Urban Bar & Kitchen Officially Opens in Downtown Tuscaloosa
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When the golden scissor cut through the red Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama ribbon, visible relief ran over Gary McGee s face.
As he celebrated the opening of Urban Bar & Kitchen with a subtle fist pump, it symbolized overcoming a tough year for the restauranteur.
In an exclusive interview with The Tuscaloosa Thread, McGee said ever since he had to close the Levee Bar & Grill back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been eager to the back into the restaurant industry.
From bakeries to fine dining, here are 54 Alabama restaurants that closed in 2020
Updated Jan 01, 2021;
Posted Jan 01, 2021
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced Z’s Restaurant, the downtown Birmingham eatery famous for its bean pies, soul food and homemade ice cream, to close its doors in late April 2020. (Courtesy: Carolyn Bolivar Hameen)
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2020 was a rough year for restaurants and that’s putting it mildly.
The year started out with the usual ebbs and flows of a competitive dining industry. In Birmingham, for example, Pihakis Restaurant Group was preparing to eventually shutter its location of Mile-End Deli in the city’s downtown area and transition the building to another one of its concepts: a Hero Doughnuts & Buns.
Legal challenges to Louisiana s virus restrictions continue despite court rulings
Sam Karlin
When a Baton Rouge judge last month ruled a last-ditch effort by House Republican lawmakers to overturn Gov. John Bel Edwards virus restrictions was unconstitutional, it appeared the governor was mostly done defending his virus rules after a series of wins in court, at least until the Louisiana Supreme Court weighs in.
But the legal challenges haven t stopped rolling in.
On Tuesday, a St. Martin Parish state district judge agreed to temporarily block enforcement of the governor s restrictions against Red s Levee Bar, which bills itself as a small country bar in Catahoula, after a lawyer who has represented the Rev. Tony Spell, of Central, filed suit on behalf of the establishment.
St. Martin Parish Judge Blocks Enforcement of Bar Restrictions
16th Judicial District Judge Anthony Thibodeaux has issued a temporary order that blocks the enforcement of restrictions on bars put in place by Governor John Bel Edwards for COVID-19 mitigation. The order in particular blocks the restrictions at Red s Levee Bar in Catahoula. Why them specifically? Well, they filed a lawsuit against the restrictions and this is how the judge ruled.
The judge s temporary order will be in place until a hearing can be held on December 28th. The order, according to a report published by KATC Television, quotes attorney Jeff Wittenbrink about the lawsuit and the judge s order.
St. Martin Parish judge temporarily blocks enforcement of governor s restrictions on bars
St. Martin Parish judge temporarily blocks enforcement of governor s restrictions on bars
and last updated 2021-01-04 16:56:56-05
ST. MARTINVILLE, La. â
UPDATE 12/28: A pre-trial hearing was held on Monday, Dec. 28 to hear arguments regarding the preliminary injunction in this case and the judge ruled against Red s Levee Bar and removed the injunction.
KATC reached out to the St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court that said the judge didn t rule on anything else regarding the protective order.
However, the case was not dismissed and is pending another court date for the next hearing.