![]() ![]() Joy Young ended its life as a take-out egg roll store in Pelham.” Third-generation owner Henry Joe reopened in the Brookwood Gallery, a retail strip on the ground floor of the Brookwood Medical Center parking deck where it operated for several more years. I can’t remember how much I paid for the egg roll, but the Mandarin Special at that time was 89 cents.Īccording to BhamWiki, “Joy Young closed its downtown location in the mid 1980’s. On the rare occasion when I chose to eat Chinese instead of fried chicken, I ordered an egg roll and the ‘Mandarin Special’-chicken chow mein, egg foo young, and rice. We didn’t know if we would be allowed back or not. One time our kids snuck out of the booth and started dropping food on the diners below. In later years when my wife and I had small children, we would often go to Joy Young and eat on the balcony in one of the private booths. But occasionally I was able to convince one of them to eat at Joy Young. When I went to lunch with my mom, she usually chose Britling Cafeteria. He always wanted to eat at Morrison’s Cafeteria or John’s Restaurant. While in high school I worked downtown on the weekends at my dad’s business. The unsuspecting visitor grabbed a warm roll, slathered the hot mustard over it and took a big bite. My friend told his guest that the hot mustard was a special delicious butter. ![]() The visitor had never been to an American Chinese restaurant and didn’t understand the dynamics. There was always a large bowl of hot mustard on the table available for the Chinese food. The waiter immediately placed a plate of large fluffy yeast rolls on the table. We always walked the stairs to the balcony because the booths on the balcony had curtains which gave us some privacy. One summer a close friend invited an out-of-town visitor to lunch with us at Joy Young. We would go to Joy Young for lunch and then to a movie at the Alabama, Ritz, Melba, or Empire Theater. My family lived on the Southside of Birmingham and when I was old enough to ride the bus by myself, I took the #12 Highland Avenue bus downtown to meet my friends. Many customers loved their homemade almond cookies. Believe it or not, the shrimp and pie were included in the price. I ordered my dinner with a shrimp cocktail, fries, English peas, yeast rolls, and a slice of scrumptious caramel pie for dessert. To this day, it is the best fried chicken I ever tasted. And even though I liked Chinese, I usually ordered the 1/2 fried chicken meal. It uniquely featured both American and Chinese food. Certainly when out-of-town family came to town, we gathered there. When I was growing up in the ‘50’s, our family often ate at Joy Young on Sundays and special occasions. That reputation served them well as the Ku Klux Klan found no support from the public in efforts to drive the restaurant out of business.” The owner Mansion Joe, and manager Henry Loo, had earned reputations as friendly, generous businessmen, sometimes helping provide meals to the needy. The name of the restaurant was Joy Young and I ate hundreds of meals there in my youth and young adult years.Īccording to BhamWiki, “In October 1925 the restaurant moved to 412 20th Street North opposite the Tutwiler Hotel, soon expanding into the former shop next door. There have been other great restaurants past or present, but in my heart and stomach, none compare to an American Chinese Restaurant that opened in 1919 and operated successfully mostly in downtown Birmingham for about 70 years. ![]() We have fantastic restaurants…like Highland Bar & Grill, El Barrio, Automatic Seafood, and Helen. ![]()
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