Sydney Cromwell
Big Bad Breakfast
Big Bad Breakfast founder John Currence inside the Homewood store prior to its Jan. 24 opening.
Homewood’s newest breakfast joint is set to open next week at the former Steep and Deep store, 1926 29th Ave. S.
Big Bad Breakfast, which started in Oxford, Mississippi, in 2008 and has a location on U.S. 280, plans to open on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Founder and James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence said he had been looking at downtown Homewood as an ideal restaurant spot since they first considered opening in Birmingham.
“That’s where we need to be,” Currence said.
The building required significant renovation work to turn it from an outdoor supply store to a breakfast and lunch restaurant, including rebuilding the back wall and a new fire exit. Currence said the restaurant space, which is 3,800 square feet divided into two levels of kitchen and seating areas, is roughly the same size as the U.S. 280 location, though with a smaller kitchen space.
“It’s going to be an exercise in aerobics,” Currence said of serving food to tables on two different stories. “Hopefully we’re popular enough that that’s going to be an actual issue.”
The menu will be similar to other Big Bad Breakfast restaurants, including biscuits, omelets, pancakes, waffles, skillets and more for breakfast, as well as sandwiches, wraps and salads for lunch. Currence said the Homewood restaurant is also the launching point for a few new menu items that will roll out to the rest of the locations, including reinvented, “super crispy” hash browns and grits bowls with toppings such as huevos rancheros and chicken pot pie.
“I want our menu to be a living document that continues to morph and continues to move forward,” Currence said.
The decor at Big Bad Breakfast includes a variety of pictures, old china and knick-knacks on the wall, as well as a former Steep and Deep sign. On the second level, garage doors can be opened on two sides to allow partially outdoor dining on nice days.
“The stores continue to get a little more ambitious as we go along,” Currence said.
The Homewood Big Bad Breakfast will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Visit bigbadbreakfast.com for more information.
