar is an intricate system of taps that deliver cold locally and internationally brewed beers without any temperature loss from the keg.
The Filling Station is perfect to visit anytime of the year, but when the weather is mild, the garage doors are open and patrons enjoy the expansive patio.
Sports fans appreciate the multitude of HDTV screens to keep them in tune with their favorite teams. In case you are the nostalgic type, there is even a vintage gas station pump—but the only fuel you get here now is the fantastic food, fine drinks and fun folks.
Slice Pizza & Brew has become a Birmingham staple since it’s original location opened in the Lakeview District. Started by brothers, Jeff, Chris and Jason Bajalieh, Slice is as local as you can get, from the owners to the ingredients that go into every pizza to the beer on tap. Slice originated as a place not just to eat, but to hang out and has held true to this sentiment with the opening of the second Slice Pizza & Brew in Vestavia Hills across from Lifetime Fitness.
No matter who you are or where you’re from, you’ll love the food and atmosphere at this local favorite amongst the movers and shakers of Birmingham. Come enjoy the best pizza in Birmingham! For more information on Slice or their two locations, please visit slicebirmingham.com.
Slice Lakeview 725 29th Street S Birmingham, AL 35233 205.715.9300
Slice Vestavia 304 Timberlake Drive Vestavia Hills, AL 35243 205.557.5423
slicebirmingham.com @SliceBirmingham @BirminghamSlice @SlicePizzaBham
Visit Margaronas Cantina in Homewood, Alabama. Serving traditional and authentic Mexican dishes, Margaronas Cantina has quickly become a stand-out among locals. The modern atmosphere pays tribute to Mexico with a heightened level of comfort and sophistication. Enjoy dining inside or out on the covered patio. The full bar offers the finest tequilas and all of your other favorite spirits. The owners and staff will greet you at the door and ensure your experience is the very best in Birmingham.
HOURS OF OPERATION: Sunday – Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday – Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Have you considered how exquisite a motorcycle is in its styling, mechanics, and capabilities? Their artistry is what Birmingham native George Barber saw when he began collecting motorcycles in 1988. Six years later, he established the Barber Museum as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Today, it is home to the largest collection of motorcycles in the world.
With outstanding reviews and consistently high praise from customers, Baja California Cantina and Grill in Hoover should be on the top of your list for the best Tex-Mex cuisine, delicious drinks with your favorite spirits and impeccable service.
Baja California Cantina and Grill is open seven days a week and conveniently located to all hotels in the Hoover, Vestavia Hills and Bessemer areas.
Catch live music performances by following them on Facebook.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Sunday – Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Thursday – Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Welcome to your mountain lodge getaway. Here at Twin Peaks, we offer everything you crave and more: hearty made-from-scratch comfort food, draft beer served at a teeth-chattering 29 degrees and all the best sports on TV shown on high-definition flat screens. All of this is served by our friendly and attentive Twin Peaks Girls, offering their signature “Girl Next Door” charisma and playful personalities to ensure that your adventure happens at the Peaks. We’re your Ultimate Sports Lodge – Game on!
If diversity were a place, it would be Birmingham. People who visit here get a taste of that variety—in entertainment, cuisine, the arts, nightlife, the great outdoors—that brings them back time and again.
Birmingham was born out of iron and steel. Remnants of these early beginnings are preserved in places such as Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. The city is also well-known for its prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. A visit to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute gives visitors an in-depth look at that important era.
The area’s antique shops are becoming places of legend in upscale lifestyle magazines around the country. Trendy malls have taken root all over the area, bringing tony, high-end shops to the state’s retail giant. Dozens of new art galleries surprise enthusiasts and collectors with a wide variety of paintings, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, fine and funk art.
Should you have us pigeonholed as serving only barbeque and fried pies, just remember that Birmingham is home to “the Oscars of dining” with James Beard Foundation Award winners and nominees. Anyone visiting the city should take in the beauty of down-home cooking as well. And visitors with an appetite for live music will find that it is the city’s signature entertainment.
So it is diversity that is this city’s greatest strength and strongest appeal. We are a spectrum of attitudes and cultures that are all a part of the charm and intrigue that is Birmingham.
Voted Best Restaurant, Best Chef and the recipient of AAA Four Diamond Award for the past twelve years, Ocean offers fresh seafood in an exciting and contemporary atmosphere. The bold seafood menu at Ocean ma restaurant a premier location for fine dining in Birmingham. Ocean is widely known as one of the city’s crown jewels as accolades have been heaped on the restaurant, chef and owner George Reis and on the restaurant’s fine wine offerings.
Many patrons stop by for a signature martini at the newly renovated white marble-topped bar. The beautiful environment, paired with one of Ocean’s signature cocktails, is a perfect way to start the night. Other locals head straight to the Raw Bar for seafood offerings not found anywhere else in the city. From the imposing Seafood Tower that showcases most of the Raw Bar’s offerings to the various oysters, lobster, crab legs and mussels served at the bar, it is a wonderful taste of what Ocean has in store.
The casual atmosphere of the patio dining area is perfect for a low-key night out with friends or entertain- ing clients, but be sure to sample the award-winning and recently restyled dining experience inside as well. Any seafood lover is certain to find their favorite on the menu, whether it be shrimp or one of the restaurant’s whole fish offerings, which changes daily.
For those who aren’t in a seafood mood, Reis offers a cooked-to-perfection Hereford filet mignon as well as a number of salads and desserts that will satisfy any craving.
Tuesday-Saturday: 5:30-10:30 p.m.
Located in the historic Five Points South area, Ocean is at the center of the city’s entertainment and culinary center.
Reservations are encouraged and there’s ample seating at the bar.
ABOUT NORTH ALABAMA
North Alabama, also known as the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, formed in 1964 with the express purpose of developing North Alabama’s travel industry and marketing the region to the traveling public. We now serve sixteen counties with an ever-expanding membership base representing progressive travel-regulated businesses and associations as well as various levels of government. Our hope is to expand on, and not duplicate, the objectives or efforts of local associations and organizations that represent specific industry components. We all prosper by working together in a unified effort to promote the sixteen-county region’s natural, historic and man-made attractions.
DOWNLOAD THESE APPS: 
NORTH ALABAMA ROAD TRIPS 
NORTH ALABAMA BBQ TRAIL
To join us as a member, you must be located within our 16 counties. If you have questions please email Sandra@northalabama.org.
This is definitely not what an antiques store used to be. Located in the City of Birmingham’s hip and cool Crestwood neighborhood, Urban Suburban showcases the collections of more than 60 not-so-traditional antiques dealers and vendors of vintage items. Ecclectic, creative and re-purposed are among the adjectives describing this “must visit” store. Designated “Best Antiques Store” by two local publications’ reader’s polls in 2012. 5514 Crestwood Boulevard, urbansuburbanantiques.com, 205.592.0777
