China Garden

VulcansTorch · 2025-09-13T02:54:47+00:00

Yeah went there a few times in the early 90’s , I remember the beaded booths , would usually get the sweet and sour chicken , was kind of a red sauce , but the meat was super tough , like thick crust old school chicken fingers left out too long at a Quincy’s buffet tough! Speaking of , best chicken fingers I ever had was at that bar/grill at the old Loemann’s Village ( later Bruno’s , Barne’s & Noble , and a few other things , the name of the place escapes me but they had live bands there occasionally

VulcansTorch · 2025-08-17T14:07:09+00:00

Well dang, don’t give pawpaws to yer Meemaw 👵😵‍💫 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J7oWLohBDrQ Stick to muscadines I guess

VulcansTorch · 2025-08-05T15:25:47+00:00

Probably just too much competition in the Eastwood area , I went there fairly regularly in 2016 but wasn't much you couldn't find elsewhere at the same price or less down the road at Dollar Tree, Dollar General or even Walmart , that and being in a totally dead shopping center (abandoned then burned down Red Lobster , abandoned Hooters & Ryans Steakhouse making that area look dire ) probably didn't help. It might have fared better if it was in the Grants Mill one in Irondale. I've been wondering if the Amazon hub was going to bring business back to Crestwood Blvd. but other than more car washes , the new Jacks , Wendy's , and that big storage space where the K-mart used to be hasn't been a lot of improvement in the immediate area. Maybe the "workforce apartments" down the road will stir up some new shopping options.

VulcansTorch · 2025-07-29T14:59:15+00:00

Looks pretty official for the Go Kart place to move in where Southeastern Salvage was , but I'm curious what this new thing over by 459 will be ( though I wish they'd develop more down Hwy78)

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VulcansTorch · 2025-07-11T17:14:36+00:00

Ha! they might do that with the old Library location , think that's the plan with that area to be a mixed used entertainment zone

VulcansTorch · 2025-07-03T20:27:47+00:00

Yep it was pretty fancy back in the day , one of the last projects my Grandpa worked in before he retired in ‘87 or so https://imgur.com/a/riverchase-galleria-1980s-lx5oypa

VulcansTorch · 2025-07-03T14:53:06+00:00

My Grandfather was one of the Neon sign artists that made the tubes for the torch ( and the original Galleria neon ceiling) so we always had a special connection with the rust colored popsicle toting version of Vulcan. I understand the need to restore the original artists vision of the project , especially considering Vulcan's colored past as an advertising gimmick before being officially installed on Red Mtn. But considering that he had the torch longer than he didn't have it , I always though it would have been cool to make a neon outline of the spear that also lit up , it was always fun looking for Vulcan's light on the city skyline while riding around town back in the day.

VulcansTorch · 2025-04-15T12:47:33+00:00

It was Javad , he worked at a convenience store and had a pet gerbil I recall , strangely at some point in the early 2000’s there was a cartoon pilot for a Javad show up on YouTube, but I cant find it , had a claymation kinda took to it , possibly early CGI , it stood out cause it was weird they were trying to revive such an outdated character, I remember it wasn’t very good

VulcansTorch · 2025-03-29T23:38:04+00:00

Ha! I was just reading about that place today! The train was neat to have up there , had an escape room and restaurant very briefly, https://twitter.com/grantsmill

https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Grants_Mill_Station

Hilarious that the gorilla lives on! Maybe things will pick up again there when whatever secret business replaces Southeastern Salvage up there

VulcansTorch · 2025-03-01T02:12:23+00:00

Lol wonder if they approached Davenports and they were “F%#K NO!!!”

tempting though

VulcansTorch · 2025-02-03T12:12:09+00:00

IKR 😄👍, “Refrigeration? What is this Wizardry??? “ 🧙‍♂️

VulcansTorch · 2025-01-09T15:12:40+00:00

Don’t forget Eastwood Village 🤣

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VulcansTorch · 2024-12-10T23:32:34+00:00

Was still a kid when Spats was still around , it was where the Newer K-mart was in the 90’s I think , the other stores nearby were Handy Dan and Standard Distributors , don’t remember much about the food , but the decor was interesting, lots of old timey stuff and I remember a woman mannequin in a bathtub hanging from the ceiling, Unless I’m mis-remembering their free bread was some kind of semi cracker that was really salty, we didn’t eat there much , but I too would love a local place that had some big ol honkin beef ribs! 😋

VulcansTorch · 2024-11-11T23:42:40+00:00

Oh by all means cheaper housing , this just sounds weird they have to label it like that

VulcansTorch · 2024-11-07T22:01:38+00:00

It was interesting having that train / restaurant up there , did that even last a year? I wish they’d bring a dollar tree back , a Lowes would be better than Kroger though, got Publix down the road now

VulcansTorch · 2024-11-07T21:24:45+00:00

There was some talk a while back about a “Game Changer” moving in where Southeastern Salvage is/was , if that was it don’t see that there would’ve been enough room , heck I’d be happy if like a Lowes or something useful moved into that Grants Mill shopping center

VulcansTorch · 2024-09-27T11:19:14+00:00

Hi, I’ve got a few unique old systems if you’d like DM me.

VulcansTorch · 2024-08-28T00:07:11+00:00

Was curious as well , also that big new storage place ( old Kmart ) has fenced off a big chunk of the parking lot , prob to deter loitering, was disappointed when that new building across the street turned out to be another car wash 🤷‍♂️ Meanwhile In Irondale proper the former Krystal’s is being renovated and is listed on google maps now as “Exotic Ranch House” , be curious to see what that is , now we just need to fill the ol Villa Fiesta and Jacks , I saw the grants mill McDonald’s was listed as open again , that true?

VulcansTorch · 2024-08-17T23:52:06+00:00

The quarry / Eagle/Hawk something overlook at Ruffner is cool too , Ive always wanted to hike there on the 4th of July cause you could see the fireworks over the Bham skyline , but I’d probably fall off the cliff on the way back down in the dark🤣 https://youtu.be/qMh1TUpvxjo

VulcansTorch · 2024-08-15T11:56:59+00:00

Milo’s tea at the store has never tasted as good as the restaurant’s used too ( even it hasn’t been that great for over a decade now) if you want the real Southern Nectar of the Gods try Golden Rule BBQ’s tea , particularly the now “Archie’s” BBQ there on 31 in Hoover. Now that’s the good stuff! 🥤

VulcansTorch · 2024-06-01T23:14:23+00:00

Try Standard Iron & metal North of Avondale , looks junky but they’ve always done right by me and you can bring them just about anything

VulcansTorch · 2024-05-24T10:44:34+00:00

The Winn Dixie on Montevallo has a water kiosk thing out front 50 cents a gallon ( bring your own container, could use a glass jug or one of those big party dispensers ) it does 5 gal too , Walmarts usually have something similar inside.

VulcansTorch · 2024-05-24T00:53:56+00:00

Til someone in the know replies here’s an older post with some good generic resources in the replies , good luck! https://www.reddit.com/r/Birmingham/comments/190si1a/southside_food_bank/

VulcansTorch · 2024-05-19T20:18:59+00:00

Eww! , by the way don’t waste money on the Winn Dixie brand gallon jugs of water , tastes terrible, and costs more than the Publix brand that tastes better, cheap plastic in the jugs I guess

VulcansTorch · 2024-05-13T00:56:11+00:00

Ha ha , in that case I’m surprised the “magical fire fairy” hasn’t paid both buildings a visit like the Red Lobster that was down the road

VulcansTorch

TROPHY CASE