St. James Hotel's Sterling restaurant closed until summer

The Sterling restaurant at the St. James Hotel is closed, but the owner said it will reopen this summer with a new management team that will make it work.  

Jim Lewis, CEO of St. James owner Rhaglan Hospitality, has hired a new management company to run the hotel and restaurant. First Hospitality is a Chicago-based company that Lewis said can do what previous management companies have been unable to do – run a profitable hotel and restaurant.  

Lewis said the hotel is making a profit, which is pretty good considering the hotel opened in the middle of the COVID epidemic.  

But the restaurant has been a steady money-loser and has been beset with service issues since it opened, he said. The new management firm First Hospitality decided to close the restaurant until it could get the staff and processes in place to be successful, according to Lewis whose company owns the hotel and restaurant in downtown Selma as well as two properties in Birmingham. 

The restaurant will reopen in June or July, he said. “We’re the only full-service hotel in Selma,” Lewis said. “We don’t differentiate ourselves if we don’t have a restaurant.”  

The new management team will reopen the restaurant after they put in systems to control food and labor costs, which the previous management company was unable to do, Lewis said.  

First Hospitality has hired Landon Lawrence as the general manager for the property. Lewis described Lawrence as “a guy from the Black Belt” who has experience running a hotel in Montgomery. And he married a woman from Selma. Lewis said he hopes the local connection gives Lawrence sticking power in an industry known for a high turnover in general managers and management companies.  

Lewis acknowledged that his vision of a full-service hotel that includes a high-end restaurant is not the typical hotel business plan.  

“In the hotel business, food and beverage service usually means banquet and catering,” Lewis said. “But you can’t keep folks employed fulltime by staffing maybe a wedding every weekend.”  

Lewis’ vision for his two Birmingham hotels and the St. James is a hotel fronted by a nice restaurant. “I want people to think of us as a restaurant that’s also in the rooms business, or as a hotel that’s also in the food business,” Lewis said.  

He said that despite Selma naysayers on social media, he thinks he has a better chance of operating a nice restaurant in Selma than in Birmingham because Magic City diners have many choices. Lewis said in Selma the venerable Tally Ho is the St. James’ only competitor in the fine dining space.  

The St. James hotel and restaurant are facing several challenges. Lewis acknowledged that the previous management company let the enterprise get behind on its bills, but the new managers “are systematically going through accounts payable.” 

Lewis said, “We’ve been knocking it (debt) down.” 

Despite the challenges, Lewis said the St. James’ status with Hilton remains secure. “We’re not going anywhere,”Lewis said. He added he is committed to making the property successful and is tied to the property by the Opportunity Zone funding he and his investors received.  

“I believe in the St. James and in the promise of Selma,” Lewis said. “The train is coming. Dramatic things are coming for your community.”  

Lewis said he felt that promise “the first time I saw the St. James.”  

“It’s a distinct, charming building,” Lewis said. “It’s like a time capsule. And when you walk into that bar, you get the same feeling.”