Once a residential district, Cobb Lane today offers an ambience and a commodity that most retail areas cannot match - a sense of history. The Lane itself is a cobblestone alley. Entering the courtyard of Cobb Lane Restaurant is like stepping into a sidewalk cafe in Paris. White tablecloths, plants, stone walkways under shady trees lead inside the restaurant where walls are covered with murals and delicious smells fill the air. Above the restaurant, artists are at work in the Cobb Lane Gallery. Paintings cover the walls. Glass art hangs in the windows and three spacious rooms are filled with pottery, paintings and glass art. A screened porch looks out over the restaurant diners below. These businesses and several others are located in what used to be the Levert Apartments, built about 1920. The Levert was first converted to commercial use by Mrs. Virginia Cobb in 1944, who initially opened a needlework shop there and then a restaurant. After World War II her menu of soups, salads, and sanwiches expanded to include more substantial fare such as her famous Chicken Supreme. She constructed the patios behind the Levert and rented out specialty shop space in the multi-story structure. In recognition of her pioneering efforts in the area, the Lane was named for Mrs. Cobb. Her enterprise, Cobb's Corner Cupboard, an intimate and interesting restaurant which provided indoor and outdoor dining space, was pretty much the flagship enterprise on the Lane. Today the bulk of the businesses and offices are located in the old Levert Apartment building which is actually one linked building although it may appear to be two because of the tunnel-like walkway from 20th Street to the Lane which divides the structure into two halves. Marketry, a marketing firm, and The Blue Monkey occupy the north side of the Levert. A building on the north side of the Levert was built in 1901 as a single-family residence by Haskin Williams, a senior partner with Birmingham Rail and Locomotive Co. Black and White publications now has offices in the magnificent old house. Down the Lane, The Back Alley offers informal indoor-outdoor dining in what was formerly garages for the old Haskin Williams house. Across the Lane is the old carriage house. One thing is certain. The Lane offers a very nice alternative whether you prefer the Southside nightlife scene or a step back into the gracious early twentieth century on a sunny morning. |
