Klingler’s Cafe, Vestavia Hills AL

This is Marie, once again contributing an article that is primarily about dessert, although rain, congestion, and comments on the works of Douglas Adams will also become important along the way.

A reader, Mark Vick, sent a recommendation that we might enjoy stopping here. We were not able to make it by the bookstore that he also told us about on this trip, but I’m always happy to make time for cake. Klingler’s Cafe is also listed on the famous 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die (PDF), a bucket list put together by that state’s department of tourism, and which Grant reads while licking his lips. I don’t necessarily approve of having a definitive bucket list, as I firmly believe that people change enough during their lives to change their tastes. If you don’t believe me, think about your favorite food when you were five, the one you had to have at least once a week or you’d sulk and refuse your dinner. Is it still your favorite now, or has the item changed into an occasionally indulged comfort snack? Continue reading “Klingler’s Cafe, Vestavia Hills AL” →

Kool Korner Sandwiches, Birmingham AL

I must admit that within a couple of minutes of entering Kool Korner Sandwiches, I was completely baffled. I had read up on the place, which is in a Publix strip mall in the Vestavia Hills suburb of Birmingham, and followed the reviews and looked over their web site, all of which promised the best and most authentic Cuban sandwiches in the southeast from this brand-spanking new restaurant. Well, I was game. What I did not expect was the sight of all the awards on the wall labeling Kool Korner the home of the best sandwiches in Atlanta for several years. Continue reading “Kool Korner Sandwiches, Birmingham AL” →

Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q, Birmingham AL

A few chapters previously, I mentioned how the discovery of mayonnaise-based white barbecue sauce in Clarkesville, Georgia had changed everything. “Oh, yes,” some people say, “that’s what they have in northern Alabama,” but that isn’t true. White sauce is still extremely obscure and not at all common. One of my co-workers was born and raised in Tuscaloosa and he’d never heard of it until I asked him about it. Heck, the girl we spoke with at a fair trade importer right in the heart of downtown Birmingham had only a vague idea what we were talking about. I don’t know that it’s as accurate to call it a regional delicacy as it is some weird thing that only a scattered few oddballs know about. Continue reading “Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q, Birmingham AL” →