The last few months of the year are always full of holiday fervor. If you’ve been busy with holiday planning, news about Birmingham’s restaurant scene may have slipped through the cracks. Late last year, the city said goodbye to a couple of dining spots, including a popular cocktail bar. However, some new and upcoming businesses are in the mix, including coffee shops and bakeries. Here’s a quick guide to what’s open, what’s closed, and what’s coming up next.

Urban Parc closes in Five Points South

Urban Parc, the dining and entertainment venue located at 1006 20th St. S., served patrons for its last day on Dec. 31 after publicly announcing its closing two days earlier. Helmed by Draper Mason, who also owns the restaurant Urban Smoke, the two-story concept boasted a first-floor dining room as well as a TV and gaming area, and bar. The second patio housed a dining area and bar.

Prior to Urban Parc, the venue housed dining and gaming concepts The Woolworth and The Hive. The closing of Urban Parc may have come as a surprise for patrons, but SRS Real Estate partners posted a listing for the property’s sale or lease in early December.

Slide Cafe opens in Five Points South

Slide Cafe, the burger and slider restaurant from chef Raquel Earvin, finally has a new location at 2012 Magnolia Ave S Ste R3, Birmingham. In 2021, Earvin opened Eat at Panoptic–the brick-and-mortar iteration of her popular food truck, in Irondale. She later rebranded the concept to Slide Cafe. The location eventually shuttered, and after stalled plans to open the restaurant in Pelham and Birmingham’s Parkside district, the eatery is open in Five Points South. The reopening of Slide marks Earvin’s second restaurant. Last year, Earvin opened Smoke Bistro in Birmingham’s Pizitz Food Hall.

TheBestCoffeeYouCanBuy opens in Five Points South

In October, Reynaldo Moorer opened TheBestCoffeeYouCanBuy at 1025 20th St. S. The shop, which also goes by the name Sienna Cafe, offers a selection of coffee, tea, and blended drinks. The cafe also serves a menu of pasties and breakfast items, including beignets, waffles and sweet or savory crepes.

Cookie Fix is opening two new locations

Cookie Fix, the Alabama-based bakeshop known for its rotating menu of cookies, is planning to open two new storefronts in 2024. One will open at 1021 Brock’s Gap Pkwy Suite #109 in Hoover. The other is set to open at U.S. 280 near Cahaba Valley Road. Amy Jason started small when she opened the first location of Cookie Fix in 2016. The Homewood shop is the bakery’s flagship location. Six years later, the cookie brand has three additional storefronts–two in Alabama (one in Cahaba Heights and the other in Huntsville) and one in Franklin, Tenn.

Queen’s Park closes in downtown Birmingham

Queen’s Park, one of the most popular cocktail bars in downtown Birmingham’s loft district, closed its doors on Dec. 30. The bar, co-owned by Larry “Mudd” Townley and Laura Newman, opened in 2018. Named after the Queen’s Park Swizzle, a cocktail created at the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad, the bar was known for its extensive menu. Queen’s Park was also part of the network of bars who hosted “Miracle on 24th Street”— the holiday-themed pop-up cocktail concept founded in New York. Over the years, Queen’s Park earned a number of honors. In 2022, the bar received a Tales of the Cocktail regional semifinalist nomination for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar.