Passed through Birmingham on our way back to Jacksonville and so glad we stopped at Southern for…read morebrunch. The minute we walked in and heard the live music, we knew we were going to have a good time. The food did not disappoint. My mom and daughter both had the pasta--one swapped the crawfish for chicken and the other for shrimp--and both versions were delicious. Hubby had the steak and eggs, and the one bite he was willing to spare was surprisingly delicious too! I went with the fried green tomatoes and Brussels sprouts because I already knew I'd be helping myself to some pasta from their plates. We finished it all off with banana pudding and key lime pie, and both were the perfect ending. Great food, live music, good vibes, friendly server and a fun stop on the road home. Definitely glad we found this place! Also, a great looking bar with lots of TVs so would be great in the evening as well.

I've eaten there several times previously. The place was the least crowded I've ever seen it, we…read morewere there on a Friday evening, but did not appear anything going on at BBJC, so I guess that was why. There was a guy performing live there, and the music was not so overpowering that you were unable to talk across the table. Very pleasant. Service was slow but it appeared they were understaffed. Order bowl of Gumbo for appetizers. We went on and provided our entree orders at that time as well. We waited about 25-30 minutes a different person brought out our order. I ask the server to take the gumbo back, as we had order that as an appetizer. In a few minutes our original server brought the gumbo back to our table. I told her we had ordered that as an appetizers, the server apologized and said it had gotten "Lost in the kitchen, keep it, I'll take care of it". About the food, wife ordered salad with chicken. The salad had 4 large fried chicken tenders on it. I order the sirloin tips over rice. Overall tasty, but gravy was a little salty. Dish included some green beans as well which were tasty. Overall experience was ok, service a little slow which I don't understand with the lower population in the dining room. When I got the check, the gumbo was still on the ticket. Not sure what "I'll take care of it " meant, not what I expected. I paid for it without saying anything else. Actually it was pretty good gumbo. Paid the bill, left a good tip, as the server seemed to be running her legs off. Going back? Probably so, but it'll be a while till I do.

My first time at Gabriella's was recently. This place gets really busy..... fast! When I arrived,…read more there were about 2 ppl already present and ordering at the hot bar. It's kind of hard to tell what all the food options are, so I had to ask what some stuff was. I managed to get a meat and 2 instead of a meat and 5! There were quite a few veggie options that looked amazingly delicious! I do not recommend coming here hungry or hangry. Ok, sooo I love meat loaf so naturally that's what I got. I also got collards and cornbread dressing & yes they had cranberry sauce. Everything was good tasting. The meatloaf was a little sweet to my taste so I probably wouldn't order it again. The veggies were not over seasoned or overcooked. I will definitely comeback here bc there is still just so much I wanna try. The staff is nice and took care of the crowd. I even witnessed them give a person in need food, as they were about to dig in the restaurant's garbage can outside for scraps. Made me count my blessings.. all of them! There is street parking only. I didn't have any issues parking on a Sunday afternoon. The inside of this restaurant is not big but I was comfortable dining in.

Good southern food on a Sunday afternoon while visiting. Couldn't tell from the Yelp pictures but…read moreit's a really small restaurant with food displayed buffet style behind the clear partition that they serve you in a container. Only about 3 people at a time can hold inside before it's starts getting crowded. It stay pretty busy. Options are 1 meat with two sides or 2 meats with three sides combination. A la cart is available as well. They have ice tea or lemonade drinks in a cup that they also serve you. Lemonade was good. There's a very small counter to pay after you order. Fry chicken is tasty with perfect crisp. Collard greens were seasoned well and perfect texture. Yams (my favorite) was perfect - flavorful, not too sweet and firm but not hard. Both of us thought the Black eyed peas looked really good but taste bland. I would have preferred it without the Okra. I didn't see that when I ordered. One in our group commented the meat loaf was good. The dressing was really good too - well seasoned and tasty. After paying there's a dining area for self seating. It serves the purpose to sit and eat but definitely could use sprucing up along with the restrooms. Please seriously consider! It would make the experience much more pleasant to enjoy their delicious food. I took off two stars for that reason and yes it's that unpleasant as the tables/chairs are also too clustered together. The chairs don't fit around the table properly. Overall good southern food at a reasonable price and recommended. Skip dining in if you don't have too. Just my two cents.

Harvest was one of the best dining experiences I had in Birmingham. One thing worth mentioning…read moreright away is that it's located inside the historic Redmont Hotel. That wasn't immediately obvious from many of the reviews I read beforehand, so don't let the hotel location deter you--this is a destination restaurant in its own right. I ordered the braised short rib (without the grits), and it was outstanding. The meat was incredibly tender, packed with flavor, and cooked to perfection. It easily ranks among the better short rib dishes I've had. The service was equally impressive. Everyone was friendly, attentive, and struck the perfect balance of being available without hovering. The dining room has an upscale yet comfortable atmosphere that makes it just as suitable for a business dinner as it is for a date night or special occasion. If you're visiting downtown Birmingham--or staying at the Redmont--don't overlook Harvest just because it's inside a hotel. It's proof that hotel restaurants can absolutely compete with the city's standalone dining scene. I'll definitely be back the next time I'm in Birmingham.

This place was honestly a surprise. My husband and I were in the area looking to get dinner but the…read moreoriginal restaurant we wanted to go to was booked. We ended up here. I will say this is one of the best steaks I have had up to date so far. Cooked just the way I liked it.

I have been here multiple times for dinner, and I just recently went here for lunch for the first…read moretime. This is probably one of the best restaurants and all of Birmingham and that is saying a lot. We, of course, got the Angel biscuits with that delicious butter. Those are always outstanding! One person got the chicken thighs and another got the burger that came with delicious chips and we got the peas for an extra side. The atmosphere is such a cool charming upscale SOUTHERN restaurant Five. My guest thoroughly enjoyed it and I bet they can't wait to go back just like me. My server had excellent answers to every question. I asked him and several people came to our table throughout the meal to make sure everything was going well when my server was busy. This is one of the best dining experiences you can have in Birmingham whether it be a nice lunch or a celebration of the most special occasions, this is one of the best places to be for it.

I'm always looking for local, non chain, farm to table restaurants and was excited to try this one…read moreout with my sister-in-law. The interior was refreshingly classic but current, making good use of an elongated and narrow space. The partially open kitchen increases interest, but I was sitting with my back to it, which spared my lunch companion from competing for my attention. Our server Krynn was perfectly kind, prompt, and pleasing, genuinely welcoming to us and knowledgeable of the dishes. She was so very sweet and one of the best servers I have encountered in Alabama. The food was very thoughtfully prepared. We ordered Tuesday's lunch special, the fried green tomato BLT. We were impressed that the bacon is cured on site and cut the same day it is fried and served. The sandwich was so large that we easily split it. The tomatoes were good. I prefer lettuce in leaves, not shreds, but it didn't detract much from the experience and it didn't fall out everywhere. The sandwich came with chips which seemed homemade and were very good, not soggy. I added salt which was brought in a little wooden pinch bowl. For a side we split a plate of marinated summer peas and beans. This was baby lima beans and black eyed peas, with a very small amount of finely diced red onion and red bell pepper. There was a copious amount of cilantro that was not finely chopped and dominated certain mouthfuls. I would adjust this recipe by using a few more pinches of red onions and bell peppers, and finely chopping the cilantro and using less of it. It was very flavorful! I thought my SIL might still be hungry so we got a cheesecake slice at the end. It presented beautifully and was covered in a blueberry syrup. The texture was a bit ragged but it isn't any worse than one I'd make at home. I also felt the lemon flavor was a bit overly strong, and the crust appeared to be cornmeal based and wasn't my favorite, but that's just my preference. I feel that smokers or people with few taste buds would still be able to taste the food at Helen! I also ordered a cup of black regular coffee and it was truly delightful, no adjustments to that flavor needed in my opinion! We were attended by a couple other servers and everyone was polite and sweet. I felt very relaxed and as if I were valued as a customer. I hope Krynn has many sweet customers who appreciate how nice she is! I hope to be back someday and would definitely recommend Helen restaurant.

This a wonderful place has music and just a good vibe for people to enjoy and have great foodread more

I have had this bookmarked forever. Not sure how or why I did, but I sure am glad that I did!!…read more It's an old school hole in the wall kind of place. These are my favorite kind of places in the world. From the moment I walked up and saw the big piles of wood outside I knew I was probably going to like this place. We had an amazing meal here. Every single bite was good. I ate myself damn near sick! I cannot wait to come back!! The day we were there the bartender was waiting on the whole place himself with just someone helping him run food and clear tables. We only had an hour before we had to be at an appointment, so when we sat down at the bar I got concerned that we would not have time to eat here. He was busy. He seemed behind. Thank goodness I was wrong. Once he finally got to us we were decided on our meals. He took our order on his little handheld register thing, grabbed our tasty beverages, and poof, off he went. C had the pulled chicken sandwich with deviled eggs and I had pulled pork, smoked chicken thighs, beans, and a giant pile of pork rinds. Holy shit it was good!!! I didn't pay attention to the fact that my thighs had AL white sauce on them until well after I had ordered. Had I know that, I would not have ordered them. I despise all things that have anything to do with mayonnaise. But.... Had I known, I would have never known. I fucking loved it! I could have eaten 10 of them. There were hands down the best smoked chicken that I have ever had. The pork was bad ass too! I dare say perfect. Beans were great, and the pork rinds side was massive and still warm from the fryer with a killer seasoning on them. There are not enough adjectives to describe this food. I am in love. I cannot wait to get some more of those damn chicken thighs!! '26 - 68

The crowd spoke and the crowd was right. Yo Mama's serves up some tasty morsels at a reasonable…read moreprice in downtown Birmingham. I couldn't make my mind up so I got half hot chicken and hot regular. The regular was like Kentucky fried chicken on steroids. The crispy outer coating was really quite good and the food came out piping hot. For an affordable price you can right at Yo Mama's! Would love to come back and try some of the other dishes here. French fries were also tasty.

Everything went well during my lunchtime visit to Yo'Mama's restaurant. The Hot wings and French…read morefries was delicious. The waitress was cordial to make sure I enjoyed my "first" visit. The ambiance of the restaurant was calm and pleasant. There are several dining tables to choose and enjoy the scenery.

The Essential was such an unexpected find during our trip through Alabama. We weren't expecting to…read morestumble across such an elegant restaurant serving truly elevated food, but it ended up being one of our favorite meals. I ordered the seafood pasta, and you could immediately tell the pasta was homemade. It was fresh, perfectly cooked, and the seafood was beautifully prepared. My daughter had the spaghetti, and my husband ordered the Waldorf salad, which was just as thoughtfully put together. Our waitress also recommended the hummus and house pickles, and I'm so glad we listened. Both were fresh, unique, and the perfect way to start the meal. From the food to the service, everything felt polished without being pretentious. It was one of those meals where every dish was executed with care and attention to detail. Overall, The Essential was such a pleasant surprise and proof that you can find five star dining experiences in the most unexpected places. If you're anywhere near Birmingham, this place is absolutely worth the stop.

Really cool place with a quaint atmosphere and great service. My wife and I split the chicken…read moresandwich, grits and a hash brown. All were really good. We got the sauce on the side for the sandwich just in case, but it was really good. Definitely a place I want to revisit. Saw the smash looking burger and pancakes at tables and they both looked amazing!!

I'm back three years later to tell y'all ain't nothing changed! The service is still great! The…read moredrinks are always made with a smile. My new go to order is the honey chipotle, wings all flats! The fries are still great they haven't changed them.. love that! The did a refresh on the games in the back lobe that!

I wanted to love this place SO BAD!! There's an attached arcade!!…read moreAnd the staff was SO NICE and friendly and helpful and I loved the industrial, creative decor. But we'd spent the day at McWane Center and we were starving so we were there to EAT! The food looked gorgeous but it tasted very meh. The onion rings had too much breading on them, which I didn't think was possible, but here we are. The part of the breading next to the onion was mushy so that threw off the texture of the whole thing too. The burger was very much like a Whataburger. Even the lettuce smelled the same. I got The Standard and the bun of the burger was a little mushy (similar to Whataburger) and there was not much meat. For an $11 burger, I'm expecting more than a Whataburger. My middle kid likes everything on her burger and isn't picky at all and the loaded kid burger looked impressive but it was about the same as mine. Not awful, but not very good either. Very close to the same amount of meat. She's the queen of the Clean Plate Club and she only ate half. The fries were good but a somewhat too salty, the dip that came with the onion rings was excellent and we ended up using it for the fries. We had 2 adults and 3 kids and our meal was $63 before tip for 5 waters, 2 adult burgers, 2 kid burgers, a kid grilled cheese, and a basket of fries and onion rings (I thought I was ordering a "side" of fries, not realizing I actually ordered a basket and it was a lot of fries and onion rings). We don't mind spending money on good food, but the prices here don't align with what you get. No one was more disappointed than me, I've been wanting to eat here for FOREVER!!!

Wife and I were downtown looking for place to eat after an appointment. Wife was interested in…read moresome vegetables. Went by Fife's it was about 12:15, we were expecting a wait. Only one person in line, restaurant was basically empty. Looked at menu and noticed meat and 2 was over$14.00. We decided maybe it was not the place for us, so we quietly left and went to Alpha Charlie's out by the airport which turned out to be a great experience. I've been to File's in years past and did not remember the place to be so dark and drab. Feel like this places days are numbered. Sure miss the Social Grill for the ones of you that are old enough to remember that place.

This was a short walk from my Airbnb and being from California. I'm not used to single digit prices…read moreon a breakfast menu. This is my idea of a perfect diner. Solid food made fresh. A bunch of regulars chatting at a table. I wanted to try the biscuits, but there weren't any. The sausage was my favorite part.

The food was delicious and had great portions sizes! The service was excellent with smiles on…read moreeveryone's faces (even in this extreme heat)! We learned about their Saturday brunches so we will definitely be bringing the family with us next time.

Classic cafeteria line, ideal for a quick weekday lunch downtown. You grab a tray, go thru the line…read moreto pick out your meat and 3, and sit down. The bring you a check to pay at the end and handle your drinks for you too. The fried chicken here is great. I'm normally a creamed corn lover, alas, none today. They have any sort of soul food classic you could want: cornbread, fried okra, pies, iced tea, etc.. It's not super huge inside, but things move fast. Parking is easy, there's a lot plenty big outside. It's been here over 50 years!