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    Highlands Bar & Grill

    4.5 (332 reviews)
    PriceySouthern, Bars
    Closed Closed
    Updated 1 month ago

    Highlands Bar & Grill Photos

    HIGHLANDS BAR & GRILL ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Upscale
    Classy
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Highlands Bar & Grill

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    Bland lukewarm Stone Ground Baked Grits
    Sherry W.

    I'm in town only for Wednesday night, so I called and was 1) put on the waitlist and 2) told that sitting at the bar would be just as good as eating in the restaurant. We ended up with option #2 and had our dinner there! So, my party of 3 arrived at 5pm and claimed one of the 3 table tops at the bar. I had the venison ($36) and my friends had the steak ($30) and red snapper ($33). We shared the grits ($16) as a starter because we were told that it is a must because it is the ONLY thing on the menu that's long-standing. When our food arrived, we were each disappointed by our meals. In general, the temperature of all of our dishes were all lukewarm. The grit cake was cool and had no flavor. The sauce was good, but other than that, the grit cake was COMPLETELY bland. The venison, the steak, and the baked potato accompanying the the steak were also cold. They had clearly been sitting out for awhile. Both cuts of meat also lacked seasoning. Not even a sprinkle of salt! The only piece of food that was warm was the snapper, but my friend complained that it also lacked seasoning. All in all, we were super disappointed by "the #1 restaurant in the country." It didn't really come close, and it was incredibly expensive for what you can get in the area.

    Coconut Cake
    Emiri M.

    There's a reason why there's a hype surrounding this place - while the food is pricier here, I love that the dining experience here is uniquely unpretentious and inviting. Case in point: I saw Frank Stitt pass by while we were waiting at the bar, and he smiled and said hello. Service/Atmosphere: Most recently, I took my family here and they absolutely loved the dining experience. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable - don't be afraid to ask your server for recommendations here. Food/Drink: We tried a seafood salad and the stoneground baked grits as appetizers. For entrees we had the red snapper, salmon, and steak. It's hard to recommend a particular dish since they change the menu daily, but we thought both meat and fish options were great. Of particular note was a seafood salad we ordered which was colorful, bright, and absolutely delectable. By dessert, we were pretty stuffed, but we shared the apple fritters with ice cream and Ms. Dol Miles' famous coconut cake! Everything was delicious. I definitely hope to be back soon. Tips: - Definitely order a bottle for the table. In most cases, it's actually a better deal if at least 2 people are going to be having a glass :) - Make reservations about a month in advance! - If you can't snag a res, try finding a seat at the bar. It's quite cozy, and would be great if you're a small party. - They actually have great nonalcoholic beverage options if someone in your party is under 21 or doesn't drink. I had a lemonade that was delicious - it really tasted just like a cocktail without the alcohol.

    Prime beef tartine
    Cheryl M.

    We really enjoyed our dinner here. When we first sat down, we were seated on one side of the bar where there was a group of women were being loud and obnoxious. I asked I'd there was a quieter table and we were immediately moved to other side of bar. So that was good, otherwise I would have been very unhappy. Our waiter, Andrew, was really great. He made recommendations on everything, from our drinks to our dessert. I told him what kind of wines I liked and he recommended a great wine for me. He recommend a blood orange drink for hubby and the orange thing for our friend. All were very good with the blood orange drink being our favorite. We started out with the beef tartine and the crab claws. Both were really good. Crab claws were small but delicious. For dinner I had the gulf cobia because I love fish. The presentation was beautiful and the fish was buttery and delicious. I was very happy with my choice. Hubby got the steak. I tried it and that was also really good. Hubby was disappointed because part of it was very rare and he had ordered medium but he didn't give them a chance to fix it so guess who ate the rare bits ; )? I'm happy to take one for the team. For dessert, we had the lava cake, the strawberry trio, and the meringue cake. We all tried each other's. My favorite was the chocolate lava cake. However, the strawberry cobbler also rocked. I would definitely come back here again but would make reservations early and sit in the dining room not the bar area.

    Stone Ground Baked Grits
    Yunica J.

    Yum! Excellent dining experience. The food was delicious, and the service was spectacular. The highlight was the mushrooms on the grits. I love mushrooms, and it makes me so happy when mushrooms are done right. These mushrooms were perfectly tender and flavorful, which balanced the light grits. Can't say enough good things about the grits--a must-try if you come. Another must-try is the coconut cake. I was so stuffed from the meal that I could only manage to eat half of the cake at dinner, and the other half made a great breakfast the next morning.

    Georgia H.

    For my 28th birthday, we were able to grab reservations for the hottest restaurant in Birmingham (and apparently America?!?). Please note: reservations must be made one month out. This is no joke. Our reservation was for 5:30. Even arriving more than 10 minutes early, they immediately offered us our table. The decor was so beautiful. And, when confirming our reservations, my husband mentioned it was my birthday so we had such a lovely table by a window at the front. Let me start by saying our waiter was phenomenal. I have never experience service like it. He was kind, courteous, knowledgeable, while still having a sense of humor. He made my birthday so special and I am grateful for his care during our experience. Now to the food: we started with grits and the pork rib. Both were honestly our favorite part of the meal. As many have emphasized, get those grits!! For main course, I had the salmon and my husband had the cobia. They were both amazing dishes. But. For winning the award they have, I was expecting more. I have had better salmon. However, we will be visiting again! I want to try more! For dessert, we had peach cobbler with a Chilton County peaches and biscuit crust. It was steaming when it was brought out- and they were so sweet to write "Happy Birthday" on the plate! It was very, very delicious. Especially when topped with ice cream! This is a high dollar night out. With two glasses of wine, two starters, two main entrees and one dessert, our bill was $145. (That was before the tip!) But, I will say it is worth it to experience such an iconic restaurant in our beloved city. Also- I have to mention that a host up front (who never interacted with us) told me happy birthday on our way out of the door. I was highly impressed by this restaurant!!

    Eliana T.

    We came here for a Thursday night dinner after much hype from the James Beard award. I ordered a couple drinks, their signature old fashioned was great. Other than the dessert and grits, everything else we ordered was fairly disappointing. The service wasn't good, we waited for our waters to be filled multiple times and waited to order for way too long. We got a couple appetizers that were nothing special, but the stone grits were really phenomenal! That was a must have. I ordered a New York strip that was small and served with raw spinach and a delicious onion pancake. The peach cobbler was delicious, coconut cake was bland and tasted like banana bread. Overall, paying $150 for a meal that wasn't anything to write home about is disappointing. It wasn't bad by any means but we wouldn't come back for anything other than grits and dessert!

    Baked Oysters
    William M.

    On arrival at The Highlands Bar And Grill in Birmingham Alabama we discovered that it was voted the best restaurant in America by the James Beard awards in 2018. I don't know how you can determine that but it was the best overall food and dining experience that we have had in several years anywhere in the world. I have never had oysters this good anywhere. The pork is another level and the desert was beyond description. I highly recommend this incredible restaurant. Our waiter was as good as it gets and we can't wait to return.

    Brett L.

    No reservation? No worries! If you don't mind eating perhaps a little earlier than is typical you can readily feed yourself at the Most Outstanding Restaurant in America for 2018 (according to the James Beard Foundation). The dining room opens at 5:30 & you might be lucky to book a table a month in advance of your intended meal (so long as you're not looking for a really prime seating time or large party) OR Simply show up at the Highlands excellent & spacious bar at about 4:30, claim some of the certain to be empty chairs (28 at the bar if memory serves), enjoy a well-made cocktail or glass of fine wine, & be the first to sample the evening's fare when the kitchen opens for bar meals at 5:00. The food was everything you'd expect from the best in the country, but perhaps even better, was the minimal 'damage' it did to my wallet! A couple of cocktails, 2 appetizers, main, dessert & an appreciatively generous tip came in at least 20% less than I'd expected to pay. I don't often get to Birmingham, but when I do, you can be sure I'll get to town early enough to grab a seat at the Highlands bar.

    Duck Breast (this was split for 2)
    Steph T.

    What a great dining experience! I learned about Highlands Bar & Grill through a friend so said it was voted one of the best restaurants in America so of course I needed to see for myself. Fair warning, reservations for this place need to be made well in advance. We did not have a reservation but we arrived late enough that we figured we could just eat in the bar area and we were right. We only had to wait about 5 minutes before a spot opened up for us. Even at 9pm the place was still full. We sat down and ended up orderly a bottle of wine (the list was massive!) but they also had great looking cocktails I would want to try if we went back. We ended up ordering the Yellowfin Tuna Carpaccio and the Stone Ground Baked Grits as starters. We really wanted the Crawfish Pie but that apparently sells out way early in the evening. Even though we didn't get the Crawfish Pie, both of our starters were amazing. The tuna was super fresh and had a great play on flavors and oh my gosh the Grits! I am not one to typically order grits but I am so happy we did! It was probably my favorite thing we had all night and I could've had multiple orders. It wasn't heavy like you would think grits would be and they were so flavorful! For the main course we split the Duck Breast. This was also delicious and they were nice enough to split it for us and it still had the great presentation you would expect if you got it for yourself. The service even at the bar was incredible! Our one bartender who we never got his name unfortunately was great! He was super attentive and helped us with everything on the menu. My favorite moment was when we were deciding what we wanted for dessert, he told us to get the Profiteroles because the chocolate sauce is homemade and people rave about it so much that they try to take a bowl full home with them. He also said the sweet and salty cake was great but what really made it was the caramel sauce so when he brought out the profiteroles, he brought us caramel sauce as well. He also made an awesome espresso martini for me to end the night. Next time I am back, I will for sure want to dine in the main dining area but the bar was a great way to experience one of the best restaurants in the country!

    Stone Ground Baked Grits

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    6 months ago

    It was nice to go hang out here with the fellows and meet the nice waitress who showed up a good time in and out the bar

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    2 years ago

    Best food and service in Birmingham. Service is fantastic. When you want to impress that's the place to go.

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    Page 1 of 9

    Ask the Community - Highlands Bar & Grill

    Do they offer corkage fee service?

    How busy or difficult would it be to just walk up for a party of 1 and eat right when they open on a saturday? curious

    Just walk in and sit at the bar. Unless they've changed in the last couple of months you can eat at the bar and have a really good tone and enjoy a great meal

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    2:30pm on a Saturday and it was not busy at all. Walked in and it looked nice, nothing super fancy…read morebut nice. I sat down and maybe the wobbly table should have been my first red flag. The chairs sucked to add to it. I find the bathroom, whoever thought it was such a good idea to put a faucet that high was special because you have to turn the water low enough or push the faucet to the side to prevent from it splashing all over you. My in-laws got there a few mins before us and got everyone waters which that was good. The waitress, it took her forever to come back by to ask for drinks or starters. Granted we were waiting for a few other people but my husband wanted a soda and we were going to go ahead and get an appetizer. I decide to stick with my water because I just felt like I would get a drink if I asked for something different. Which I was right. My husband had to wave the waitress down for his soda. She accidentally brought him diet. She never brought back his drink. I had to get up and ask the hostess about our his drink and that we were wanting to order an appetizer. The hostess apologized and said they were really busy. I know I had to fix my face because I looked around, saw our table, and two other tables, about 6 people at the bar that the bartender handled, and looked back at the hostess like, "wtf?" The rest of our group shows up. Waitress comes back. Still no drink for my husband and gets our appetizer orders along with the remaining drink orders. When the appetizers comes out, it was a guy who brought it to us and we asked him about the soda and he apologizes and gets it for us...finally. Nothing special about the appetizer just chips and dip. We finish it and once again...the waiting game. The rest of our group still had yet to get their drinks. She comes back after another long wait, drink less, and gets our orders. My father in-law mentions the drinks, she apologies, and gets them. The wait it took for our food to come was ridiculous. I hate to imagine how long we would have had to wait if it was actually busy. Maybe it might have been worth my wild if the food was phenomenal but the moment it was sat in front...I knew it was not gonna be good. I got the Alfredo with shrimp. It looked like some soup. The sauce to noodle ratio was not good. The sauce was so runny that I had to lean it and eat the noodle like Naruto eating ramen. 5 measly pieces of shrimp. The sauce was also very gritty. How something that is so runny also be gritty, I don't know but I've had lean cuisine frozen alfredo dinners better than this $29 plate. 3 of us ordered Alfredo, only one got a piece of bread but I'm not asking for bread because I don't want to wait 30 mins to get it. My son looked at me and legit said, "we should have just gone to Olive Garden" knowing good and well I don't care for Olive Garden but also knowing it would have been better than whatever this plate in front of me was called. When walking to my car, I looked at everyone and said, "I'm sorry but this place sucked. I've been curious about it and now that I've experienced it...there is nothing here that would bring me back." So I suggest spend your money elsewhere because there is nothing that makes this place standout enough to have the audacity to have nonexistent service and charge $29 for soupy Alfredo

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