Photo by Sarah Finnegan
The Claypooles prepare multiple meals for the week, which are then delivered to customers on Mondays, providing families with a week's worth of prepared dinners.
Many food-buying choices these days are driven by convenience, and there’s no shortage of places for busy people to grab a quick bite to eat, according to Hoover resident and Birmingham EATS co-founder Rick Claypoole.
“From there, people are thinking about taste and cost,” he said, not necessarily nutrition.
That’s why he and his wife, Kathy Claypoole, started Birmingham EATS as a meal-delivery service in 2016: to make it easier for time-challenged families to enjoy tasty, nutritious meals.
“Our formula is ‘healthy-delicious-convenient,’” Rick Claypoole said.
At Birmingham EATS, the Claypooles buy the groceries, prepare the food and deliver it to homes, allowing families to eat good food without all of the planning, shopping and cooking.
And the couple — who began cooking take-out meals together as part of a church ministry in 2009 — have expanded their operation. They recently opened their first physical location at 100 Concourse Parkway in Hoover, a café serving breakfast and lunch, sandwiches and daily specials.
They’re pleased with the response so far. “Word is getting out,” Rick Claypoole said. “We see new faces everyday.”
The new brick-and-mortar facility — under the leadership of Culinard graduate and industry veteran Wendy Bowman, the café’s executive chef and vice president of operations — also allows Birmingham EATS to expand the services it offers.
Birmingham EATS now offers same-day dinner pick-up at the café and catering services for corporate and private events. They’re also expanding their meal delivery service beyond private homes, into such places as daycare and assisted living facilities.
For the first 18 months, the Claypooles rented space at a commercial kitchen. “There is just a natural limit to the amount of people you can serve,” Rick Claypoole said.
The permanent space dramatically expands their cold and dry storage.
“We can reach out beyond the residential meal service,” Rick Claypoole said.
The weekly meal service offers fit meals as well as gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, low glycemic, low-carb and paleo items. And in all their products, the Claypooles emphasize local ingredients.
“Local means shorter supply lines and fresher food,” Rick Claypoole said.
“Alabama farmers and producers can meet all of our needs,” he added.
The café emphasizes the local theme in other ways, too. It features consignment goods such as jewelry, gifts, hats and food products from local merchants.
“What’s good for the local economy is good for us and our families.” Rick Claypoole said. “We live here, work here, raise our children here, pay taxes here, make payroll here.”
The café is also adorned with local images, including on their table tops covered with some vintage maps of the Birmingham area from 1887. Customers “love the uniquely designed and decorated style of the café,” Rick Claypoole said.
For more information, call 420-1402 or go to bhameats.biz.
