City Guide: Birmingham, AL

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Introducing the City Guide – a collaboration between the travel experts at Southern Sky Aviation and the style experts at Aviate.

We’ll be visiting different cities and providing quick, easy-to-follow itineraries that will take you to some of each city’s best spots as only an insider can.

Join us as we take you on a tour of Southern Sky Aviation’s and Aviate’s home city – BHM.

You’ve just hopped off your private charter at the Southern Sky Aviation hangar in Birmingham, Alabama. You only have a weekend to experience the best our city has to offer. Overwhelmed? Don’t be.

Our expert team has mapped out all our favorite spots in Birmingham to piece together this ultimate travel guide just for YOU.

Here’s our ideal itinerary…

Authentically Jewish and seriously delicious.

Since opening in early 2019, Mile End has been one of our favorite spots for casual eats. We highly recommend stopping here for their breakfast, brunch or lunch. Plus, they have an excellent selection of cocktails and beer as well.

Our favorite menu items? Anything that comes on their homemade bagels. And you can’t go wrong with an order of matzo ball soup to accompany one of their famous sandwiches (we’re partial to chicken schnitzel or pastrami).

After, walk off an indulgent lunch directly across the street at award-winning Railroad Park.

About Mile End

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Mile End Deli

The first Mile End Deli opened in Brooklyn in 2010 with a goal of sharing the classic Jewish comfort food. Using the founders’ grandmothers’ time-honored recipes as the foundation, each location offersupdated traditional dishes, fresh ingredients and from-scratch cooking techniques. The restaurant is a combination of a Jewish delicatessen and a Canadian-style restaurant, modeled after delis found in Montreal’s famous Mile End neighborhood.

1701 1st Ave. S, Suite 135
Birmingham, AL 35233

Open 7 days/week: 8a – 9p
HAPPY HOUR: MON-FRI 4PM – 9PM

More to Explore

A unique spot for the home and garden.

Next we headed over to Shoppe to spend some time enjoying the beautiful, sunny summer day.

Tucked in the historic Forest Park neighborhood among some of the city’s most elegant homes, you’ll find this sophisticated purveyor of garden goods. Filled with plants, garden supplies, accessories and books, it’s a must stop for one-of-a-kind odds and ends and local gifts.

Shoppe’s glass greenhouse is one of the best places to slow down and take in a deep breath of Alabama air and also one of the most Instagrammable spots in BHM, so we had to include it in the City Guide.

About Shoppe

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Shoppe

Focused more on quality than quantity, SHOPPE’s inventory is hand selected to excite the mind with each new season. (Rooted in classic design and grown through creative application.)

3815 Clairmont Ave.
Birmingham, AL 35222

205.224.4450

Hours*
9a – 6p       Monday – Saturday
12p – 4p      Sunday

*Hours change seasonally so check before planning your trip

More to Explore

18th street in Homewood

Sip local and play games.

Our next stop was Back Forty, a favorite spot to pass the time and have some fun!

After you take a tour of Sloss Furnaces historic landmark, find yourself across the street at Back Forty. Here, you can sip local brews and grab a bite from an innovative, upscale bar menu – where you’ll find things like ramen, fresh gulf shrimp fried to perfection, hand-tossed pizza and one of our favorite burgers in town.

Before, during or after you dine, enjoy the great BHM weather and grab some bean bags for a round of cornhole or paddles for ping pong on their back lawn.

About Back Forty

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Back Forty Beer Company

The perfect spot for customers to drink a beer in the tap room or vast outdoor garden, do a little train watching, and enjoy the occasional live band in the shadow of Sloss Furnaces. Back Forty Birmingham brewers brew popular core Back Forty beers (Naked Pig, Truck Stop Honey, Freckle Belly, Paw Paw’s, etc.) here as well as offer a steady rotation of new experimental beers available only in BHM. And, the Back Forty Birmingham kitchen offers a creative variety of American pub foods primarily sourced through local growers.

3201 1st Avenue North
Birmingham, AL 35222

205.407.8025

Taproom & Kitchen Hours
Closed Tuesday
Wednesday: 3 – 9 p.m.
Thursday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Monday: 3 – 9 p.m.

More to Explore

Brand new and fabulously fresh.

We ended our day with a delicious dinner and tasty cocktails at Automatic.

Chef Adam Evans has an impressive resume of experience from celebrated restaurants all over the world and not only is the food excellent, but the atmosphere and décor have been equally buzzed-about – feeling like the interior of an ocean liner during the golden age of sea travel.

Automatic’s full menu is excellent filled, but consider sitting at the bar or on the patio to enjoy an impressive selection of fresh oysters and delicious cocktails.

About Automatic Seafood & Oysters

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Automatic Seafood & Oysters

Automatic Seafood & Oysters opened its doors in April 2019.  The menu offers a variety of seafood dishes, featuring fish primarily sourced from the Gulf of Mexico, oysters from waters along the Southern and Eastern coastlines, as well as a selection of land-based produce and proteins. Comfortable, elegant, and classic, the space at Automatic is an ode to Americana and lends itself to a coastal setting. The restaurant is named for the building’s past life as the Automatic Sprinkler Corporation manufacturing facility.

2824 5th Ave S
Birmingham, AL 35233

205.580.1600

Hours
Open Everyday for Dinner
Sunday-Thursday 5pm-10pm
Friday-Saturday 5pm-11pm

More to Explore

  • Drink up and take in one-of-a-kind art at gallery1930.
  • Late night, you’ll love the beer-garden style and late night brunch at Brat Bröt
  • For pre-dinner drinks downtown head to Paper Doll Bar
  • For James Beard award-winning cuisine, hit Highlands Bar & Grill (and don’t forget to end the meal with a slice of James-Beard award-winning pastry chef Dolester Miles’s Coconut Cake)