For almost three months, Tanesha Sims-Summers debated whether she would get real on social media about a big issue facing her company.
In late fall 2025, her Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co. food truck, stopped running. At first, she thought it would be an easy fix because she and her husband, Clem Summers, have faced truck challenges in the past. But this issue was different.
The mechanic told them that the part and labor to fix the truck, which is known as Ms. Poppy, would be $6,500. (The rear differential, which distributes engine power to the rear axel, was not working.) And to make matters worse, they would have to pay up front to order the part.
They didn’t have the money for such a repair, and Tanesha thought long and hard about what to do: Should she start a Go Fund Me?
The Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn food truck is a 2004 model that Clem Summers and Tanesha Sims-Summers bought in 2019 for $50,000 from Golden Flake. They outfitted it and had planned to put it in operation in 2020, not anticipating how the pandemic would impact the business. They pivoted with online sales until the world opened back up again. Today, the truck, which is paid off, has experienced vandalism twice and even a fire through the years. Still, the owners managed to get it rolling every time. Now, they are hosting a Go Fund Me to pay for a major repair. (Photo from company’s Facebook page.)
Five Birmingham restaurants/chefs have been named as semifinalists for a James Beard Award, the Oscars for the food industry.
From here, restaurant and chef nominees will be announced on Tuesday, March 31, and the winners will be recognized on Monday, June 15 in Chicago during the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony.
The Birmingham semifinalists are:
Outstanding Chef: Rob McDaniel, Bayonet
Best Chef (South): Kristen Hall, La Fête
Best Chef (South): Geri-Martha O’Hara and Ryan O’Hara, Pizza Grace
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Eric Bennett, Continental Drift
Over at Alicia’s Coffee in downtown Birmingham, Al Green’s “For the Good Times” plays on Spotify.
As Al croons about the whisper of raindrops softly blowing against his window, owners Naimah Alicia Elmore and Roc Harrell have their own good time in serving food and beverages.
Orders for smoothies, Cuban coffee and hot coffee roll in.
The whir of the blender and the chatter of patrons fill the air. People settle into the booths lined along a wall that has stood the test of time.
If walls could talk, it would share how Birmingham’s first Black millionaire, A.G. Gaston, built the building in 1954 and called it the A.G. Gaston Motel to give Black travelers a place to stay while traveling through a segregated South. Now refurbished, a portion of the motel serves as the home to Alicia’s Coffee. The rest of the facility stands as a tourist attraction, showcasing a gallery of Gaston artifacts, the original courtyard and motel rooms, including a room where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed during the 1960s.
The space that houses Alicia’s Coffee today is where motel guests once checked in, while another part once served as the entrance to the motel’s ballroom.
Roc Harrell waits on Rev. Hosea Agee, who takes a bus every morning just to visit Alicia’s Coffee.
The city’s past hangs heavy in the air, along with scents of roasted coffee grounds and cinnamon. Meanwhile, Naimah and Roc interact with customers just like how Green’s voice sounds: smooth and steady.
“When you walk into Alicia’s Coffee, you are greeted just like on ‘Cheers,’ ” Naimah said of the popular 1980s/90s NBC sitcom. “We do know your name, and most times, we remember your beverage.”
In late 2025, the owners of Alicia’s Coffee started placing these cup sleeves on their beverages. It contains one of the famous quotes from Birmingham’s first Black millionaire A.G. Gaston: “Find a Need and Fill It.” Co-owner Naimah Elmore said she hopes customers will hang onto the sleeve as a reminder that anything is possible. (Photo by Chanda Temple)
