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Summer 2026—February 2027
2026 SFA Film Residency, with multi-city in-person experiences and monthly virtual workshops ⟶

Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Birmingham’s Central Business District

ORAL HISTORY

Andrew Collins

The Collins Bar

Born in 1949 to a Greek family in Birmingham, Alabama, Andrew Collins grew up in the restaurant industry. His father owned two restaurants in downtown Birmingham and Collins started working at the family hot dog business, Lyric Hot Dog, when he was thirteen. He eventually took over the Lyric from his father and ran the restaurant alongside his wife, until 2013 when renovation of the neighboring Lyric Theatre forced their closure. In 2012 he created one of the first craft cocktail bars in Birmingham called The Collins Bar, located on Second Avenue North. He teamed up with Josh Schaff in 2019 to renovate a space in Founders Station on First Avenue North and open the Cuban–inspired Cayo Coco Rum Bar & Restaurant.

Date of interview:
2021-12-21

Interviewer:
Michelle Little

Photographer:
Cary Norton

Download Transcript

“

“Well, when I reopened the Lyric Hot Dogs, everybody was saying, why are you doing this downtown? I'm like, I love downtown. And so as soon as we reopened, we were doing boomin' business, like five times the business we were doing. . . . I think the main thing is, once we opened Collins, is all these young people started coming downtown that lived in the suburbs.” - Andrew Collins

Other Project Interviews

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Joe Phelps

Joe Phelps is the owner of Pilcrow Cocktail Cellar in Birmingham, AL.

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Josh Schaff

Josh Schaff is the co-owner of Cayo Coco Rum Bar & Restaurant.

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Bryan Stanfield

Bryan Stanfield is the owner of Trattoria ZaZa in Birmingham, AL.

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Kathy D’Agostino

Kathy D'Agostino owns and operates Chocolatá, a chocolate shop in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Rob McDaniel

Rob McDaniel is the owner of Helen Restaurant in downtown Birmingham.

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Kristen Hall & Victor King

Victor King and Kristen Hall own Feast & Forest, The Essential, and other successful ventures in Birmingham, AL.

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Chris Dupont

Chris Dupont owns and operates Café Dupont.

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Jesus Mendez

Jesus Mendez co-owns and manages The Louis Bar and Unos Tacos in The Pizitz Food Hall.

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Michael Pizitz

Michael Pizitz ran his family's department store Pizitz Department Store in Birmingham, AL and now heads Pizitz Management Group with his brothers.

Interview

Tom Saab

Tom Saab owns Bistro Two Eighteen, which he opened in a historic building in Birmingham, Alabama.

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The Southern Foodways Alliance drives a more progressive future by leading conversations that challenge existing constructs, shape perspectives, and foster meaningful discussions. We reconsider the past with research, scrutiny, and documentation.

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