Photos courtesy of Big Bad Breakfast, Adam Evans, Slice Pizza & Brewhouse and Farm Bowl + Juice Co.

We're far enough into the new year to forget about those resolutions you may have made and start enjoying some of the new restaurants that have opened and will be opening in Birmingham in 2018. The new year is already off to a fast start, with the long-awaited opening this week of the second Birmingham location of James Beard-winning chef John Currence's Big Bad Breakfast. And Pizzeria GM, the new pizza place from the brothers who started GianMarco's Italian restaurant, is ready to open any day now. Coming later this spring will be a Latin American concept, El ZunZun Restaurant, from Becky Satterfield of Satterfield's Restaurant, and Blueprint on 3rd, an American brasserie from veteran Birmingham restaurateur Dean Robb. Continue reading to find out more about all those places, as well as some of the other new restaurants expected to open in the Birmingham metro area this year. Several others are in the planning and development stages, and we'll let you know about them as soon as we find out more. So keep coming back here for updates throughout the year. In the meantime, here are 18 Birmingham restaurants to put on your 2018 dining bucket list. Enjoy. -- Bob Carlton

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Bob Carlton | bcarlton@al.com

Pizzeria GM

Giani and Marco Respinto -- the brothers behind GianMarco’s, the popular neighborhood Italian restaurant on Broadway Street in Homewood – are oh-so-close to opening their Pizzeria GM, a casual, family-friendly pizza place in West Homewood. The menu will feature hand-tossed pizzas, as well as sandwiches, small plates, salads, beer and wine – “the kind of casual restaurant that me and my brother grew up with in New York and New Jersey,” Giani Respinto says.

Address: 600 Oak Grove Road, Homewood

Projected opening: Late January

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Birmingham News file | Beverly Taylor

D's Tamales

Louisiana native Darryl “D” Crockett, who learned the art of making tamales from his Aunt Neomi, opened his D’s Tamales To-Go in Hueytown about 10 years ago, and he and Maria Patterson just opened a second location this week below the old Cosmo's Pizza location in Pickwick Plaza in the heart of Birmingham's Five Points South. They are planning a grand opening in a couple of weeks. In addition to D's spicy tamales, the menu includes wings, nachos, quesadillas, burgers and sides.

Address: 2012 Magnolia Ave. South, Suite R1, Birmingham

Opened: Jan. 24

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Photo courtesy of Adam Evans

Adam Evans restaurant

Muscle Shoals native Adam Evans, a former chef at the Optimist in Atlanta, is returning to his home state to open his as-yet-unnamed seafood and oyster concept in Birmingham's Lakeview District. The restaurant will feature a classic raw bar and full-service dining downstairs, as well as a deck bar on the roof. In addition to fresh Gulf seafood, the restaurant will also offer local produce and non-seafood dishes. Evans recently was a teammate of chef David Bancroft of Acre restaurant in Auburn on the Food Network's "Iron Chef Showdown," which Bancroft won.

Address: 2820 Fifth Ave. South, Birmingham

Projected opening: May

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Image courtesy of El ZunZun Restaurant

El ZunZun Restaurant

Becky Satterfield, the owner and pastry chef at Satterfield’s Restaurant in Cahaba Heights is teaming with chef Angela Schmidt to open what they’re calling “an authentic Latin American restaurant specializing in the food of the abuelas (or grandmothers) and inspired by the migratory route of the ruby-throated hummingbird.” The restaurant will be in a new retail development currently under construction on Crosshaven Drive in Cahaba Heights.

Address: 4105 Crosshaven Drive, Vestavia Hills

Projected opening: Late spring

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Image courtesy of Dean Robb

Blueprint on 3rd

Dean Robb, whose culinary career includes working alongside Frank Stitt at Bottega restaurant and serving as vice president of operations for Taziki’s Mediterranean Café, is returning to the restaurant business to open what he calls an American brasserie that will be in the former Blueprint Building in Birmingham’s Pepper Place development. Robb calls the menu an homage to some of America’s great restaurant cities, with pot roast nachos from Chicago, a Hangtown fry from San Francisco and shrimp and chicken etouffee from New Orleans. James Huckaby, a former chef de cuisine at Chez Fonfon, will be the executive chef.

Address: 3000 Third Ave. South, Birmingham

Projected opening: Mid-May

Read more about Blueprint on 3rd here.

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Photo courtesy of Big Bad Breakfast

Big Bad Breakfast

The popular breakfast spot founded by James Beard-winning chef John Currence in Oxford, Miss., in 2008, has opened its second metro Birmingham location in downtown Homewood. The menu includes omelets, shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, steak and eggs and other made-from-scratch breakfast dishes, as well as sandwiches, wraps and burgers

Address: 1926 29th Ave. South, Homewood

Opened: Jan. 23

Read more about Big Bad Breakfast here.

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Image courtesy of Back Forty Beer Company

Back Forty Beer Company

Gadsden-based Back Forty Beer Company is opening its first satellite brewery in Birmingham’s Sloss Docks development later this year. The brewery, which will anchor the development, will include a restaurant from chef Russ Bodner, who most recently worked as the sous chef at SpringHouse in Alexander City and as the executive chef at SpringHouse’s sister restaurant Kowaliga, on Lake Martin. The Back Forty menu will feature wood-fired pizzas, skewers, tacos, charcuterie and shared appetizer boards.

Address: 33001 First Ave. North, Birmingham

Projected opening: Summer

Read more about Back Forty Beer Company here.

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Illustration courtesy of BrickTop's

BrickTop's

This Nashville-based steak and seafood restaurant chain has announced plans to open its first Alabama location in a new building on the site of the former Mountain Brook Inn on U.S. 280. The menu features such appetizers as lobster bisque and grilled artichokes and entrees such as crab cakes, Chilean sea bass, filet mignon and baby back ribs.

Address: 2800 U.S. 280, Homewood

Projected opening: Summer

Read more about BrickTop's here.

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Image courtesy of Black Design Architecture

Slice Pizza & Brewhouse

The pizzeria and pub that brothers Chris, Jason and Jeff Bajalieh began in Birmingham’s Lakeview District in 2011 is expanding to the suburbs, with a new location opening later this year near Life Time Fitness in Vestavia Hills. The restaurant specializes in gourmet pizzas and side dishes made with local and seasonal ingredients, and offers a variety of local craft beers on tap.

Address: 3104 Timberlake Drive, Vestavia Hills

Projected opening: Summer or fall

Read more about Slice Pizza & Brewhouse here.

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Photo courtesy of Saw's Street Kitchen

Saw's Southside

Saw's BBQ, which founder Mike Wilson started in Homewood in 2009, keeps growing and growing, with Saw's Soul Kitchen in Avondale, Saw's Juke Joint in Crestline Park and the Saw's Street Kitchen food truck. The next location of Saw's will be on Birmingham's Southside in the former Fat Sam's Sub Station space near the UAB campus. Renowned for its ribs, smoked chicken and pork 'n' greens, Saw's has been recognized as one of the best barbecue joints in America from publications as diverse as Men's Journal and Garden & Gun to Sports Illustrated and Cooking with Paula Deen.

Address: 1154 11th Ave. South, Birmingham

Projected opening: Fall

Read more about Saw's Southside here.

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Bob Carlton | bcarlton@al.com

Ashley Mac's

The café and takeout business that Ashley McMakin and her husband, Andy McMakin, will open its fourth metro Birmingham location this year in part of the old DoDiYos restaurant space in SoHo Square. The Ashley Mac's menu features sandwiches, salads and sides, including chicken salad, pimento cheese and grilled chicken dishes. The "gourmet-to-go" menu also includes take-home appetizers, entrees, casseroles, salads and desserts, including Ashley Mac's famous strawberry cake. Ashley Mac's also hopes to open a downtown location in the former La Paree restaurant space late this year.

Address: 831 28th Ave. South, Suite N-101, Homewood

Projected opening: Late February

Read more about Ashley Mac's here.

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Photo by FlashStock Technology Inc.

Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza

This California-based fast-casual pizza restaurant chain opened its first location in Irvine, Calif., six years ago, and has since grown to include more than 225 locations in 34 states and Canada. The new Birmingham location in The Waites development near UAB will be the first in Alabama. The chef-driven menu features artisanal pizzas, fresh salads, blood orange lemonade and s'more pies. Guests may choose from Blaze Pizza's selection of signature pizzas or create their own. The price is about $8 for an 11-inch pizza.

Address: 707 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. South, Birmingham

Projected opening: Mid-February

Read more about Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza here.

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Photo courtesy of Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar

Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar

This Louisiana-based sports bar and grill was founded in the early 2000s by a couple of guys, Brandon Landry and Jack Warner, who were non-scholarship walk-ons together on the LSU basketball team. Walk-On's, which is eyeing a major expansion into Alabama and other Southeastern states in 2018, was also voted ESPN Mobile's Best Sports Bar in North America in 2012. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is a partner in the business. The Louisiana-inspired menu features The Louisiana-style menu features gumbo, red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, po' boys, boudin balls and fried alligator, as well as a wide selection of burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads. Walk-On's has not yet announced a specific location for its Birmingham restaurant, but it is expected to be along U.S. 280, Landry said in a previous interview with AL.com.

Projected opening: TBA

Read more about Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar here.

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Bob Carlton | bcarlton@al.com

Farm Bowl + Juice Co.

This new, healthy-food concept from the founders of Urban Cookhouse, Andrea and David Snyder, serves acai berry bowls, oatmeal bowls, cold-pressed juices and smoothies made from ingredients bought from local companies and farmers, as well as coffee from Homewood's Seeds Coffee Co. There is also a kids' menu.

Address: 1920 29th Ave. South, Homewood

Opened: Jan. 4

Read more about Farm Bowl + Juice Co. here.

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Photo courtesy of Midici

MidiCi

This California-based pizza chain will be among one of the newest tenants in the Lane Parke retail development in Mountain Brook. The menu features Neapolitan pizzas, meatballs, cheese boards and salads.

Address: 270 Rele St., Mountain Brook

Projected opening: Spring

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Facebook courtesy of Kale Me Crazy

Kale Me Crazy

This “superfood café” concept began in Atlanta and was selected one of the 11 best juice bars in America by the Food Network. As the name might suggest, Kale Me Crazy uses fresh, organic and raw foods to promote a healthy lifestyle with a menu that includes juices, smoothies, salads, acai bowls and wraps. The café is opening later this year in Homewood’s SoHo Square, next door to the new Ashley Mac’s.

Address: 1831 28th Ave. South, Suite 106, Homewood.

Projected opening: Spring

Read more about Kale Me Crazy here.

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Photo courtesy of Parish Seafood & Oyster House

Parish Seafood & Oyster House

Oyster lovers should be thrilled to know that the popular Parish Seafood & Oyster House in Trussville is expanding its horizons and plans to open a second restaurant in the former Coal Yard Bar and Grill location in Old Town Helena. In addition to raw and baked oysters, the menu features crab cakes, snapper etouffee, shrimp and grits, and catfish po' boys.

Address: 4085 Helena Road, Helena

Projected opening: Date not yet available

Read more about Parish Seafood & Oyster House here.

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Facebook photo courtesy of the Restaurant at Fox Valley

The Restaurant at Fox Valley

The much-loved Fox Valley Restaurant, a Shelby County fine-dining destination that closed last summer after 27 years, is getting a new life as The Restaurant at Fox Valley, which is expected to open early this year. Reza Bavali, who has previously worked in kitchens at The Club and the Wynfrey Hotel, is one of the owners and will be the executive chef, according to the Helena Reporter. Bavali plans a menu that features French, Italian and Mediterranean dishes.

Address: 6745 Shelby County Highway 17, Maylene

Projected opening: Late January/early February

Read more about The Restaurant at Fox Valley here.

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Bob Carlton | bcarlton@al.com

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