By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — A white-bearded man wearing a navy blue hat emblazoned with “USS Abraham Lincoln” slides into a corner booth at Trussville Grill, just across the railroad tracks off South Chalkville Road.
The restaurant is located in a small space attached to a gas station, where many restaurants have seen their promising beginnings, and their quick ends.
The man is alone in the late afternoon on Wednesday, Oct. 22. He tells the one waitress working that it’s his first time to come in and that he’d tell his buddies they should come try it out, too.
The waitress tells him that his friends better hurry, because the grill was set to close in less than a month, on Nov. 15. Trussville Grill originally opened Dec. 15, 2013.
On Oct. 22, one television hung on a wall shows the 5 p.m. news while another rolls business ads across the screen. Salt and pepper shakers are kept in old Pepsi Cola boxes on each table. Each table has a number taped to its side, so waitresses know where food is going. There are Alabama and Auburn flags and pictures on one wall, as well as autographed Hewitt-Trussville baseball and softball jerseys in glass cases.
With the closing date approaching, the meat and three is half off. A couple can eat chicken tenders, fries, macaroni and cheese, okra and a roll each for fewer than $13. A steal.
So why did the grill instead close Nov. 7, or at all, for that matter? It has nothing to do with failure, the stigma of sharing space with a gas station or customers worrying about the train blocking the tracks.
It closed because owner Levert Jackson chose not to renew the lease, to search for something else. He wants to open a karaoke-style restaurant — called LJ’s Karaoke Bar and Grill — in Trussville, or as close to it as possible. Jackson said he’s heard feedback from the community, and he wants to open a restaurant that meets their wants.
“I love the community,” he said.
The grill during the snowstorm in January stayed open for nearly 24 hours, serving free coffee and food. It sponsored baseball and softball teams. It gave discounts to city workers. Jackson helped raise more than $1,000 for the family of Blanca Canales, 50, who in February was struck and killed by a vehicle on Chalkville Mountain Road in Grayson Valley.
Jackson said he doesn’t want to run his business in a “give me, give me, give me” way. Being involved in the community is important, he said.
“I think that’s a big part of it,” he said.
Jackson grew up poor, and he said that when he figured out how to reach his goals, he was going to share that with everyone he could.
“The more you give, the more you will receive,” he said.
Jackson thanked the community for its support. A post on the grill’s Facebook page the day it closed stated that it would keep everyone informed when a new location is found.
“Hopefully we’ll find something in the near future,” Jackson said.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.