Our Favorite Places: The Lumbar

In these tough times, there’s never been a better time to support Birmingham's incredible local bar scene. We look forward to when they’ll be back at full strength!

The Lumbar

212 29th Street S, Pepper Place

With a vibe that seems less like your typical bar and more like a coffee shop that serves up spirits, The Lumbar is a fun science-themed bar that encourages ideas, collaboration and daydreaming. The establishment offers a range of specialty cocktails, including themed drinks like Tequila Mockingbird to celebrate National Literacy Month and Nightmare on 29th Street for Halloween, as well as a menu of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers and bowls. There’s even an energetic space available for meetings called the Incubator.

Your Name:
‍Rylie Hightower | Founder, owner, beverage & creative director

What’s the first impression you want guests to have when they walk into your place?
‍We want every person who comes into The Lumbar to be warmly welcomed and feel like they can be unapologetically themselves. We use fueling food, creative drinks, and caring bartenders to inspire our community to go out and change the world. After throwing back a couple cold ones over conversation, we want everyone to leave The Lumbar feeling better than when they walked in and feeling like they truly matter and make a difference to those around them.

What’s something people don’t know about running a bar?
‍There are so many moving parts to operating a bar if you've never done it before. Whatever hours you think you'll spend doing your job, double it. It's taught me to be loving and flexible and (arguably) the world's fastest troubleshooter. Sometimes you look around when something goes terribly wrong and say "Who's job is this!" before realizing "Mine. It's my job. It's up to me to fix it." You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. It's the hardest thing you'll ever do and the best family you'll ever have.

What’s the greatest compliment a customer can give you?
‍I'll share a few comments that have been said to me over the last year and a half that have made this whole ride worth it:
"This place is my home."
"We're so glad you're here in Birmingham."
"You always know what I want. When I'm here, I'm happy."
"Did we just become best friends?"
"I'm so proud of you."
"I have so much to tell you!"
"We are always treated like family here. Thank you."

What’s the most important thing you have to do to ensure a happy customer?

Logistically, you have to make sure they receive what they ordered exactly as they ordered it in a timely manner. Outside of logistics, a happy staff will result in happy guests. We only hire people to work at The Lumbar who are kind, caring, and considerate of others. Making this our #1 staffing priority means that we are always confident our guests will be well taken care of and their needs will be met to the best of our abilities.

What’s your favorite drink?
‍Our cocktail menus rotate regularly around our weekly and monthly initiatives so that makes it hard to pick a favorite. For example, we just wrapped up Shark Week and my favorite cocktail on that menu was "The Meg," an ocean water-style double long island. National Literacy Month is now for the month of September and my favorite drink on this menu is the "Tequila Mockingbird" with blanco tequila, lime, blackberry, coconut, and creme de violette. If you're asking me about beer, I'm honestly a classic PBR girl. I've never been let down by PBR.

@thelumbar's ZZ Pack-A-Punch cocktail features Ole Smoky Hunch Punch Moonshine, fresh-squeezed lemon, and mint to honor black female author ZZ Packer during National Literacy Month

What have you done differently to respond to the pandemic?
‍The pandemic has been a significant operational challenge for us, just like for everyone else in the food and beverage industry. Currently, we're only open for outdoor dining on our new patio, made possible by the City of Birmingham's new Shared Spaces permit (we were the inaugural permit holders). This permit has made a world of difference in our ability to operate in a way that is safe and comfortable to both staff and guests. We are currently serving guests from our sidewalk bar, which is made of large garage doors that open up onto the sidewalk creating a bar top that we can serve from. Guests can order beer, liquor, cocktails, wine, lunch, and dinner at the bar and then drink & dine on our patio. We've been fortunate to be able to shift into this kind of operation that minimizes risk for us and the community.

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