Resa Bates and Allan Bloodworth know a thing or two about running restaurants.

Bates started as a 12-year-old helping out on the farm and in her family’s famed restaurant, Bates House of Turkey, in Greenville. She continued gaining skills as a hostess, waiting tables and tending bar in Birmingham, Montgomery, Charleston, South Carolina, Wyoming and New Orleans.

Bloodworth, who is also a carpenter, had opened Montgomery restaurants over the years (Tomatino’s, the Olive Room and El Rey). Both of them learned much about the business while working for famed restaurant owners Harriet Crommelin of Kat & Harri’s and the late Bud Skinner, owner of Bud’s and Jubilee Seafood.

Bates taught art in Montgomery-area schools and in other cities for 20 years before she and Bloodworth decided in 2018 to take on their latest project: reopening the Alabama Grill, a favorite restaurant in downtown Greenville for more than 70 years.

“It took us from August to October to tear this place apart,” she said. She and Bloodworth did nearly all the work on the restaurant, originally built in the mid-1800s, themselves. “We did all the finish work, knocked the plaster off the walls, took up five layers of flooring and had to drop the ceiling,” she said. “Just the two of us. Everything came out and the only thing we did not take off was the roof.”

The result was a totally reworked business, offering only fresh, healthy, local food prepared to order. “I run the front of the house and Allan runs the back of the house,” she said. “One is not more important than the other. It takes both of us to make it work.”

Resa Bates holds platters of two favorites, the grilled mahi mahi sandwich and the Liveakos Pizza, named for the Grill’s original owner. (Danny Weston)

Asked what’s the most popular item on the menu, she replied, “It depends on what day it is. Sometimes it’s snapper and ribeyes. Sometimes it’s pizza.” They offer several different types of pizza, including the Liveakos (topped with Roma tomatoes, garlic, spinach, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and red onions), a tribute to the grill’s original owner, Greek immigrant Mack Liveakos, who opened it in 1947. He sold it in 1960 to James Arthur, who operated it until it closed in 2001.

“We sell a lot of burgers and we cut the fish every day,” Bates said. “Allan cuts steaks every night. There’s no food waste. There’s nothing fried on the menu. Everything is fresh.”

She buys locally sourced food, from Birmingham-based Domestique coffee to Alabama craft beers to ice cream from Cammie’s Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe in Mobile. Seafood comes from the Gulf and, of course, the turkey comes from her family’s business. If something is not listed on the menu, it means it’s not available that day.

“Snapper is a special item because some weeks we can’t get it,” Bates said. Plus, their storage space is limited and they don’t keep a lot of food on hand, preferring to sell it while it’s fresh.

The pandemic forced them to go to takeout-only orders in March 2020. Fortunately, they had already been using an online ordering platform before COVID-19. “During our shutdown, I added a second online platform so gift cards could be used,” Bates said.

They were glad to reopen their doors in September 2020 and resume serving guests in person. Their customers generally are residents from Butler and adjoining counties, but “we have acquired a lot of regulars from out of town,” Bates said, “especially during hunting season.”

The restaurant is on a main street in Greenville, where fresh food options are limited. “People are tired of fast food,” she said, noting that sitting at a table of a locally owned restaurant has its appeal.

Business has been brisk, despite the pandemic slowdown, and it’s not unusual for the staff to turn tables around three times in one night. “If you want a steak,” she advised, “come early.”

This story originally appeared in Alabama Living magazine.

Alabama Grill

109 W. Commerce St., Greenville, Alabama 36037

Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., 5 p.m.-8 p.m.; closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday

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