Bham’s Automatic Seafood and Oysters named James Beard Finalist for Best New Restaurant in U.S.

Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Birmingham’s Lakeview District has been named a James Beard Award Finalist for the best new restaurant in the U.S. category.

According to the James Beard Foundation, the category of best new restaurant recognizes a restaurant opened in 2019 and that ″already demonstrates excellence in cuisine and hospitality, and that is likely to make a significant impact in years to come.

Muscle Shoals Native

A native of Muscle Shoals and Auburn University graduate, Automatic Seafood is Chef Adam Evans’ first restaurant in Birmingham. Before he arrived in the Magic City, he gained national attention with his seafood dishes at The Optimist, an Atlanta based restaurant when it won Esquire’s Restaurant of the Year and Bon Appétit’s Top Ten Best New Restaurants. Chef Evans also opened Atlanta’s Brezza Cucina with Chef Jonathan Waxman in 2015.

Opened in April 2019, Automatic Seafood has already notched a couple of best new restaurant honors in its inaugural year. In November, it was named by both Esquire Magazine and Thillist as one of the best new restaurants in America. 

We called it

I’ve got to say, here at Bham Now, we foreshadowed Automatic Seafood and Oysters greatness when our own Christine Hull wrote 5 things to know about Automatic Seafood & Oysters opening April 1 in Lakeview.

And the Envelope Please

Called the Oscars of the culinary world, the James Beard Awards will be presented on September 25, 2020.  Normally given out in the Spring, this year’s event was postponed because of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Will Birmingham make history again? In 2018, Frank Stitt’s Highlands Bar and Grill was named the most outstanding restaurant in America. Highlands Dolester Miles also took home the honor as America’s best pastry chef that year. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if Automatic Seafood and Oysters joined their ranks as the nation’s best.