Legendary Huntsville music bar Tip Top Café’s long-planned reboot has new life
St. Stephens Music Hall’s partners and Velocé Pizza’s owner have signed a five-year lease on the building once home to legendary music bar Tip Top Café.
St. Stephens Music Hall owner John Chamness says St. Stephens will shutter after Oct. 31, when the venue’s lease ends at Campus No. 805, the west Huntsville brewery, dining and event hub.
Chamness and his St. Stephens partner Evan Billiter will reopen as “Tip Top Café featuring Velocé Pizza,” Chamness says, at the original Tip Top location, which now has the address 125 Maple Ave. in the Lincoln Mill area.
That new venture is an equal partnership with Velocé Pizza owner Trevar Akins. Velocé will also continue its original location, inside west Huntsville arts center Lowe Mill.
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In its ‘80s and early ‘90s heyday, Tip Top, housed in a cozy cinderblock space, featured rock bands like Goo Goo Dolls and 311 on their way up, as well as legends like bluesman Bo Diddley. The original Tip Top shuttered in 1995. Attempts in the following years to revive it didn’t stick.
A flyer from a classic era show at storied Huntsville music bar Tip Top Cafe. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
Real estate developer Bill Chapman purchased the building around 2014. Chapman’s planned Tip Top reboot originally planned a fall 2016 opening. Some internal construction took place.
At one point, tvg hospitality, the group that runs Orion Amphitheater, was involved in a consultant capacity. But after eight years passed without opening, it seemed like the new Tip Top was dead before arrival.
In 2023, Chapman — whose extensive real estate work ranges from restaurants to office buildings to downtown event space Oak Place – became part owner of Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, a downtown fixture since the early-aughts. But Humphrey’s shuttered just six months later. The Humphrey’s space has yet to open with a new tenant.
Chapman grew up going to shows at Tip Top. Some of his favorites included regionally popular acts like Atlanta funk-metal band Follow For Now and Tuscaloosa rockers Storm Orphans. So, bringing Tip Top back to life was a true passion project.
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Although Chapman couldn’t reopen Tip Top himself, despite all the years and money he put in, he says passing the project on to Chamness, Billiter and Akins isn’t bittersweet.
“They’ll be better operators than I would be,” Chapman says, “and it’ll give longevity to it. The last thing I ever wanted to do was open the door and have it shut down in six months because of mismanagement.
“These guys have already got a good rep, and they’ve got miles on their shoes, you know what I mean, so it’s mission accomplished for me. That’s all I ever wanted to do, was save it.”
Chamness says electrical and plumbing are 90 percent complete. Once those are done, which could be as early as end of month, they’ll finish the sheetrock and trim. On a recent afternoon, Chamness texted me photos of him replacing the ceiling in the walk-in cooler.
“My goal is to have the building finished short of the sprinklers by the end of June,” Chamness says.
Ah yes, the sprinklers. One of the holdups on Chapman’s attempt to relaunch Tip Top was the water line for the sprinkler system. But Chapman says the issue with that has been resolved. His goal is to have sprinklers installed by July, to help Chamness, Billiter and Akins have Tip Top open by football season.
In addition to fire safety, having a sprinkler system inside will enable Tip Top’s capacity to double to 225, which will allow the operators to book more of the bands they’d like to. At St. Stephens Music Hall the capacity is only around 80.

St. Stephens Music Hall. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
Some of St. Stephens’ best-selling shows include rockabilly singer/pianist Jason D. Williams, alt-folk combo Ain’t Sisters and local bands like King’s Haze, Toy Shop and Dawn Osborne Band.
With their guest capacity increased by moving to Tip Top, Chamness says bookings will widen. At St. Stephens, the emphasis was on roots acts and singer/songwriters. At Tip Top, which was thoroughly divergent in its classic era, look for more punk and full-on rock in the mix.
Chamness says, “I’m not going to twist the Tip Top into being what I want to listen to. It’s the Tip Top, and I’m going to honor that.”
Local brewery Mad Malts, located near Tip Top, has become an under-the-radar go-to for local music shows in recent years. At 805, St. Stephens enjoyed a positive relationship with Lone Goose Saloon, one of their neighbors there.
At Tip Top, Chamness hopes to establish a symbiotic relationship with Mad Malts, which is run by the same people as downtown tiki-themed restaurant/bar Phat Sammy’s. “It is really nice having another bar around the corner,” Chamness says. “They’re going through the same problems you’re going through.”

St. Stephens Music Hall. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
On April 4, St. Stephens Music Hall celebrated its one-year anniversary with a bill of the same two bands that played there opening night, Silver Silos and Shane Davis Group. Chamness says site issues, including not having nearby bathrooms, are why they’re leaving Campus No. 805, a repurposed school building.
After Chamness and Billiter knew they needed to leave 805, a mutual friend recommended they contact Chapman about leasing the Tip Top building. They signed their Tip Top lease early this year.
Chamness says his and Billiter’s share of Tip Top’s rent is the same they’ve paid for St. Stephens. They’re moving their St. Stephens P.A. system over to Tip Top, so no added expense there either.
During the glory years, food wise Tip Top was known for its Friday lunch special: 8-ounce ribeye, corn on the cob, baked potato and Texas toast for $3.25 plus tax. Tip Top’s new food menu will focus on pizzas, slices and sandwiches.
Akins says, “I’m staying within the wheelhouse of everything that we’re good at.” Velocé’s original Lowe Mill location is a stand versus a restaurant, so their business there is mostly take-out. With Tip Top, Akins is stoked to finally have ample seating for his dining guests. “It’s really exciting for us to be a part of,” he says.
The new Tip Top will have a greenroom for artists who perform there. It’s not uncommon for musicians (or their fans) to have vegan diets. Velocé has been doing vegan pizzas for most of the time since they opened in 2023.
Akins knows the other side of artist hospitality already. He’s a bassist with Beastie Goys, a Beastie Boys tribute band and probably Huntsville’s best-drawing band, period.
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Christina Smith, Akins’ girlfriend, makes desserts for Velocé and is also involved with the business’ vegan offerings. She says their top vegan pizzas include the “That’s Amore,” which features plant-based pepperoni and cheese, mushrooms and onions.

From left: Tom Chamness, Evan Billiter, Mike Chapman, Trevar Akins and Christine Smith outside the former and hopefully future legendary Huntsville music bar Tip Top Cafe. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
Inside Tip Top, a new stage has been built into one corner and an L-shaped bar in another. One interior wall will be decorated with vintage Tip Top posters, and a list of old-school bands that played there.

A flyer from a classic era show at Huntsville music bar Tip Top Cafe. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
Also look for nods to the bar’s late, infamous doorman, Lanny Taylor. The funky bric-a-brac that adorns St. Stephens’ décor will come over to Tip Top too. They’re also bringing in an old piano.
Pivoting to Tip Top is a full-circle moment for Chamness, Billiter and Akin. Back in the day, Chamness played in a bluegrass band that gigged at Tip Top. Akin was at the aforementioned Bo Diddley show. Although Billiter was too young to go to classic-era Tip Top shows, he had family who did, including a performance by actor River Phoenix’s band, Aleka’s Attic.

Evan Billiter outside St. Stephens Music Hall’s originally planned location in Huntsville, Alabama. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)
St. Stephens’ originally planned location — in a small former church on Stokes Street — didn’t work out. There was a misunderstanding about zoning requirements.
It was a total bummer. In addition to paying rent, utilities, insurance, etc., for 11 months at Stokes Street, Chamness and Billiter had poured their all into making it the venue of their dreams. Their main vibe inspirations for that space included Tip Top and another bygone local venue, Crossroads.

From left: Tom Chamness, Evan Billiter, Mike Chapman, Trevar Akins and Christine Smith outside the former and hopefully future legendary Huntsville music bar Tip Top Cafe. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
On a recent afternoon inside Tip Top, Billiter says, “Being able to come to this place after dealing with that,” the disappointment of Stokes Street, “to me someone up there, some higher power in the universe is like, all right, you went through it, you earned it. That’s what this place feels like. A reward for all that.”