Koinonia Opens Communal Dining in Birmingham as Dayton Hosts WiBN

Community gathering spaces and neighborhood hospitality venues are evolving across the South and Midwest this month as Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church Education and Visitor Center debuts the communal Southern restaurant Koinonia, Dayton's Women in Business Networking prepares to welcome nearly 300 attendees to Sinclair Community College, and Florida Avenue Brewing Co. closes its three-year-old Liquid Garden taproom in Tampa's Seminole Heights.

According to Hoodline, Koinonia—named after the Greek word for fellowship, communion, and partnership—has opened behind the welcome desk near the interactive river wall inside the 16th Street Baptist Church Education and Visitor Center at 1512 6th Avenue North in Birmingham. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and closed Mondays, the restaurant serves traditional Southern meat-and-three lunches featuring fried chicken, hamburger steak, and whiting fish with turnip greens, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, cornbread, and apple cobbler, alongside event catering.

Designed around shared tables to encourage conversation between locals and visitors, the dining room seats about 40 to 50 people according to Bham Now (following an August WBHM preview citing seating for about 60 and a Bama Buzz preview noting family-style meals for groups of up to 10). Terrence Brown, executive director of the center—which Baptist News reported opened on September 15, 2026, while another account placed the opening in October 2026—said the facility had already booked more than 50 venue rentals through the end of 2026.

Dayton Women's Leadership Conference Returns to Sinclair

In Ohio, Hoodline reported that Women in Business Networking (WiBN), led by executive director Sheri Sword, will host its annual Leadership Conference on November 10, 2026, at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. Built around four programming pillars—education, resources, recognition, and connections—the one-day conference is expected to attract nearly 300 professional women for keynote talks, interactive learning, and breakout sessions. The gathering continues an annual tradition at Sinclair that included a 2023 Tuesday morning conference and a November 12, 2024 edition scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., following a September 23–25, 2020 virtual conference that featured 11 speakers and registration tiers of $79 for students and job seekers, $99 for WiBN or BBB members, and $129 for non-members.

Seminole Heights Taproom Closes Amid Craft Beer Shifts

In Florida, Hoodline reported via the Tampa Bay Times that Florida Avenue Brewing Co. permanently closed its Liquid Garden taproom in Tampa's Seminole Heights neighborhood as of November 1, 2026, just over three years after opening on May 5, 2023. Billed at its launch by CEO Anthony Derby as a small-batch Innovation Center with a full liquor bar across a 3,000-square-foot (per cltampa.com) to 4,000-square-foot (per craftbrewingbusiness.com) footprint, the outpost closed amid a broader contraction in which Florida craft brewery counts declined for the first time in over a decade even as Tampa Bay retains more than 100 operating breweries. Nearby Hidden Springs Ale Works announced plans to close its Tampa Heights tasting room on December 20 to seek a new location, Southern Brewing & Winemaking (operating since 2011) announced its owners are retiring after three decades, and 7venth Sun Brewery previously closed its Seminole Heights location on June 30, 2023, while keeping its Dunedin brewery open.