Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Stuart Stone, owner of Freddy’s Wine Bar in Birmingham, stands outside of the former Nabeel’s Cafe in 2023. Stone opened Freddy’s Bistro and Bar in the former Nabeel’s Cafe location in May.
Freddy’s Bistro and Bar has been serving their European-inspired selection on Oxmoor Road for just over three months, after a year’s worth of delays kept them from opening the doors to the revamped space previously occupied by Nabeel’s Cafe.
Stuart Stone, the owner and operator of Freddy’s Wine Bar on Highland Avenue in Birmingham, signed a lease in December 2022 and opened the Homewood location in late May 2024.
Both locations’ menus are inspired by small spots in cities like Siena, Florence and Paris, and Stone brought the concepts to Birmingham’s food scene when he opened Freddy’s Wine Bar in 2018.
Stone envisioned Freddy’s as a neighborhood gathering place specializing in charcuterie, upscale Italian salads and sandwiches, and hand-selected wines from regions such as Burgundy, Loire Valley, Tuscany and Napa Valley.
The Homewood menu features a selection of cheese and dip boards, lighter snacks, salads, sandwiches, a few main dishes, desserts and, of course, a wide variety of cocktails and wine.
Stone graduated from Auburn University with a degree in environmental engineering and spent a few years working for his family’s business, Stone Building Company, before jumping into the food business in 2015. With assistance from his father, Stone opened Pranzo, which offered Italian-influenced sandwiches and salads on 3rd Avenue North in downtown Birmingham. Pranzo — Italian for the word “lunch” — closed in 2016.
