Marco Morosini, the owner of Silvertron, presents a platter of free food in his restaurant. The cafe recently added vegetarian and vegan options to their continuing, dynamic menu. Photo by Gavin Gilliland
- Gavin Gilliland, Staff Writer
gjgill@uab.edu
The Silvertron Café, a restaurant unlike any other, sits quietly tucked away among the Forest Park neighborhood in Birmingham. The café has been serving customers for over 30 years. Looking around inside, it is cozy, but open. It feels like someone could be living there, and you can sense the history of the place because all the furniture is vintage. Chairs are set up so that you sit in close proximity to other customers, almost forcing you to be neighborly.
Before becoming the restaurant it is today, the Silvertron was once a TV repair shop for World War II era televisions of the “Silvertron” brand name.
“The name Silvertron comes from shortly after World War II. There were two television brands that hit the market and one almost died out immediately,” owner Marco Morosini said. “The second one – Silvertron – was pretty successful. Half of the restaurant was the first Silvertron TV repair shop in the Birmingham area. It used to be one of those places to get your TV fixed so then it became one of those places that you go to get some good food.”
Upon arrival at Silvertron, visitors are greeted by the understated retro exterior. String lights dangle above the large glass windows, allowing you to transport yourself back into the ‘50s. To enter Silvertron, you go through a front door which is reminiscent of a prohibition-era speakeasy, tucked away from the busy streets. Once inside, you are greeted with the original, vintage pressed tin ceiling. The walls are hung with art that outlines the history of the city of Birmingham.
“When you walk in, it feels like you are walking into someone’s house or someone’s living room, and there just happens to be thirty chairs set up in the middle of it,” said psychology major Emily Johnson.
When the restaurant first opened, the menu was small. Most notably, it contained their signature chicken salad, fried cheese, fried mushrooms, burgers and pot pie. These items are still offered on the menu at Silvertron today, even as the menu has greatly expanded. As times have changed and tastes have evolved, the café developed a menu that’s an inclusive, but simplistic selection of some of the best food in Birmingham. Aside from the signature dishes, the restaurant now offers not only the signature dishes, but also includes some Mexican cuisine, pastas and their famous Sunday Brunch.
Recently the restaurant has added many vegetarian and vegan options to make their menu more inclusive.
“The important part is to have a menu that is affordable for everyone, fun for everyone, tastier for everyone, and simple,” Morosoni said. “I think people come to Silvertron for the comfort food that everyone wants and what they look for throughout the week.”
During my visit to Silvertron, I was able to eat a sampler platter selected by Morosini himself. I sampled the chicken fingers with honey mustard, a steak slider with brown gravy, the signature chicken salad with crackers and the fried cheese served with marinara. The chicken fingers were lightly breaded and deep fried. The steak slider was lightly peppered with a buttery toasted bun and the rich brown gravy. The chicken salad was light with notes of citrus and the fried cheese was a rich white cheese, lightly breaded and deep fried to a golden brown until the cheese inside melted.
Overall, I found the food to be decent and fairly priced. Most entrées can be purchased for under $10 and have large portions.
“It’s not uncommon to see a table of young teenagers next to a young couple, next to a table of young families, next to a table of grandparents, and next to a table of an LGBTQ couple,” Morosoni said. “I think that particularity to bring everyone to the restaurant makes it fun. Some customers call the Silvertron the Birmingham version of Cheers because of this closeness.”
