Bob Carlton
ReporterBob Carlton is a special correspondent for Alabama Public Radio based in Birmingham. For 46 years, he wrote about the people, places, food and culture of his home state of Alabama for The Birmingham News and AL.com, retiring in 2025. A native of the Marengo County seat of Linden, Bob earned his journalism degree from the University of Alabama in 1980. He has won numerous Alabama Press Association and Alabama Associated Press awards for his feature writing.
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The Bright Star restaurant in the blue-collar town of Bessemer has been a dining destination of Alabama football fans for generations. Aside from the 119-year-old restaurant’s famous broiled snapper and Greek-style tenderloin the main attraction for Tide fans is the private booth where the legendary “Bear” Bryant dined when he visited the Bright Star on his frequent trips to Birmingham. -
Birmingham is known as a foodie town. That can mean barbeque or dinner at a James Beard Award winning restaurant. But, the Magic City also has a history with the humble peanut. The Cassimus family settled in Birmingham after leaving Greece in 1907. Soon after, D.J. Cassimus was selling fresh roasted peanuts on downtown’s bustling Morris Avenue. Now, you’ll find boiled peanuts there, too. -
Archibald’s BBQ has been a beacon for barbecue enthusiasts for more to sixty years. Customers line up every day on a pilgrimage to the modest cinder block building off Martin Luther King Boulevard in Northport.
