Linda Vansweringen has waited tables here for over 15 years.
Vansweringens shift starts at 10 a.m., an hour before the restaurant opens for lunch.
Not long after lunch begins, Vansweringens section is stacked with customers.
PHOTO: ROBBIE CAPONETTO.
Half are regulars who ask for her by name.
She suggests the Greek salad, which has tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives, and pepperoncini.
Carl Thomas, a line cook, has been at The Bright Star even longer than Vansweringen.
Linda Vansweringen PHOTO: Robbie Caponetto.
He has butchered the fish here since 1975.
Alongside a few other cooks, he regularly preps 1,400 to 1,500 pounds of snapper every week.
After three years, she took a break before returning to the restaurant in 2010.
It reeled her back in, as it does so many people.
I love the environment; the customers are like family, she says.
Family-Owned And Operated
The Bright Star is definitely a family affair.
She fondly remembers her grandmother cutting lemons, making tea, and greeting guests.
The matriarch was also known for baking loaves of bread to give to regulars.
Its this close-knit dynamic that permeates the restaurant and keeps longtime servers around.
But she doesnt stop to rest.
If youve got time to lean, youve got time to clean, she says.
Over the loudspeaker comes bad news: 86 Pineapple Cheese pie.
Something about their grins hints that they will.
thebrightstar.com, 205-424-9444, 304 19th St. N, Bessemer, AL 35020
