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The history of Milo's Hamburger Shop begins after
the depression days. There were five boys in the Carlton family
and each of them was involved in a restaurant in some way. In
1939, when Milo Carlton was 19 years old, he worked part time
in his brothers restaurant in North Birmingham called the "Dipsey
Doodle". Milo did everything from mopping the floor to
closing up at night.
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In October of
1940, Milo joined the national Guard. In February, 1941 the
National Guard was mobilized and Milo was assigned to the Food
Service Division while on active duty. The Army sent Milo through
three different cooking schools. At the close of the war Milo
was giving cooking lessons to GI`s at Camp Sibert, Alabama.
From 1941 until he was discharged in 1945, Milo cooked hamburgers
on jeeps, on planes, on ships, in the back of trucks, in mess
tents and on beaches, in four different countries. And at one
time during his service career Milo even had a hamburger shop
in Australia.
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On April 16,
1946, Milo opened Milo's Hamburger Shop on 31st Street and 12th
Avenue North, in Birmingham, Alabama where it existed for 17
years. In 1963 the restaurant was moved to 2820 10th Avenue
North in Birmingham. The special sauce which Milo uses by no
means existed at the beginning. According to Milo, the customers
developed the sauce used today. "The customers would tell
me it was too hot or too sweet and the next time I made it I
would change it by what they had been telling me. When they
started telling me to put alot of that sauce on their burgers
I knew I had it just right. All you have to do is listen to
your customers because they'll sure tell you what's what. Once
you get something they want, you can't run them off with a stick.
I always knew that and I guess it's true".
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Milo attributes his
success in the hamburger business to always serving a quality
product. The special sauce that goes on a Milo's hamburger makes
his product unique.After years of making hamburgers and business
getting better year after year, Milo decided it would be a shame
to retire such a good hamburger and such a good business also.
We believe that Milo's can live on through any hard working
individual who wishes to carry on the tradition. The first Milo's
franchise was sold in 1983. The Southside store, located at
509 18th Street South, opened February 7, 1983.
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