Seafood & Chicken Box

The History and Tradition of  SEAFOOD & CHICKEN BOX

The Seafood and Chicken Box is the epitome of the great tradition of family restaurants.  The Seafood and Chicken Box has catered to families in the Birmingham area and beyond since April, 1972. The restaurant enjoys a customer following of families from the entire state of Alabama and the southeastern United States.  A recent article in Southern Living, named the Seafood and Chicken Box the editor’s choice as best of the top seven restaurants in the Southeast for fried chicken.  This broadened their customer base to include visitors from as far west as Oregon and as far east as Massachusetts.   

 
For thirty-seven years, brothers Paul Gagliano Jr. and Carl Gagliano Sr. have operated their restaurant with meticulous care.  That is a long time for a restaurant to endure.  One of the contributing factors in their longevity and success is the brothers’ “hands on” approach to serving quality food.  Paul and Carl still do the cooking themselves because they are fanatical about quality control. 

The Seafood and Chicken Box is family owned and operated.  Many employees over years have been family members.  Both their mother and father worked for them after they retired from their own business.  Any day you drop in the restaurant for lunch or dinner you will be greeted by Paul’s wife Rosemary or friendly employees hosting the dining room and handling the sales desk.  Their sons and daughters have worked in the restaurant on every level.  Many of their nieces have worked as waitresses and the employees who are not related are friendly, warm people who quickly become part of the “Seafood and Chicken Box Family.”

Another way the Seafood and Chicken Box is sure to deliver quality food is that they do not precook food. All food is cooked to order.  When customers give their order to a waitress, the waitress gives the order to the cooks, and then the process of cooking the delicious food begins.  It ends with piping hot food served to each table.  Paul and Carl have remained true to their original recipes for preparing and cooking their specialties of southern fried chicken and fresh seafood finished with their own special seasoning, “Goo.” They make almost everything from scratch.  They make their own slaw, hush puppies, and sauces.  Even the chicken and seafood are bathed in an egg wash and breading of their own making.