Southern Living picks Birmingham spot among Southâs best new restaurants
Southern Living released its annual rundown of Best New Restaurants in the South, and a Birmingham restaurant made the list.
The publication named “The South’s Best New Restaurants Of 2023.” While the magazine’s website included multiple restaurants in states like Texas and Georgia, they only picked one from Alabama: Pizza Grace.
“From an elegant five-course Mexican tasting menu in New Orleans, to shatteringly crisp Thai fried chicken in Nashville, to sourdough crust pizzas in Birmingham, the food at all of these places is worthy of making a reservation, or even traveling for,” the Southern Living editors wrote in the intro.
Pizza Grace opened on Morris Avenue in downtown Birmingham in late 2021. Helmed by veteran pastry chef Ryan Westover and Helene Jones, the pizzeria specializes in naturally leavened, whole wheat flour, and hand-mixed dough.
Southern Living recommended their pepperoni pie, which “gets zing from Aleppo pepper” along with the plain Cheese, which “isn’t so standard thanks to a blend of Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, and provolone and a sprinkle of herb breadcrumbs.” They also shouted out the “adventurous” Veggie” made with with pesto, garlic confit, kale, roasted local mushrooms, provolone, and smoked sea salt.
The piece also complimented “the sleek, warehouse-chic dining room is anything but cold, thanks to Westover’s partner Helene Jones, who runs the front of house.”
Pizza Grace is a marriage of two phases of Westover’s career. Before he left Canton, Ga., to move to Washington, D.C., to work as a pastry chef, he worked at “almost every pizza place around,” from Domino’s to Papa John’s.
“I can use my skills as a baker. I can use my skills as a pastry chef. Because at the end of the day, pizza is really bread and I get lost in that fact often,” he told AL.com in 2021. “Some people might argue with that. But I think it’s a bread first, and then the toppings are the icing on the cake so to speak.”
Earlier this year, Pizza Grace was named to a list of semifinalists for the 2023 James Beard Awards for the category of Best New Restaurant.
Read Southern Living’s full list on the Best New Restaurants in the South of 2023.
Southern Living also recently picked their 10 favorite restaurants in Orange Beach.
More on Alabama pizza:
Alabama’s best pizza: Our Top 10
Birmingham’s best pizza: Our top 5
Huntsville’s best pizza: Our Top 5