After 31 years, a popular lake eatery where everybody knows your name
Story by Paul South
Photos by Richard Rybka
Contributed photos
Thirty-one years ago, Janet Swann and her partner, Dennis Reno, bought a place she describes as “a little concrete floor beer joint.”
Today, that joint is Pier 59, one of the iconic eateries on Logan Martin Lake. Other restaurants have come and gone, but Pier 59 remains a constant.
Open only three days a week in the offseason and four in Logan Martin’s summer high season, Pier 59, has the vibe that’s a combination of a waterfront place and a fictional Boston bar.
“We wanted to be like Cheers, a place where everybody knows your name,” Swann said.
And it has, as families flock there to feast on chef “Ziggy” Zigmund’s crab claws, chicken wings and tenders, Tilapia and other popular dishes.
Before coming into the restaurant business, Swann and Reno ran Birmingham International Raceway, the short track where NASCAR legends Donnie, Bobby and Davey Allison, Neil Bonnett and others cut their racing teeth.
“My mom was in the restaurant business,” Swann says. “She had a restaurant for a couple of years in Fultondale, and we had the snack bar at Pine Bowl.”
Now at Pier 59, Swann loves her customers.
“I love my people. I want to treat people when they walk into the pier like I want to be treated when I walk into somewhere,” Swann said. “I wanted to have a restaurant that was kid friendly up to a certain time. When I first started I wanted something that everyone could enjoy from the water.”
Pier 59 has come a long way from when Swann and Reno arrived. It gives diners the classic waterfront vibe, laid back and the epitome of “chill.”
“Yes, there is,” Swann said when asked about the waterfront effect. “Because when we came up here, all we had was like, two pool tables in front of the bar. But we put a big deck on it, and wanted to make it something nice on the lake.”
Like successful businesses, philosophy that drives Pier 59 hasn’t changed.
“I want my customers to be my top priority,” Swann said. “I want everyone to leave there happy. If there’s a complaint, I want them to come to me, and I’ll fix it.”
That happiness is seasoned with one of Swann’s hugs for customers. Little wonder it’s become a “place to be” on the lake.
“I hope it’s that way. That was my goal when we started,” Swann said.
Along with the food, what makes the restaurant so popular among the growing stream of lake residents and visitors?
“I think it’s because I try to treat people as individuals. I don’t treat them as just people coming in to spend money,” she said. “I don’t mind telling my customers, ‘I love y’all’ when they come in. That’s just me. I don’t mind huggin.’ And I do.”
Something that shouldn’t be lost in the Pier 59 story is that this is a restaurant with heart. For 15 years, Pier 59 has celebrated “Christmas in July,” a benefit for the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. The restaurant has raised nearly $500,000 for the school. In 2023, Pier 59 raised $109,000 on a single Saturday.
“That is my heart,” Swann said of the school. AIDB has its main campus in Talladega and satellite facilities across the state to serve visually and hearing-impaired students that hold a special place in the hearts of all involved in the fundraiser.
Swann credits her customers and volunteers for the drive’s success.
“Without my customers and volunteers, this would not be possible,” she says.
St, Clair County is a big-hearted place with a boatload of charitable organizations to support veterans, the homeless and others in need. The students at AIDB, who Swann calls her “babies,” drew her to help the school.
“There are so many kids over there who would not have a Christmas it wasn’t for our Christmas drive,” Swann says. “That’s what makes me work all year and keeps me going.”
Now an endowment has been created to bring AIDB kids Christmas cheer, long after Swann and Reno are gone.
“I love those kids,” she said. “If you could see their faces when they open up (their presents) and have their toy party and everything, it’s just so emotional … You can just see the joy in their eyes.”
While the AIDB children have her heart, the restaurant claims her business acumen. Swann has learned more not only about business, but about herself.
“I can’t walk off and leave it,” she said. “I have to be there. A guy told me on the second day I was open that if I watched my pennies, I wouldn’t have to worry about my nickels and dimes. If the Pier’s open, unless I’m sick, I’m always there.”
But along with Zigmund, the chef known in the lake community as “Ziggy,” Swann and Reno have a team of dedicated staff. Some have been at Pier 59 for 15 years or longer, off and on. Her grandson Brody is her bartender. And Zigmund has been with her for 20 years.
“Everybody just knows him as Ziggy. He’s fabulous. He’s just one of these who’s not going to use little wings that are only as big as your little finger. He wants customers to feel full and that they got their money’s worth,” Swann says. “And trust me, they do when they leave here at night.”
As the lake population has grown, so has the restaurant’s schedule. Winter used to be the offseason, but no more.
“I do a little vegetable special on Thursdays that’s kickin’ it,” Swann says.
But while the business is still largely seasonal, offseason traffic has grown by some 50 percent, Swann says, because of the blossoming year-round population. When lake levels rise, Pier 59’s doors open Wednesday through Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. Closing time is when customers are heading home.
“From Point A to where we are right now, it’s picked up a lot,” Swann says.
For first time diners, Swann recommends her two favorite dishes.
“I love our grilled blackened Tilapia with vegetables, and I really love our Hawaiian chicken.”
During the summer, vegetables come from local growers.
As far as sandwiches, Swann is a fan of the French Dip. But the restaurant is perhaps best known for its chicken wings and its crab claws, both Ziggy specials. The claws – always fresh and battered in a secret recipe – are sold by the pound.
“Everybody says they’re better than what you get at the beach,” Swann says proudly. “We are really known for our claws. They’re really good.”
And while Cheers’ Sam Malone, Carla Tortelli, Cliff Clavin, Norm Peterson and Frasier Crane may not be found at Pier 59, Swann wants the spirit of the iconic TV show to fill the restaurant.
“I want a place where everybody’s going to know your name and everybody’s going to be friends.”
