Chef Leo Eden brings years of culinary experience – and a menu built for gathering – to one of Anniston’s most unique spaces.

There is something fitting about two local businesses built around bringing people together finding a way to do exactly that – together. This October, Easy Eats at Sinclair Social officially joins the Anniston food scene, bringing Chef Leo Eden’s approachable, chef-driven menu to the former gas station turned neighborhood bar that has become one of the area’s most distinctive gathering places.

The Easy Eats food truck is expected to begin serving customers at Sinclair Social this weekend, with an official Ribbon Cutting scheduled for Wednesday, October 14th at 3:30 p.m.

For Sinclair Social, the addition marks the next step in a vision that has always included food. “Food has always been part of what we wanted Sinclair Social to be,” the Sinclair Social ownership team shared. “Bringing in a permanent partner gives people another reason to come, stay longer, and make Sinclair a regular part of their week.”

And while Easy Eats and Sinclair Social remain two independently owned businesses, their partnership allows each to do what it does best: Sinclair provides the atmosphere, drinks and gathering space, while Easy Eats becomes the primary food provider on site. It is a collaboration rooted in a simple idea: local businesses can create something better together without losing what makes each one unique.

“I think it shows that small businesses don’t always have to compete and sometimes we’re stronger together,” Sinclair Social’s Tyler McNickle stated. “Partnerships like this let each business focus on what it does best while creating something better for the community.”

From Anniston to Disney – and Back Home

For Chef Leo Eden, Easy Eats represents the culmination of a culinary career that has taken him from an Anniston institution to one of the world’s largest entertainment destinations – and eventually back home. A retired Army veteran, Eden is both a trained culinary chef and a Certified Dietary Manager, bringing together professional culinary experience with years of experience in food service operations, nutrition and creating meals for people with a wide range of needs and tastes.

His culinary career began right here in Anniston at the historic Peerless Saloon & Grille, where he worked under the leadership of Kristy Farmer. That foundation eventually carried him to Walt Disney World in Florida, where his culinary experience included ESPN Wide World of Sports, Disney Springs and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. Eventually, he returned to Anniston, where he spent the last several years serving as Executive Chef at NHC Place.

Those experiences may seem worlds apart – restaurants, Disney, special events and healthcare dining – but each helped shape the kind of chef Eden has become. Easy Eats brings those different chapters together. The result isn’t food that tries too hard to be fancy. It’s familiar food with a chef behind it.

A Menu With a Little Personality

That philosophy comes through quickly when you read the Easy Eats menu. There are recognizable favorites, but Eden has found ways to make them his own – and in several cases, to give them a distinctly local identity.

The Model City Melt, named for Anniston’s longtime nickname, is a warm, creamy pimento cheese topped with sweet and spicy pepper jelly and served with toasted flatbread. It’s Southern comfort food designed for sharing. Then there’s Sweet Heat: sweet potato fries topped with whipped ricotta, herbs and Eastaboga Bee Company Hot Honey. It’s sweet, savory, creamy and spicy all at once – and exactly the kind of dish meant to land in the middle of the table.

But perhaps no menu item is more connected to its surroundings than The Devil’s Flight. The appetizer features six deviled-egg halves – two each of three rotating flavors with creative toppings. Its name is a nod to a piece of Sinclair Social history many visitors may not know: before becoming the bar it is today, the building made its own film debut as a location in the Netflix movie The Devil All the Time. A Southern staple, a little culinary creativity and a bit of movie history all on one plate.

The menu also offers three very different salads. The Social Green keeps things light and simple, with the option to add grilled chicken, while The Sinclair Signature offers another signature house option. For guests looking for something heartier, The Steakhouse Chop rounds out the salad menu. Homemade Ranch, Honey Mustard, House Vinaigrette and The Social Sauce are among the dressing choices.

Then there are the handhelds. The Sinclair Smash Burger comes with cheddar, lettuce, tomato and Social Sauce – and guests can add the Model City Melt’s pimento cheese topping for an extra Southern twist.

The Smokey Bird Chicken Salad combines smoked chicken with mayo, grapes, celery, pecans and relish and serves it on toasted sourdough. The Social Melt piles sliced steak, peppers, onions and provolone onto a Philly roll, while the Caprese Press brings together tomato, mozzarella, basil pesto and balsamic glaze on pressed flatbread. Each handheld comes with kettle chips and a pickle spear.

And Easy Eats hasn’t forgotten its youngest customers. The Little Dinos menu gives kids their own choices, including a Mac & Cheese Bowl, Classic PB&J or Grilled Cheese, each served with a seasonal fruit cup or chips.

Finally, there’s The Cake Bar. Because sometimes you don’t need to reinvent dessert. You just need really good cake. Freshly made cakes will rotate regularly, giving customers a reason to ask one very important question when they order: What’s at the Cake Bar this week?

More Than a Place to Grab Dinner

For Sinclair Social’s owners, one of the most exciting parts of the partnership isn’t any individual dish. It’s consistency. “I’m most excited about the consistency,” one of the members of Sinclair’s ownership team explained. “Instead of food being something we have occasionally, people will know they can come to Sinclair, grab a great meal, have a drink, and enjoy the whole experience in one place.”

The timing couldn’t be much better. As the summer heat begins to wind down, the comfortable fall weather makes Sinclair Social’s outdoor space especially inviting. What was once an old Anniston gas station has been transformed into a casual place where people can meet after work, spend an evening with friends, bring the family or simply find a table and stay awhile. Now, there’s dinner waiting for them, too.

“If you haven’t been to Sinclair Social in a while, this is a great reason to come back,” the team shared. “We’re continuing to grow and evolve, and with Easy Eats here full-time, Sinclair is becoming even more of a place where you can bring the family, meet friends, eat, drink, and hang out.”

And maybe that’s what makes the partnership work. Neither business is trying to become the other. But together, they can offer something neither could offer quite the same way alone: good food, cold drinks, an easygoing atmosphere and a place where people can settle in and enjoy each other’s company.

For Leo, it is also the beginning of a new chapter in a culinary career that started in Anniston, took him far beyond it and ultimately brought him back home. And for the Sinclair Social team, it moves the space another step closer to what they envisioned all along. “Easy Eats at Sinclair Social is going to make Sinclair feel even more like the neighborhood gathering place we’ve always wanted it to be.”

Easy Eats at Sinclair Social is expected to begin serving this weekend. The community is invited to celebrate its official opening during a Ribbon Cutting on Wednesday, October 14 at 3:30 p.m. at Sinclair Social.