The night of her high school prom, Bernadine Birdsong went to the old Michael’s Sirloin Room on Birmingham’s 20th Street South for a steak dinner before the big dance.
“I went to the prom in the hotel that was right across the street from Michael’s, the Parliament House,” she recalls. “So, I went to dinner (at Michael’s). It was kind of iconic.”
The restaurant and the hotel are both long gone, but more than 40 years later, Birdsong is continuing a Birmingham tradition as the owner of the swanky, new Michael’s Restaurant that opened last August next to Regions Field, just a few blocks away from where she celebrated on prom night.
“It’s kind of a full-circle thing,” Birdsong says.
How she got here, though, is something not even she could have imagined, much less planned.
Growing up in Dolomite community, Birdsong graduated from Pleasant Grove High School, and after attending Birmingham-South College, earned two computer science degrees from Samford University.
After working as an IT manager for EBSCO Industries, she retired from that career and opened her own business, Healing Waters wellness center, which she ran for about 20 years.
It was while she was looking for a larger space for her Healing Waters spa that her life took another career turn about five years ago.
Birmingham real estate agent Greg Despinakis told her that Michael’s Restaurant, which had reopened in Homewood’s Aloft Hotel in 2009, was available.
Never mind that she wasn’t looking for a restaurant, nor that she had no experience running one.
“The restaurant was just happenstance,” Birdsong says. “My mom’s a great cook, and people would say, ‘You guys should open a restaurant; I can see you selling her sweet potato pie.’ We had always thought about it but never acted on it.
“And it was totally by chance that I ran into Greg when I was looking for a space to expand Healing Waters and we stumbled upon the restaurant. It was like a fluke.”
So, in 2016, Birdsong bought Michael’s from Birmingham restaurateur Charles Matsos, whose late father, Michael Matsos, opened the original Michael’s Sirloin Room in 1953.
“It was family-owned, which I like,” Birdsong says. “It was a local staple.”
Before she completed the deal, Birdsong says, her brother, Israel Williams, spent about six months working at Michael’s to learn the business -- cooking, tending bar, greeting customers, pretty much everything.
“Then I jumped in after we purchased it, and he kind of showed everybody the ropes,” Birdsong says. “I’ve done front of the house, back of the house, everything.”
Bernadine Birdsong is the owner of Michael's Restaurant in Birmingham, Ala. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
‘Bringing all of the history together’
A couple of years later, in 2018, Michael’s received $1.5 million in incentives from the City of Birmingham’s Public Athletic, Cultural and Entertainment (PACE) Facilities Board to move into the vacant restaurant space adjoining the Negro Southern League Museum, which opened in 2015.
Under the agreement, the city agreed to pay for concrete flooring, lighting, outlets, plumbing, and HVAC -- as well as stoves, coolers and other commercial kitchen equipment.
The buildout, though, was an arduous process that was delayed by roofing, electrical and other issues.
“We were supposed to be in here at the end of April 2019, but we (were) not,” Birdsong says. “The delays on getting the building finished and all of those things (pushed back the opening), and then by the time we were able to get in here, COVID happened. It took us almost two years to get here.”
Finally, this past August -- nearly six months into the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled the restaurant industry -- Birdsong, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and other city officials celebrated Michael’s return to downtown Birmingham at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the restaurant.
As a Black businesswoman, the moment was not lost on Birdsong.
“It’s bringing all of the history together,” she said at the ribbon-cutting. “It’s Birmingham. It’s Black baseball. It’s a Black family. It’s a Black business. It’s a Black mayor. It’s a Black city. I mean, it’s just very monumental.”
Reopening a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic, though, forced Birdsong to adjust on the fly, with reduced seating at dinner and to-go-only service at lunch.
“All of our plans changed,” she says. “I was telling somebody the other day that we are wanting to live like things haven’t changed. You kind of want to live your life the way you’ve always lived your life.
“But we are living in the middle of a pandemic, and things have changed. Packages aren’t showing up. Foods that I used to be able to order I can’t get. Things are just different. They are not as easy as they used to be.”
The rooftop lounge and dining area at Michael's Restaurant overlooks Region's Field and Railroad Park. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com
‘He’s baseball, he’s Birmingham, he’s steaks’
The first-floor dining room at the new Michael’s features 24-foot ceilings with suspended globe lights, and the walls are decorated with abstract paintings by Birmingham artist Nan Braswell.
Gee’s Bend quilts hang in the stairwell leading to the rooftop lounge and dining area, which overlooks Regions Field and Railroad Park.
“People really enjoy being up here,” Birdsong says as she looks out over the Birmingham skyline from the roof. “It is so beautiful.”
Longtime Michael’s customers will be glad to know that the restaurant’s famous steer-butt steak is still on the menu, as well as the white chocolate bread pudding.
The steaks are from Bo Jackson’s 34 Beef, a line of steaks sold by the Auburn Heisman Trophy winner and former Major League Baseball star.
Birdsong met Jackson when he cooked at Michael’s while it was still in Homewood.
“He came and cooked and introduced us to his steaks and was very excited about being a part of this grand opening and being a part of this (new) space,” she says. “Because he’s baseball, he’s Birmingham, he’s steaks, it just seemed like a perfect fit.”
Downstairs dining. Michael's Restaurant opens in the Negro Southern League Museum. Fining dining is downstairs and there is also rooftop dining overlooking Region's Field and Railroad Park. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com
‘Make people happy with food’
Many of Birdsong’s family members have contributed to the restaurant’s success.
In addition to the bread pudding, the dessert menu also includes some of the pie recipes from Birdsong’s mother, Amelia Williams, including her apple and sweet potato pies, which are available on a seasonal basis.
The rooftop bar, called Bar Sebastian, is named for Birdsong’s son, a musician who goes by the stage name Sebastian Kole. Her son is also a partner in the business.
Israel Williams, the brother who trained for six months before Birdsong bought Michael’s in 2016, continues to run the bar program.
What has this experience taught Bernadine Birdsong, who had two previous careers before she decided, later in life, that she wanted to run a restaurant?
“That people who own restaurants have a passion to make people happy with food,” she says. “That the returns are not that high. There is not a lot of money in restaurants, even though people think that there is.
“So, it really is like a labor of love,” she adds. “When you go to a restaurant and people put food out before you, it’s because they really enjoy seeing people happy with food because it’s not about the money.”
Michael’s Restaurant is at 1525 First Ave. South in Birmingham. The phone is 205-871-9525. Dinner hours are 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and brunch is served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. Lunch is currently available for curbside pickup or delivery only from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. For more information, go here.
NOTE: The restaurant bar, Bar Sebastian, is reopening Jan. 20, 2021, as a speakeasy, according to Michael’s owner Bernadine Birdsong. For details, text “codeword” to 855-782-0225.
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