The owners of Fever’s Side Chicks have expanded to a second location with the opening of Studio Eleven 11 in Tarrant. The Fever’s food truck is parked outside of the event space on 1109 Ford Ave. and serves vegan pizza, cauliflower wings, and more Monday-Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. They are also hosting vegan brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Studio Eleven 11 is a rentable space that features weekly events like yoga with Black Yogi on Thursdays. Their Instagram is a great way to stay updated on what’s coming up each week. The family behind it is excited about what this community space-restaurant combination brings to the Tarrant and Birmingham communities. “We came up with this because we wanted a space for people to be able to come and feel comfortable creating their ideas, and for us to come into the kitchen to create more ideas.”
This exciting development comes only a year after the opening of the first Fever’s at 1001 3rd Avenue West. Samone Hall noticed the lack of food options for vegans in cities like Birmingham and their old hometown of Indianapolis, and was ready to change that sad truth. She works in real estate and had investments in Birmingham, and when the 3rd Avenue location appeared she felt the need to be in the Magic City to truly ensure this vegan venture would be a success.
“I left my beautiful condo in Indianapolis to get out here in the South, get on the grind, and do some hands-on work,” she says. And she had family to help. Daughters Miesha and Miracle along with their father Marlin help operate the business, and the Halls had family in the city to greet them when they moved in 2019. Samone’s aunt runs the much-loved Homecoming Coffee & Books shop at B Elite Suites in Ensley.
Family and community remain the focus for this small business. Fever’s is named in remembrance of Samone’s brother, who sadly passed away in 1999. Samone credits her grandmother and aunt with her passion for feeding others. “Everybody came to our house to sit down, chill, eat, and cook,” she shares. “Without those two women I don’t think I would even have the drive to even think that I could do something like this. But it just kinda comes naturally.” Samone finds beauty in working with her daughters around food, just as her grandmother and aunt did together as cooks at a monastery for decades before them.
Fever’s originally planned to focus on wraps and soul food, but things changed when the person they bought the food truck from mentioned they had a pizza oven as well–and offered to give Fever’s his recipes and other helpful lessons. “Blessings to him because he was an angel that just showed up and was like ‘Here you go’,” reflects Samone.
Vegan is certainly the focus, but it’s even deeper than that. They aim to stick to as many natural ingredients as they can while avoiding processed items. Their vegan dough is one of the restaurant’s biggest distinguishers. Included on the menu is the Hot Girl (green peppers, onions, beyond sausage, hot girl sauce), Get The Bag (artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, jalapenos, spinach), and Savage (a favorite of red sauce lovers). They are adding new menu items as well, including the House Wife breakfast pizza that can be found at many brunches.
One goal of the weekend brunches is to introduce Birminghamians to other vegan chefs around the state. Huntsville chef FarushaKUKS, for example, recently excited Eleven 11 visitors with a menu that includes mushroom bacon BLTs. The visiting-chef brunches are just as good of a time for the Halls and friends. “We love brunch and mimosas and I wanted to do that vegan,” Samone shares.
Whether they are cooking pizzas in Tarrant, hosting events in Ensley, or driving across the city with the vegan food truck–the Halls are ready to create something special for the people of Alabama. “We love for people to come and chit chat, we love for people to sit down and get the vibe. We always have music playing. That’s the kind of feel that we want to keep wherever we are in the city,” she says. We would say they succeed in providing that environment.
