Rank these Southern cities for food

Memphis

Nashville

Charlotte

Asheville
Savannah
Birmingham

Memphis by far the best bc of BBQ

Birmingham (seriously)
Savannah
Asheville
Memphis
Nashville
Charlotte

1. Birmingham & Nashville
2. Asheville
3. Charlotte & Savannah
4. Memphis

Depends on what style and how nice you want but here are some really good places that are all downtown or close to downtown:

Finer Dining:
1. Bottega Restaurant & Cafe (cafe is a little more casual side but still really good. If they have the blueberry tiramisu, get it)
2. Highlands Bar & Grill
3. Chez Fonfon (actually a pretty reasonable lunch spot with a real good burger)
4. Ovenbird (small plate design, sort of tapas-esque) Beef fat candle and the braised goat I highly recommend

Other very good options:
1. El Barrio (a more upscale Mexican fusion restaurant. Good margaritas, great chorizo queso, and I recommend the chorizo meatloaf). If the wait is long, give them your number and walk over to Collins bar or Atomic bar and grab a drink while you wait. Both are within about a block. They both are known for their cocktails, and bar tenders are pretty good at making something off hand if you just tell them what you're in the mood for. I recommend this to pretty much anyone coming to Bham. One of the best bang for your buck restaurants in the city. That queso though


2. Dram Whiskey Bar/Avo (two restaurants in one basically)
3. Saw's Juke Joint -BBQ joint. Pork n greens and smoked wings are killer. Burger and sweet tea fried chicken sammich are hard to pass up as well.

4. If you want a simpler night, you can head over to the Lakeview district and there are a couple options to eat and drink over there
-Babalu - tapas
-Slice - pizza
- Moe's BBQ - decent but definitely chain bbq and
usually good drink specials. Really good wings.
Good patio to sit on if weather is nice.
- Jack Browns - burger joint (burgers are a
little on the smaller side but really tasty, so I
usually make mine a double.)
- Hattie B's - Nashville hot chicken
- Five
5. Post Office Pie's
6. Fancy's on Fifth
7. Trattoria Centralle
8. Brick & Tin
9. Bamboo on 2nd (sushi)


There is also the Pizitz food hall that has a bunch of places in it as well as a full bar (I'd stay away from the taco place in there, was not impressed). Eli's is really good and authentic Jerusalem style food. Other bars you can go to that have good food as well include Carrigan's Pub and Paramount (arcade bar).

You can also check out some of the breweries - Cahaba Brewery, Trimtab, or Good People would be my suggestions. Each very often will have food trucks close by.

quote:

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GoCrazyAuburn

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Thank you - really appreciate it! I haven't been to Birmingham since I was a kid in the late 90s or early 2000s.

You probably won't even recognize it tbh. Where are you staying?

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Memphis

Nashville

Charlotte

Asheville
Savannah
Birmingham

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Want to know how I know that you haven't been to Birmingham in awhile?

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How is it a negative that they are famous for BBQ? At least they have something they are famous for that sets them apart. It's not like you're going to any of these cities specifically for their Chinese food. When you travel to a specific city, you're going to go have the food they're known for. None of the other cities are specifically known for any type of food

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I said it's a negative that their only good restaurants are BBQ places. They don't have good fine dining spots like other cities.

Nashville has hot chicken as a food they're known for. Nashville has a ton of really good restaurants. If you go to a city for 5 days you don't want to eat the same cuisine every meal (or at least I don't).

That is why I would have Nashville ahead of Memphis. If you only want BBQ, then hell yea go to Memphis

I've heard Birmingham is the "new Nashville" in terms of popularity

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I haven't booked my hotel yet but I'm going for a government client which means I'll probably end up staying a little further out for budget reasons. Possibly the Homewood area. I will be working downtown though.

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Then everything I mentioned won't be hard to get to. about 10 minute drive at most for any of it. There are a bunch of simple places in downtown homewood as well, especially for lunch. Johnny's is a great meat & 3. Salem's diner has a really good breakfast (get either the philly omlet burrito or the trashcan with a lid on it). Salem's has a great philly as well. Not open for dinner though.

Jackson's in homewood is okay. Nothing there will blow your socks off, but for a quick bite and a drink it isn't bad and usually has some good specials going during the week.