Dinner service at café

After years of people asking, the folks at Birmingham’s Commonwealth Café – 300 Hamilton Row – have added a dinner menu and will be open until 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Owner James Hayosh had nothing but good things to say the day after their first dinner service began in early June. “There were a lot of familiar faces, and everyone loved the food,” he said. “It just felt really good, it felt natural.” The much-anticipated dinner menu includes grilled salmon with bamboo rice, macaroni and cheese with bacon lardons, and breakfast items like steak and eggs (topped with chimichurri) and a quinoa breakfast bowl. “One thing we definitely realized is people like eating breakfast any time of the day...when we did the dinner menu we weren’t about to hold off on that,” he said. Dinner isn’t the only change coming to the popular cafe. Hayosh said they have plans to do carryout meals for four – like their lasagna – and just bought six soft serve machines to be installed this summer. Flavors will include classics like vanilla and strawberry, as well as soft serve versions of their coffee drinks, along with a few vegan options.