Bham Now’s most popular restaurant and food stories in 2017

Woodlawn High School Birmingham Alabama
Woodlawn High School urban farm leaders
What are Bham Now‘s most popular restaurant and food stories in 2017?

With only 3 days left in 2017, Bham Now surveyed the number of visits to our website, Facebook and Twitter to determine which stories interested you, our readers the most.
The answer: A sports bar, food trucks, cajun food, school gardens and the legendary Frank Stitt.
Birmingham Alabama
Bottega – Photo by Pat Byington
Food and Wine Magazine moves to Birmingham
Let’s start with not only the most popular, but most significant story that impacted the culinary movement in Birmingham, the re-location of Food and Wine Magazine from New York to Birmingham.

On June 23, the New York Times broke the story about Food and Wine moving to the Magic City. Bham Now wrote three stories that monumental week about the national implications of a prestigious magazine going to the Bham.

Food and Wine is moving from New York to Birmingham

Frank Stitt and others react to Food and Wine’s move to Birmingham

“We have clearly arrived” – @Foodimentary’s John-Bryan Hopkins on Food & Wine move

Birmingham Alabama
Food and Wine Magazine

Frank Stitt, the owner of Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega and Chez Fonfon summed up the importance  of the re-location to Birmingham’s food movement when he stated:

Food and Wine is one of America’s most influential magazines and their move here cements Birmingham as a food and wine destination. With Hunter Lewis at the helm, this gives us an opportunity to shine on a much larger stage. It will be great to have the media leaders of both coasts coming through and thinking of Birmingham.”

Woodlawn High School’s Urban Farm

Bham Now’s second most popular story was about the highly successful Woodlawn High School Urban Farm. The story titled – Woodlawn High School Urban Farm “school-grown” vegetables on sale every Tuesday in May (photos) had the most visits on the Bham Now website from January to May.

Birmingham AL
Woodlawn students selling produce from their school farm, which is part of a group of Jones Valley Teaching Farms

The inspirational story is about the partnership between Jones Valley Teaching Farm and Woodlawn High School. In just a couple of years, the program is operating a two acre  working farm,  state-of-the-art greenhouse, classroom, office, and produce processing and storage facilities.  They also sell the fresh produce weekly to the neighborhood.

Food truck mania
I Love Bacond Food Truck Coming to Birmingham AL
via I Love Bacon Food Truck

Stories about Food trucks in the Magic City continue to be very popular with Bham Now readers.  Two of our most “liked” stories on social media were about the new Food Truck Park downtown and the “I Love Bacon” Food Truck.

Birmingham Food Park – Grand Opening July 1!

“I Love Bacon” Food Truck  will debut in Birmingham

It is unscientific, but it seems Bham Now’s most popular food stories on social media always involve the words doughnuts, bacon and  tacos.

Pizitz Hall Food Hall “foodie heaven” opens
Birmingham Alabama
Pizitz Food Hall February 2017

Another major restaurant and food story in 2017 were the articles about the opening of the Pizitz Food Hall. The hall, which is across from the McWane Science Center, has one of the most diverse offering of restaurants in the region.  Bham Now captured the sights of the new food hall when photographer Larry O. Gay took photos of “foodie heaven” in February and  Bham Now did a staff “takeover” of the place back on March 30th.

Bham Now Pizitz Food Hall takeover

Bham Now photographer Larry O. Gay gives us a sneak peak inside “foodie heaven” – The Pizitz Food Hall

Everyone loves gumbo
Rougaroux house
The former Pink House cafe turned Rougaroux is now serving up cajun dishes to Forest Park

Rougaroux, formerly the little Pink House, a place where children participated in dance classes,  is now one of Birmingham’s hottest new restaurants.  Bham Now’s story about the new authentic cajun restaurant  went viral back in October.

Rougaroux is bringing Poboys to Birmingham: Forest Park’s newest and cutest restaurant

Dave and Busters – our lone  2018 story

And finally, Bham Now’s  most popular single post in 2017 was about Dave and Busters plan to open its first Alabama restaurant at the Riverchase Galleria in the summer of 2018.  The sports bar/arcade is trendy primarily in the North.  It looks like their reputation has made down to the South with that particular story garnering over 100,000 page views.

Dave & Buster's logo
via Dave & Buster’s

Dave & Buster’s is coming to Hoover summer of 2018

Were these your favorite Bham Now Restaurant and food stories in 2017?
Tell us your favorites.  Email us at hello@bhamnow.com
Pat Byington
Pat Byington

Longtime conservationist. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards.

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