Hospitality Icons Bringing Mountain Brook’s Slim’s Pizzeria to Downtown Tuscaloosa

Three titans of Alabama's hospitality industry are joining forces to bring a first-of-its-kind New York-style pizzeria to a renovated space in downtown Tuscaloosa.

As some may have seen on social media, Mountain Brook's Slim Pizzeria is coming to the corner of Greensboro Avenue and 6th Street later this year, directly across from the Bama Theatre downtown.

The project is a new partnership between Charles Morgan, Miller Mobley and Cris Eddings. For the unfamiliar, Morgan is the celebrated restaurateur behind Chuck's Fish and Five Tuscaloosa. Eddings is the son of Yoshie Eddings, Chuck's legendary sushi chef. Mobley is one of the most acclaimed portrait photographers working today and opened the first Slim's Pizzeria in Crestline Village in 2020.

Together, they will bring a far larger Slim's concept to downtown Tuscaloosa in a building being extensively renovated to make way for the 7,800-square-foot pizzeria on the first floor and condos above.

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Charles Morgan spoke with the Thread about Slim's Tuesday morning and said he's excited to open his first new restaurant concept in Tuscaloosa in 15 years.

"I'll tell you why I came here. I've read an article in the New York Times over 20 years ago that said college towns avoid recessions," said Morgan, a Florida native who often saw restaurants begin to struggle as soon as vacationers started pinching pennies. "And I guess it's all about timing, but we got there 20 years ago and have taken advantage of this remarkable run that this city has had."

Chuck's opened in 2006, then FIVE in 2011, and Morgan said the restaurants have flourished, buoyed by explosive student population growth at the University of Alabama, the football dynasty of Coach Nick Saban, the political careers of folks like former Senator Richard Shelby and Mayor Walt Maddox, and more.

Now, with partners he called "forces of nature," and executive chef John Rolen, Morgan said he hopes Slim's Pizzeria will be his next success story.

"Cris and I are not experts, but we do know how to run a restaurant, and we know how to build a staff," Morgan said. "And with Miller putting this thing together, we think we've got a good group in a great town.

It could become a centerpiece of a reimagined downtown as city leaders consider removing lanes of travel on Greensboro Avenue to make it more walkable.

It will also be more than four times the size of the 1,700-square-foot Slim's in Birmingham, which seats only 64 people. The exterior alone of the Tuscaloosa location is expected to have more seating than that.

"We're going to offer more than pizza but less than a full-blown, four-page Italian menu," Morgan said. "We're going to have incredible pizzas, salads, appetizers, and we'll probably have 10 or 12 Italian entrees."

Morgan spoke to the Thread from New York City as it got hammered by snow Tuesday, and said Miller Mobley has been drawing heavy inspiration from the corner pizzerias in the Big Apple.

"If there's one thing I'm comfortable about, it's what this place is going to look like," Morgan said. "Even in a small university town, Miller will put this together so out-of-state students, parents and travelers will recognize it from places they've been before."

Morgan said he and the other partners hope to open Slim's Tuscaloosa in October of this year, but also added that he'd be ecstatic if they can make that happen.

For more exclusive coverage of restaurant and retail development in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story erroneously identified executive chef John Rolen as John Roland. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight.