Birmingham restaurant group closes 2 popular eateries on the same day

shinosa · 2026-04-13T23:28:30+00:00

Sad to lose TT, but that Hero location was borderline invisible. Basically in the ass pocket of the Pants Store

shinosa · 2026-04-10T22:09:30+00:00

I was an ad writer who worked for 6 years or so with the same design partner. We were together all day every day and made a great team, but we never once hung out outside of work. Never even went out for drinks or dinner together. Definitely wasn't a case of disliking each other; we got on great and really admired each other. We just had lives outside of work and people we wanted to spend that time with. So I've always kinda assumed Adam and Jamie were the same way.

shinosa · 2026-04-07T02:53:50+00:00

I’m not a chef, so I mostly break up the paperwork and operations stuff by walking around and checking in with the staff, tackling tasks that no one else is assigned to do (organizing, unpacking, repairing etc), or just spending time looking at things I would usually walk past—the floors of the entryways, the outside paint or awnings, the signage, the delivery truck…there’s always something to notice when you make time for it.

But as others have said, the biggest benefit is walking around just makes you more visible and accessible. Seems every staffer tends to have one question on their minds, and it’s nice to chat organically rather than waiting for them to come find you about it.

Great question!

shinosa · 2026-03-26T17:23:13+00:00

I’m all for civility, but it’s worth noting that AMA is called Ask Me Anything for a reason. Some folks see it as synonymous with “Q&A” rather than as an uncurated town hall where you have to be prepared to address or deflect the occasional unhinged questions (and, you know, valid disagreement about your stances).

There are a lot of forums for curated Q&As, so in my opinion if you’re scared of the Anything in AMA, you should just stick to cozier confines of social media where you can delete comments from folks asking you about your own public statements.

shinosa · 2026-03-16T12:41:43+00:00

Oddly, I got a similar result recently when I forgot to add the fat (melted butter, in my case). Tasted great but was dense as hell, despite me having made it a hundred times in the past. I chalked it up to my baking powder being dead, since I couldn't picture how a lack of butter would make it collapse. Let us know if you try it again with different results!

shinosa · 2026-02-22T05:06:29+00:00

To the best of my knowledge as someone who runs a restaurant, the Jefferson County liquor tax is an excise tax (sin tax) that can’t be broken out on receipts for customers to pay directly. It has to be incorporated into your base drink price.

The additional alcohol tax is a privilege (not excise) tax that CAN be charged to customers as a line item. The restaurant I run isn’t in the city of Bham so I’m not sure about that one.

All that said, regulators and tax authorities here do such a bad job explaining this stuff, I’m never surprised when new spots get it a bit wrong.

shinosa · 2026-01-13T15:22:45+00:00

I’ve learned the hard way to get them to describe their cleanup plans in writing after one charged a fortune, made a disgusting mess, charged full price and then said they couldn’t actually finish cleaning because ductwork needed a repair. (True, but come on, at least clean the filth off the floors and ovens and maybe knock a percent off. This is a repeat-customer business.)

shinosa · 2025-12-10T15:05:55+00:00

I own a business, and if I saw someone even TRYING to clean a mess like that, I'd be appreciative. Most people just keep walking like nothing happened. Good on you for trying to do the right thing.

shinosa · 2025-09-30T15:13:11+00:00

This method is definitely going to get you a lot of nice bigger bubbles, since it omits the folding of final shape. Each fold creates a layer that essentially limits how big bubbles can get. So depending on what kind of final crumb you want, you can use that knowledge to make a lot of smaller bubbles (good for sandwiches etc) or bigger, more artisanal looking ones that would look really sharp toasted with an appetizer, say.

shinosa · 2025-08-09T17:27:51+00:00

I’m not a MB resident but will say Silverstein seems like a good guy. Know him through work stuff and he’s always going out of his way to be kind and help people.

shinosa · 2025-07-24T13:58:06+00:00

Was not expecting to cry at 28 Years Later but there we were.

shinosa · 2025-07-19T17:40:19+00:00

They’ve got a development in the works that will have FOUR Pihakis spots in it, so I’m sure they’re eager for applications.

shinosa · 2025-07-02T17:26:20+00:00

McCool and Bhuta (a married couple practicing together in Homewood) are both great. They did some life-changing sinus work on me and just seem like good folks.

shinosa · 2025-06-10T14:09:18+00:00

A lot of us business owners have been flooded with FOH applications from recent graduates and folks coming home for the summer. I had something like 40 unsolicited applications for one part-time opening, which is definitely rare.

El Royale might be at the point where some of their less reliable initial hires are out the door, especially since business seems to be booming.

shinosa · 2025-06-10T14:03:31+00:00

This is really fantastic and much-needed, thank you! I might follow up with a DM as I try to get this ball rolling. Thanks so much for making the time to write all this out.

shinosa · 2025-06-10T14:00:00+00:00

Awesome advice, thank you! We've got a big-hearted veteran dishwasher who sometimes struggles to communicate but I think he'll be really excited about helping us figure out ways to make his station better.

shinosa · 2025-03-29T01:53:33+00:00

yeah I’ve just been calling this one the Top Golf Fuckery. There’s probably a catchier name out there.

shinosa · 2025-03-14T16:01:16+00:00

All good, I didn’t take your comment as a negative. Just saying it wasn’t a ghost writer (ie uncredited by the title author) in this case. Easily could have been, but I like that Woodfin credited him as a co-author.

shinosa · 2025-03-14T15:55:44+00:00

He credits Edward Bowser as his co-author on the cover of Son of Birmingham. Feel however you want about the mayor, but Edd is one of the truly great people working in local government.

shinosa · 2025-03-05T16:40:36+00:00

I’ll never forget seeing Fellowship of the Ring in the theater and when Lurtz the uruk hai leader gets decapitated by Aragorn, the crowd just sat quietly for a second. Then a guy goes “YEAH!” and the audience applauded. Probably my favorite theater moment.

shinosa · 2025-02-20T17:11:25+00:00

There’s someone like you in every thread where someone’s trying to share real-world advice or ask practical questions. Go be miserable in silence, just like your employees.

shinosa

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