Wooden City (Nathan Watson / Bham Now) — Wooden City welcomed its first guests in the new Birmingham location on Tuesday, February 4. (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

The Magic City’s newest restaurant is open for business! On February 4, the owners of Wooden City held a soft opening for the new restaurant on Morris Avenue, and Bham Now was invited along for a first look.

Wooden City Birmingham is now open on Morris Avenue

A little over a year ago, I was out for a midday walk on Morris Avenue when I ran into Eddie Gulberg. We struck up a conversation, and he told me that he had temporarily moved to Birmingham to build out a new restaurant—just a few doors down from Bham Now’s office.

The new restaurant was called Wooden City, and it’s the fifth such restaurant opened by a trio of business partners from Tacoma, Washington: chef Jon Green, restauranteur Abe Fox and design/builder Eddie Gulberg.

Over the past year, I’ve watched day-by-day as Wooden City Birmingham has come to life—and now it’s finally open.

“We’re so excited to finally get the doors open and be a small part of this amazing food scene in Birmingham.

We’ve seen how supportive the community is here and are looking forward sharing our take on restaurants and hospitality!”
Abe Fox, Co-Founder, Wooden City

Here’s what we ordered at Wooden City (and what you should order, too)

Once I’ve found what I like at a restaurant, I usually stick to that—heck, I order the same Spicy Chicken Sandwich meal nearly every time I visit Chick-fil-A. But at a completely new restaurant, one is forced to make bold decisions.

After a round of appetizers—including Wooden City’s famed Blistered Hungarian Peppers (definitely order these)—I ordered the Bacon Pesto pizza. Cooked in a wood fired pizza oven, this pie features white sauce, mozzarella cheese, gorgonzola, red onion and bacon drizzled with aged balsamic. While I’d typically spring for a “safe” order, I’m glad I experimented—the Bacon Pesto was tasty!

As delicious as the Bacon Pesto pizza was, I was having second thoughts when they brought out the Tavern Burger for Bham Now’er Jacob Blankenship. With all your favorite burger toppings plus a special sauce—piled between a local Hero brioche burger bun—this is definitely a burger I’m coming back for.

Finally, my best friend and seafood expert Cameron Handley—who’s been known to down three pounds of crawfish in one sitting—ordered the Peel ‘n’ Eat Shrimp. As you can tell by the smile, he was a happy customer.

Wooden City is celebrating its grand opening on February 5

If you’re looking for a new dinner spot or after-work hang, check out Birmingham’s newest restaurant on Morris Avenue.

According to General Manager Dane Cramer, Wooden City will be open seven days a week: 5PM to 10PM on weekdays and 5PM to 11PM on weekends, with plans to expand hours as needed in the future.

Street parking is available nearby, and Wooden City offers validated parking in the BPA Morris Ave Lot 2 behind the restaurant.