Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Whiskey Foxtrot Burger Dive will be next door to Johnny Brusco’s Pizza at 2341 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite 119, on Jan. 5.
The former location of Jubilee Joe’s Cajun and Seafood Restaurant in Lake Crest didn’t stay vacant for long.
Ben Williams, a longtime restaurateur with Jason’s Deli, plans to open a new hamburger and hot dog restaurant combined with a bar that sells American whiskey and craft beers from the Birmingham area.
The new “burger and beer” joint is called the Whiskey Foxtrot Burger Dive. Williams and his silent partner and brother, Zac Williams, hope to have the new place open in March following some renovation work.
Ben Williams, who will be the operator, said they aren’t having to make many changes to the place. They are replacing the drop ceiling, putting in a new back door and adding a new coat of paint and some other superficial changes, but the spot as a whole should be an “easy flip,” he said.
Opening a new restaurant during a pandemic can be a little more challenging than usual, but “we’re going to let the food speak for itself,” Williams said. “I’m pretty confident we can do well here.”
The Whiskey Foxtrot Burger Dive will showcase wagyu beef, a premium type of beef from a Japanese cow breed that has a predisposition to create a marbling of fat on the inside of its muscle tissue instead of the layer of fat that is on the outside of the average cow, which adds tenderness to the beef.
Williams is ordering his wagyu beef from Southern River Farms in Augusta, Georgia, and the beef has a phenomenal taste.
If he had to compare his restaurant to any others, it would be the Twisted Root Burger Co. in Vestavia Hills or Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint in Birmingham, he said. But the Whiskey Foxtrot Burger Dive will have more hot dog options.
He said he chose this 2,700-square-foot spot in the Lake Crest Plaza because it was the right size for him and he likes the community and is familiar with it.
Also, a positive thing is that the former restaurant there, Jubilee Joe’s, didn’t leave because it was a bad location, Williams said. Jubilee Joe’s was successful and outgrew the place.
Kashif “Kash” Siddiqui, the owner of Jubilee Joe’s, said he thinks the Whiskey Foxtrot Burger Dive will do pretty well in that location because it will have a bar and there’s not another bar in that general vicinity. He doesn’t see people going out of their way to get there, but it should serve the people who live and work nearby well, he said.
Williams worked for Jason’s Deli for 13 years, opening new restaurants for the company in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Illinois, he said. Most recently, he was the managing partner for the locations in Inverness and at Brookwood Village. The Inverness location closed at the end of 2019, and the one at Brookwood Village shut down in July.
Williams lives in downtown Birmingham, and his brother is from Inverness, he said.
“We’re excited,” Williams said. “We just hope we can get through and get to the back end of this pandemic.”