The history of Milo's begins after the depression. 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 brother's restaurant in North Birmingham called the "Dipsey Doodle."
Milo did everything from mopping the floor to closing up at night.
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.
On April 16, 1946, Milo opened the first
Milo's Hamburger Shop on 31st Street and 12th Avenue North, in
Birmingham, Alabama where it stood for 17 years. In 1963, the restaurant was moved to 2820
10th Avenue North in Birmingham.
Milo attributes his success in the hamburger business to always serving a quality product.
In addition to making great hamburgers, there was always a great demand Milo's famous, freshly brewed iced tea. In April of 1989, Milo's Tea Company, Inc. began manufacturing and distributing the Famous Sweet Tea in gallon jugs at grocery stores in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Milo's sweet gallons were so successful that in 1997 Milo's introduced the convenient, single serving 16-ounce tea. Because of customer's high demand, Milo's introduced an unsweetened tea in May of 1999.
In 2003, Milo's teamed up with LuVel Dairy in Mississippi and Barber's Dairy in Birmingham, Alabama to distribute Milo's Famous Tea. In 2004, Milo's joined forces with Purity Dairy out of Nashville, Tennessee to distribute its tea products. Milo's is now proud to say that its tea is sold in convenience stores and grocery stores in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle. In April 2006, Milo's began working with Brown's Dairy in Louisiana and Mayfield Dairy in Georgia and East Tennessee to further expand its product distribution. For the store nearest you that carries our products, please visit our store locator page.