Dish'n It Out

Offering full-service catering, a little-known submenu of healthy options and a choice of fresh, frozen or hot takeout, Dish’n It Out brings something rather unique to the Crestline Park area of Birmingham.

Owners Jennifer and Joseph Fuller said the best-selling entrées on the menu, which come in sizes ranging from mini (one serving) to large (10-12 servings), are Chicken Pot Pie topped with biscuits, Chicken Tetrazzini with Swiss — “people know it and love it” — and the Shrimp and Artichoke Bake over wild rice with a Parmesan béchamel sauce.

One thing that appeals to repeat customers, Joseph said, is the casseroles and their homemade quality. 

“We get to know a bunch of [the customers]. They’ll bring over their casserole dishes with their name in it. We’ll cook it in their dish, especially around the holidays,” he said. “We’ll do the turkey for them as well, but sometimes we cook it in their dishes for them so it’s ‘homemade.’”

But in addition to the set takeout menu, which also features hors d’oeuvres, salads, soups, other entrées, sides and desserts, Joseph said he has been designing a special, order-ahead menu of “light, clean food” each week for Black Market Fitness clients, and anybody else interested in seeing that menu should call for details.

“We’ve got it down to where the food tastes really good,” Jennifer said.

The catering or group menu, requiring 24-hour advance ordering, features per-person pricing for items like breakfast soufflé, various sandwiches, entrée salads and hot entrées, and comes with plates, napkins, utensils, cups, drinks and ice.

Customers do not have to order from the group menu to take advantage of the delivery service.

“A lot of people send food to people who move into town or who get out of the hospital or have babies. We’ll deliver food to them all over the place [with a fee],” Joseph said.

Dish’n It Out is flanked by several other businesses, including Saw’s Juke Joint and Birmingham Bicycle Company.

“Our neighbors in this building bring in so much volume … [which is] very helpful for us. It brings in a lot of people that would never know where to find us,” Jennifer said. “Everybody in this building is friends. It’s a really nice family.”

In fact, Jennifer was once one of those neighbors. She co-established The Open Door restaurant, but eventually Jennifer began working part-time at Dish’n It Out.

“I came in to help [the previous owner] for a month or two, and I never left,” she said.

In 2011, with about five years of experience working at Dish’n It Out and faced with the opportunity to purchase it from the longtime friend, Jennifer said she felt the decision was easy.

“[The original owner] had two babies right in a row, and she wanted to sell it to someone who cared about it and knew about it,” she said. “This opportunity was right in our face. It was kind of thrown at [us]. I couldn’t say no to it, honestly. It was a great business; it was established.”

Joseph, who also had experience in the restaurant business, agreed that ownership was the next step for them. “It was a really natural progression.”

Although they liked Dish’n It Out’s menu, the Fullers changed a few of the dishes and added some of their own recipes, too.

“We have made a lot of changes to the menu,” Jennifer said. “We are cooking a lot with fresher ingredients. We added a lot of things to the menu, [such as] seafood dishes, lots of different kinds of soups.”

The Fullers said they would love to expand one day and open another location, but for now, they are enjoying Dish’n It Out’s home in Crestline Park.

“We have some of the nicest customers. We really do,” Jennifer said.