Chef Adam Evans and Suzanne Humphries Evans opened their first restaurant, Automatic Seafood & Oysters, in Birmingham, AL, this past April. The restaurant, named for the building’s past life as the Automatic Sprinkler Corporation manufacturing facility, is located in the up-and-coming Lakeview neighborhood of Birmingham. Working directly with local vendors, markets, and fisheries, Chef Evans is excited to offer Birmingham a menu focused on bold flavor and classic technique and simple, high-quality seafood dishes.
Previously, Chef Evans, a native of Muscle Shoals, AL, made his mark on Atlanta’s culinary landscape through his signature seafood dishes at The Optimist (which earned national recognition such as Esquire’s Restaurant of the Year and Bon Appétit’s Top Ten Best New Restaurants). In 2015, Chef Evans opened Atlanta’s Brezza Cucina with Chef Jonathan Waxman, and in 2017 he returned home to Birmingham with the goal of opening his dream restaurant with his wife, Suzanne Humphries Evans, who is the restaurant’s co-owner and project designer. The restaurant is located in the up-and-coming Lakeview neighborhood of Birmingham (close to Downtown, Avondale, Pepper Place, and Forest Park). Adam and Suzanne Evans found the space after a year-long search, when they fell in love with an old, windowless, 1940s warehouse that in its industrial heyday was home to the region’s largest Automatic Sprinkler Corporation manufacturing facility. Even in the dilapidated darkness, they saw potential to carry out their vision for Automatic Seafood & Oysters. The building was unconfined, full of character, and easily accessible for many Birmingham neighborhoods, offering the space needed for full-service dining both indoors and out.
Automatic Seafood & Oysters’ menu offers a variety of seafood dishes, featuring fish primarily sourced from the Gulf of Mexico, oysters from waters along the Southern and Eastern coastlines, as well as a selection of land-based produce and proteins. Chef Evans is inspired by the beautiful simplicity of high-quality products, which he combines with classic technique and flavors that complement the authenticity of each dish. Working directly with local vendors, markets, and fisheries, Evans offers a bounty beyond what’s typically seen at local seafood restaurants to showcase the Gulf’s variety–such as seasonal bycatch, fresh-caught sardines, locally fished spiny lobsters and octopus, and a full-service raw bar featuring Alabama oysters.
