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(Christy Turnipseed)

The latest addition to the Saw's Family, Post Office Pies, opened in March of this year with an overwhelming welcoming to the newly revised Avondale area. But what you probably haven't heard is the story about the man behind the pies, John Hall, the pizzeria's chef and co-owner.

This local Erwin High School graduate left Birmingham to pursue a culinary career in New York City. After completing culinary school and an apprenticeship at Luxembourg's Lea Linster, he went on to work for some of the greats in New York, from Gramercy Tavern, Per Se, and a two-year stint as sous-chef at Momofuku Ssam Bar. However, after running his own late night pizza joint out of his Brooklyn apartment by using a google phone number and delivering on his bike, Hall realized that pizza was his next culinary and business adventure. "I was working 12 hour shifts then making pizza from midnight to five in the morning, making the pizza, taking the orders and delivering them on my bike." That's when Hall decided he would leave the high rents of New York to come home to pursue a business in what he now loves doing.

With the help of Mike Wilson of Saws, chef and friend Brandon Cain and Hunter Lake, the owner of Avondale Brewing Company, the guys found a for sale sign in the old Avondale Post Office window and knew that's where Post Office Pies would be.

The restaurant is very cozy and has a feel of being in someone's home (with a wood fire oven). The seats, a mixture of old Wendy's chairs and repurposed leather booths from the old Michael's Sirloin Room on 20th Street South, to the chalkboard menu, all add charm that gives Post Office Pies something to remember and that's not even including the amazing menu.

The day I visited Hall I ordered what to me is the pizza that if you get all the right quality ingredients, really stands out and is simple and amazing, the classic Margherita. What stood out the most, however, was the dough. Made daily, its light and airiness combined with the puffed edges and crispy bottom is beyond any pizza dough in Birmingham. You will eat every bite. You will enjoy it and you will have it again.

Combined with locally made salads, to homemade meatballs, garlic bread (again, the dough) and of course Avondale brews and brew cocktails, there is something simple and comforting that will not only feed your stomach but also your soul and you'll want to bring your whole family.

There's a long tradition of Southerners leaving the South then coming back home to it. This notion has always fascinated me as a person who has lived in Birmingham my whole life. What brings them back? I think it's a sense of wanting the South to become more progressive and to be apart of that. Hall is one of those people. You can tell he is very grateful for what he learned in the years working in New York, you can sense how humble he is and glad to bring what he learned back home, "that's what makes it worthwhile."

It doesn't stop there either, he's also running pop up shops experimenting with techniques and even talks about another restaurant in the future. Wherever Hall goes, we are thankful that he has come back home to Birmingham and hope he'll stay to see what he brings to the table next.

Post Office Pies is at 209 41st St. South, between Saw's Soul Kitchen and Avondale Brewing Company. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter for all the up to date information.