The Fennec, a popular downtown gathering spot, is shifting away from its restaurant business to focus on its events and catering business moving forward. Read on to learn more.

The Fennec shifting focus to events + catering

Exterior of The Fennec venue at night, featuring a glowing vertical sign on a red-lit brick building with signage reading Live Music · Local Fare · Libations — (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

Founded in 2021, The Fennec is a one-of-a-kind restaurant, event space and live music venue located in the American Laundry Co. building in Birmingham’s Parkside district. Known for its happy hour deals and tasty game-day snacks, The Fennec is a popular hang-out—especially during football season.

Yesterday, The Fennec team announced on social media plans to close its full-service restaurant to focus on its events and catering business.

“The Fennec was born out of a love for live music and a desire to bring people together. From the beginning, that’s been at the heart of who we are, whether it’s for a concert, a wedding, a corporate event, a football watch party, or a private celebration. Now we’re taking that vision further. For live music, that means bringing in larger, national-caliber acts with a more curated and intimate concert experience. For events, it means a bigger canvas for the celebrations and moments that matter most. At the end of the day, The Fennec has always been about the people that fill it. We’re simply making more room and creating even more reasons for them to come together. Expanding our catering program will provide our community the opportunity to enjoy our delicious food offsite as well, and we’re very excited about that.”
Craft O’Neal, Owner, The Fennec

Beer being poured into a branded The Fennec pint glass reading "Live Music · Local Fare · Libations — (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

According to the post, this shift will allow The Fennec to:

Bring top-tier live music and entertainment to its stages
Expands its event offerings for weddings, corporate events and celebrations
Introduce an all-new sports experience program featuring watch parties, team celebrations and sports-themed private functions
Build a dedicated catering program

According to the announcement, The Fennec will be open for the World Cup’s U.S. games on Friday, June 12 and Friday, June 19 (READ: 12 places to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Birmingham this summer) and plans to announce its music acts, new concert series, future sports events programming + more soon.

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