Wayne Salem doesn’t think there’s much say about The Trashcan.

The dish — a double serving of hashbrowns piled with sautéed onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and spicy ground sausage — is one of the signature dishes at Salem’s Diner, the tiny eatery nestled in the strip of shops in Homewood’s Old Curve Shopping Center.

The eatery is an ode, in part, to his father Ed Salem, an All-American quarterback and defensive back for the Crimson Tide in the late 1940s and early ‘50s.

A successful businessman, Ed Salem went on to open three locations of Ed Salem’s Drive-In. The lunch counters were Birmingham institutions from the ’50s to the ‘80s.

Wayne Salem ran a location of Ed Salem’s for 20 years and a deli in Avondale before opening Salem’s Diner, a small, cozy homage to his father’s beloved eateries, in 2006. A year later, Salem’s garnered national attention when late night host Craig Ferguson visited the diner and proclaimed its Philly cheesesteak the best he’d ever had. Salem’s was also beloved by Mike Slive, the former commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, who enjoyed coffee in his favorite booth.

In 2019, the diner earned another national accolade: Eat This, Not That named Salem’s the best “hole-in-the-wall” in Alabama.

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The walls of the tiny diner are filled with memorabilia — most of it is a tribute to athletics. The centerpiece of the display is a row of black and white photographs that belonged to his father. The pictures, which have been in the family since 1950, are of athletes who played football at the University of Alabama, some who went off to war, and then returned home to play again. The rest are bits and pieces he’s collected over the years: Newspaper clippings, posters, flyers for the Iron Bowl, kind letters from patrons, photos of him with customers — all special memories that found their way onto the wall.

I stopped into Salem’s early one Saturday to order the Trashcan. I got it with a “lid” (two eggs), which I ordered over easy. Behind the counter, cooks Willie White and Ernie Dease grilled up orders.

“The Trashcan! Yeah, people love it! But a lot of em’ can’t eat it all,” Dease told me cheerily from behind the grill. He runs a nonprofit in Birmingham, but on Saturday mornings, he dons a blue apron for the breakfast shift at Salem’s.

A man seated next to me said of his friends, a large construction worker, always orders the Trashcan but can only eat half of it. About 15 minutes later, my order was up: Cheesy, golden brown, and glistening with a little grease. Dease placed the plate on the counter above me. I’ll cut to the chase: I finished it all.

On a recent Thursday morning, I returned to the diner to interview Wayne Salem about the dish. He’d told me to come to the diner at 8 a.m. But 15 minutes before I arrived, he had to go on a grocery run.

“He’s a quick shopper,” Dianne Mayfield told me from behind the cashier. “He’ll be back soon.”

From my seat at the counter, I heard customers ordering their favorites — BLTs, scrambled eggs with cheese, extra crispy bacon — but it was the Trashcan that reigned supreme. At a corner table, an elderly lady sat feasting on the loaded hashbrowns and sipping a mug of coffee. Nearby, a man at the counter ordered a plate and took a photo of the dish with his phone before digging in.

A little after 9 a.m., Salem (smiling and delightfully boisterous) walked through the front door of the diner.

Immediately, a man sitting at the counter piped up: ”Hey! I haven’t seen you in a while!

“Well, That’s ‘cause you haven’t been here in a while!” Salem responded, jovially.

He walked back and forth from the diner entrance to the kitchen, supervising while a man brought in boxes of sirloin steak. (“I promise, I’m coming back out!” he shouted to me from the kitchen.)

Ten minutes later, he sat next to me at the counter. High-spirited and funny, Salem was straightforward, but not offensive.

“I don’t got a lot of time, let’s get it!”

When I launched into questions about the Trashcan, Salem was dubious.

“You’re not going to be able to make a story about the Trashcan! “ he said. “Have you been to my website? Have you done any research on the place? It’s all about my dad and all about Hall of Famer in Alabama football. But the Trashcan isn’t going to make a story!”

Of course, the dish is just a small part of what makes the diner so popular. Great food brings in the patrons, but Salem is proudest of his staff, especially his core team of four people who “makes it all work.”

“And we work our asses off,” Salem said.

That’s a blunt statement. But Salem is happy to be here. Happy and thankful.

To Salem, there’s a lot to be grateful for. He still owns a restaurant after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the restaurant industry. And then, he’s been able to keep the diner running through staffing shortages.

“I went through so much during COVID, with people not showing up for work,” Salem said. “And you’ve heard those stories before, I’m sure. We’re still hearing it.”

Salem used to hire employees from Fellowship House Inc. and The Lovelady Center — nonprofits focused on helping people with substance abuse troubles get back on their feet. But after two rollercoaster years, Salem wanted to build a more solid team with years of experience.

He met his head cook, Willie White, about three years ago. White had come to Birmingham from Las Vegas where he worked in the restaurant of The Riviera hotel for more than 20 years. He promised his wife, a Birmingham native, that they’d return to the city when he retired. Two days after decided to retire, his wife had the moving truck ready.

“I made her a promise in ‘74 that when I retired, we’d move to Birmingham. I thought she’d forget,” White chuckled. “When I told her I was retiring, 48 hours later, she had the Mayflower packed and ready to go.”

Salem also recruited Dianne Mayfield, his best friend of 55 years, to the diner staff. She’d been at home, retired after working as a dispatcher for the Drummond Company airplanes.

“I called her and said ‘I need help,’” said Salem.

To run the dining area, he got Joyce Mickle, who’d worked for Bogue’s for over 30 years before the famed Birmingham staple shuttered in 2022.

“I’d been trying to hire her for 20 years,” Salem said. “But that was her home. She wasn’t going to leave and finally, they closed and she called me and said ‘I’m ready.’ And I said ‘So am I.’”

Mid-morning, Salem hopped behind the grill to relieve White for a 15-minute breather.

“We take a lot of breaks ‘cause we old!” Salem joked.

Unfazed, White just laughed.

“We gotta let him get in here,” said White as Salem made his way from the dining room back to the kitchen. “Because he gets bored and aggravating eventually.”

It’s clear Wayne Salem is a busy bee. But, then again, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

We sat down with Salem to talk about The Trashcan, his sports family, and running one of the city’s favorite diners. Here’s an edited version of our conversation below.

Tell me about the Trashcan.

Wayne Salem: Well, I have a man that comes in here named Roger Tumerlin. And he was one of my first customers in 2006 when I opened up. Him and a man named Ed McDonald. They came in and they were coming in for a month or so and Roger says “Wayne, I go to a place” — it was somewhere, I forgot where it was — but he said “I think you need to do this.”

I don’t know if he called it the “Garbage can.” But it ended up being “The Trashcan.” And it was something that I did not have on the menu. And I’m giving him credit because he did it! He’s the one that suggested it to me and it’s been 19 years. And it’s probably my biggest seller for my breakfast.

And you said there was no story behind this!

Well! I mean, that’s three lines! But that’s why you’re a writer! I guess you can squeeze it out!

And it comes with sausage, right?

It comes with an extra-large order of hash browns with sautéed onions, peppers, tomatoes, and sausage. But I have a company that I get the sausage from and it’s got a little spice to it. It’s got a little cracked pepper. They know how to mix it up. It’s fresh. It’s a farm-to-table deal. And so we put that with the sautéed onions, peppers, tomatoes, some cheddar cheese. Some spicy sausage. And if you want a lid on the Trashcan, we fix the eggs however you like ‘em cooked. And a lot of people go, “Give me scrambled eggs with cheese.” And I’ll tell ‘em. You don’t need cheese in the eggs, ‘cause the Trashcan is gonna have cheese all over it. And it’s gonna be an extra charge. And I don’t want you to pay for something — ‘cause you’re not gonna be able to tell the difference because it’s already loaded up with cheese. It’s gotta pound of cheese on it! Do you need a pound-and-a-half? I mean, really! But people are so used to ordering cheese eggs. And I don’t like charging extra for something that’s not needed. So I’ll ‘em. Most restaurants will say “Yes! Upcharge! I’ma get it!” But I don’t do that. I don’t feel comfortable with that.

And people really like it! I finished the whole thing! Willie and Ernie didn’t believe me until they saw the plate. And Ms. Dianne didn’t believe me when I told her either.

Listen! The ones who do are the ladies! The ones that do are the thin ladies! You know, I’ve never had a big guy. Well, I mean, they come in. But most people that order it are ladies. Or girls or ladies! They just are! Or female or whatever!

So, when people order it, do they just order the Trashcan or do they order another dish along with it, like pancakes?

Oh, it depends on who it is. A lot of people get will pancakes with The Trashcan and they’ll split it. It just depends on who it is. How hungry they are. What everybody wants. Every day is different. Every customer is different.

You’ve got quite the crew here!

And we’re all in our 70s. Just four of us. We get here early. We get here at 4 o’clock (in the morning). We start prepping. At 1 or 1:15 — most people stay open until 2, 2:30 — I’m closing.

Oh yes. I’ve seen you put the sign out early!

I do. I’m done. We’re old. We’ll all be home taking a nap at 2:30 [laughs]. We’re wore out! I mean hell, we’ve already put in our time! We just want to keep working! I’m retired. Most of us are retired. I don’t have to work. I enjoy it. I enjoy my place. We’re all just a big family. And really that’s it. I ain’t hiring anybody else. I don’t want to talk to anybody else about a job. I had all that crap with COVID. People coming in and filling out an app and never showing up. Or working two days and quitting and all that crap. I said, “I’m done. I’m not doing this anymore.” And I don’t have to, I have a great crew.

The Trashcan is popular. But what else here at Salem’s Diner is a crowd favorite?

The spicy sausage and cheddar omelet is a big hit. The blueberry pancakes are a huge hit. Our French toast is a big hit. I do it on a Texas Toast ‘cause it’s got better texture. We just do a big business. I really can’t tell. Oatmeal! Anything. We just do a good business. Thank God! It just works. But we work hard.

And I see the Iron Bowl memorabilia on the wall. Obviously. your father was an Alabama player. But we’ve got some Auburn fans in here. So, everybody’s welcome!

I played at Auburn!

Oh, I didn’t know what! What was your position?

Wide receiver. You know, I don’t really let that out a lot. My Auburn people know me. I really don’t advertise that. It’s fine. A lot of people know. I played in 1972 and ‘73. After I graduated from Ramsey, I played for Coach Doug Barfield was my freshman coach and Shug Jordan was my varsity coach. But I wasn’t a tenth of a player my dad was. And I also had two other brothers that played at Alabama. My brother Jimbo played at Alabama for Ray Perkins and my brother Mark played baseball for Hayden Riley. All my cousins played at Alabama. Their father played at Alabama. I have cousins who played baseball at Alabama. Big sports family. Sports has been real good to us, my family. Real good.

And this diner is a city favorite.

Thank God! And listen, I don’t take anything for granted. We work hard every day. And I tell my employees, when someone walks in this place, they’ve passed 10 or 15 places where they could have stopped and spent their money. We better have something for them. We’re gonna treat ‘em kind. We’re gonna give them the best service we can give them and we’re gonna give them the best meal we can give them.

People love this place!

Well, thank God! Thank God! It has its moments the other way, but that’s very few and far between. I think I have the best customers. Everybody’s like family in here. I had one guy one time say this place was like “Cheers” without the beer. People say that all the time. And thank God! I’m blessed beyond means. And in this business, you’re not gonna make a ton of money. You’re gonna make a living, hopefully. It’s hard. You gotta be cut out for it.