Parkside Cafe
Parkside Cafe is a bar located at at 4036 5th Avenue South across from Avondale Park in the former location of Parkside Home & Garden in the Avondale Marble Works building.
The cafe was opened on December 31, 2009 by Michael Dykes and Neil Kirkpatrick. Later Robert Bagwell bought a share of the business.
In May 2014 the HotBox food vendor set up a location in the courtyard behind the bar.
In June 2020 Dykes expressed disgust with the ongoing protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, which had escalated in downtown Birmingham into a rash of vandalism that led the city to enact an emergency curfew. His messages to employees of the bar, in which he characterized Floyd as a "thug", led at least three to resign. One worker shared the messages on social media, eliciting a wave of disapproval and calls for a boycott. In explaining himself to AL.com, Dykes apologized for his comments and explained that his opinion of Floyd was shaped by a Facebook video created by Black political activist Candace Owens.
After learning of the mention, Owens launched a GoFundMe drive in support of Parkside, describing the business as being under threat from "mob rule". Her campaign raised more than $200,000 before GoFundMe suspended her account for violating the platform's terms of service. GoFundMe said that anyone who wanted to withdraw a pledge would be able to without penalty, and that the remaining funds would be turned over to Parkside under an agreement for how they would be used. Meanwhile a separate GoFundMe campaign, launched by Joseph Phelps, aimed to raise money in the names of the former Parkside employees and in support of Black Lives Matter.
The bar closed in 2021. Building owner Tim Burt remodeled and opened Parkside on Fifth in the same location in April 2022.
Gallery
Entrance to Parkside Cafe, February 2011
References
- Velasco, Eric (October 7, 2015) "Hotbox takes bar food to a new level in an Airstream trailer located behind Parkside Cafe." The Birmingham News
- Colurso, Mary (June 6, 2020) "Birmingham bar in turmoil after owner slams George Floyd protests." The Birmingham News
- Colurso, Mary (June 7, 2020) "Parkside controversy spurs GoFundMe campaign for Black Lives Matter charity." The Birmingham News
External links
- Parkside Cafe on Facebook