Michael's
- This article is about the steakhouse chain. For the craft store chain, see Michaels.
Michael's Restaurant, also called Michael's Steaks & Seafood is a steakhouse located at 1525 1st Avenue South, inside the Negro Southern League Museum adjacent to Regions Field in Birmingham's Parkside District.
Original chain
The business was founded in 1953 at the Holiday Inn on Bessemer Super Highway by restaurateur Michael Matsos, originally as a second location for the well-known La Paree steakhouse which he operated with Bill Demoes at 2013 5th Avenue North.
Matsos soon changed the name to Michael's Sirloin Room. In 1958 he opened a larger location in "The Strip" at 431 20th Street South, opposite the Parliament House hotel. Connie Kanakis joined Matsos as a partner in the flagship restaurant.
The menu, developed by executive chef William Orr, featured charcoal-seared steer butt steaks along with shish kabobs and other staples. The restaurant was the first in Birmingham to be awarded three stars from the Mobil Travel Guide. Michael's hosted numerous luminaries in its heyday including Bob Hope, Arnold Palmer and Yogi Berra. The walls were decorated with sports memorabilia and photographs. Michael's was a favorite of Bear Bryant, who would sometimes bring the whole football team to the restaurant.
Matsos partnered with Birmingham real estate developer C. R. Dudley to place Michael's steak houses in newly-opened Holiday Inn locations in Huntsville and Madison. In 1961 Matsos invested with Dudley as co-owner of a Holiday Inn and Michael's restaurant in St Petersburg, Florida.
A fifth location, called Michael's-in-the-Mall opened in October 1960 at Eastwood Mall. A special "Hawaiian Kabob" was created in honor of the new location. That restaurant was converted to the Holland House before July 1961. Another restaurant, Michael's Ship Ahoy was located at 401 Valley Avenue.
The Holiday Inn locations closed in time, and Matsos and Kanakis sold the remaining downtown restaurant in 1984. It continued under new owners before finally closing in 1992.
2000s revival
In 2004 the Michael's name was revived in a joint-venture between Golden Rule Bar-B-Q, which Matsos had purchased in 1970, and investor Rusty Creel.
The first new restaurant to carry the Michael's name was the $2.5 million, 6,400 square-foot Michael's Golden Rule Bar-B-Q at The Village at Lee Branch near Greystone on U.S. Highway 280. In August 2006 a new Michael's Steaks and Seafood opened at the former R. J. Gator's location at the Riverchase Galleria. On December 31, 2006, the Lee Branch restaurant closed so the company could concentrate on the Galleria location. In September 2009 Matsos sold 15 of his 19 Golden Rule locations to Jeff Miller.
In 2009 Michael's opened a restaurant at the Aloft Birmingham SoHo Square hotel in Homewood. That restaurant featured live jazz on weekend evenings and during a Sunday brunch buffet. The Michael's & More catering company operated from its kitchen, and served Aloft's banquet rooms. Additional Michael's locations were then in development for hotels in Huntsville, Nashville and Atlanta. The company was also in talks with Starwood Hotels, Carlson Hotels and a Destin, Florida development.
In August 2012 the Galleria Michael's closed to make way for a second location for La Paz Mexican restaurant.
In 2016 Bernadette Birdsong partnered with her mother, Amelia Williams, and son, Coleridge Tillman to buy the sole remaining Michael's Restaurant in Homewood from Matsos. In 2018 Birdsong signed a 10-year lease to move the business into the Negro Southern League Museum. Those plans were delayed by construction issues and the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The restaurant opened for take-out and delivery, with limited dining service, on August 3, 2020. The location includes a rooftop lounge area, which is named "Bar Sebastian" after Tillman's stage name, Sebastian Kole.
Beginning in 2020, Michael's became the first Birmingham restaurant to feature "Bo Jackson’s 34 Reserve"-branded steaks, packaged by Two Rivers Distributors of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota and marketed through Bo Jackson's Naperville, Illinois-based business, VEJ Holdings LLC.
Locations
- Holiday Inn on Bessemer Super Highway, 1953–
- 431 20th Street South in "The Strip", 1958–1992
- "Michael's-in-the-Mall" at Eastwood Mall, 1960–1961
- "Michael's Ship Ahoy", 401 Valley Avenue,
- "Michael's Golden Rule Bar-B-Q" at The Village at Lee Branch, 2004–2006
- "Michael's Steaks and Seafood" at the Riverchase Galleria, 2006–2012
- Aloft Birmingham SoHo Square, 2009–2019
- Negro Southern League Museum in the Parkside District, 2020–
References
- "For M. C. Matsos, Loan on Old Car Lead to Success." [sic] (February 19, 1961) St Petersburg Evening Independent
- Wilkinson, Kaija (July 14, 2006) "Michael's Steaks and Seafood comes to Galleria." Birmingham Business Journal
- Williams, Roy L. (December 3, 2004) "Michael's bringing back steaks, adding barbecue." The Birmingham News
- Angell, Glory Clark (1983) Birmingham Inside Out. Birmingham: self published.
- Williams, Roy L. (January 23, 2007) "Business brief." The Birmingham News
- Williams, Roy L. (November 17, 2009) "Michael's checks into Homewood's new Aloft." The Birmingham News
- Williams, Roy L. (September 1, 2012) "Michael's steakhouse in Hoover closes to make way for Mexican restaurant." The Birmingham News
- Edgemon, Erin (June 22, 2018) "Restaurant gets $1.5 million in incentives to open in Birmingham Negro Southern League Museum." The Birmingham News
- Byington, Pat (July 31, 2020) "Michael’s Restaurant is back in Birmingham where it belongs." Bham Now
- Franklin, Art (August 3, 2020) "Michael’s Restaurant returns to Birmingham." cbs42.com
- Stuart, Shauna (August 5, 2020) "Go inside the reopened Michael’s Restaurant in downtown Birmingham." The Birmingham News
External link
- Michael's website