- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Birmingham Restaurants
Posted on 5/30/26 at 2:34 pm
Posted on 5/30/26 at 2:34 pm
I read all the time that Birmingham’s restaurant scene is ranked very high and is a best kept secret. I moved here about a year ago and have been trying to continue to experience new places. I tried Ovenbird last night and it was a great experience. We sat at a section of the bar where we could watch the unique dishes being prepared and placed in the wood fired oven. It was very neat watching the chefs at work trying to guess which menu item they were preparing and pausing to put more wood in the oven to maintain the temperature. It had a Michelin recognition from 2025, so the food was very good also. It also had an outside seating area, which seems to be the norm here rather than an exception.
What other restaurants should I try here before developing a rotation?
What other restaurants should I try here before developing a rotation?
7
Posted on 5/30/26 at 2:42 pm to Ramblin Wreck
we liked La fete very much
Posted on 5/30/26 at 4:53 pm to Ramblin Wreck
What others have you been to? You have Bottega, Fon Fon, Hot & Hot, Automatic, Helen, Armor House and a bunch of others.
Posted on 5/30/26 at 5:04 pm to SloaneRanger
quote:
What others have you been to?
Not really very many upscale ones except Ovenbird. We have mainly been trying out casual places. Though my wife and daughter went to Lé Fresca and we went to Bright Star. For casual places I really liked Johnny’s and Oak Hill Bar and Grill, both in Homewood. For burgers, Baja Burger is really good.
Posted on 5/30/26 at 10:41 pm to Ramblin Wreck
This is my general list for people and includes some fancier places and more casual depending on your mood.
Dinner:
Bottega (cafe side or Dining room side are both great)
El Barrio
Chez FonFon
Automatic Seafood
East/West
Helen
Armor House
Bayonet
Lapeer
Gianmarco's
Bettola
Blueprint on 3rd
Dyron's
La Fete
Current Charcoal Grill
Epice
Lunch:
El Barrio (also has brunch on saturdays)
Saw's (any location)
Rougaroux
The Garage
Johnny's
Rojo (also good weekend brunch)
Brick & Tin
The Essential (good for dinner too)
Trattoria
The Battery
Pizza Grace
Breakfast/Brunch:
Salem's Diner
Original Pancake House
Trattoria
The Essential
If you have one meal to do, I always just suggest El Barrio to people. It is the best bang for your buck spot in town. Food is really good and you also don't have to break the bank, it is in the heart of downtown with a couple bars you can go to before or after. Make sure to get the chorizo queso. They have a carne asada steak on the menu currently that is phenomenal. The chorizo meatloaf is another standard of theirs. I also get their green Pozole a lot. It is delicious.
Dinner:
Bottega (cafe side or Dining room side are both great)
El Barrio
Chez FonFon
Automatic Seafood
East/West
Helen
Armor House
Bayonet
Lapeer
Gianmarco's
Bettola
Blueprint on 3rd
Dyron's
La Fete
Current Charcoal Grill
Epice
Lunch:
El Barrio (also has brunch on saturdays)
Saw's (any location)
Rougaroux
The Garage
Johnny's
Rojo (also good weekend brunch)
Brick & Tin
The Essential (good for dinner too)
Trattoria
The Battery
Pizza Grace
Breakfast/Brunch:
Salem's Diner
Original Pancake House
Trattoria
The Essential
If you have one meal to do, I always just suggest El Barrio to people. It is the best bang for your buck spot in town. Food is really good and you also don't have to break the bank, it is in the heart of downtown with a couple bars you can go to before or after. Make sure to get the chorizo queso. They have a carne asada steak on the menu currently that is phenomenal. The chorizo meatloaf is another standard of theirs. I also get their green Pozole a lot. It is delicious.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 10:01 am
Posted on 5/30/26 at 10:48 pm to GoCrazyAuburn
Give you some cocktail bars and stuff worth checking out too either pre or post meal:
House of Found Objects
Bygone’s (one of my personal favorites currently)
Tucana Tiki
Collins Bar
Lou’s Pub (hole in the wall cocktail bar but great people)
Golden Age (the downtown location has a really nice courtyard area, if you’re a wine person, it is a great spot on a nice afternoon)
Adios
Mayawell
Cayo Coco (phenomenal rum bar on first floor and also a solid restaurant)
Feel free to keep us posted on any upcoming places you’re thinking of going to. Will try and give some insight on some of their more popular items. Like if you go to Chez FonFon or Bottega, you have to get the coconut pecan cake (or someone in the party does).
House of Found Objects
Bygone’s (one of my personal favorites currently)
Tucana Tiki
Collins Bar
Lou’s Pub (hole in the wall cocktail bar but great people)
Golden Age (the downtown location has a really nice courtyard area, if you’re a wine person, it is a great spot on a nice afternoon)
Adios
Mayawell
Cayo Coco (phenomenal rum bar on first floor and also a solid restaurant)
Feel free to keep us posted on any upcoming places you’re thinking of going to. Will try and give some insight on some of their more popular items. Like if you go to Chez FonFon or Bottega, you have to get the coconut pecan cake (or someone in the party does).
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 1:11 am
Posted on 5/31/26 at 12:59 am to GoCrazyAuburn
quote:
If you have one meal to do, I always just suggest El Barrio to people. It is the best bang for your buck spot in town. Food is really good and you also don't have to break the bank, it is in the heart of downtown with a couple bars you can go to before or after. Make sure to get the chorizo queso. They have a carne asada steak on the menu currently that is phenomenal. The chorizo meatloaf is another standard of theirs. I also get their green Pozole a lot. It is delicious.
I haven’t been to El Barrio in about 10 years, but the two things that I remember are the incredible elotes and the mezcal cocktails. I wonder if the elote dish would stand up to my recollection.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 6:56 am to GoCrazyAuburn
Much appreciated, that is quite a list. I’ll share that with my adult kids so we can divide and conquer.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 3:58 pm to GoCrazyAuburn
quote:
Bottega (cafe side
Tried the cafe side a couple weekend ago, was very impressed and would definitely recommend
Not sure how generic this is considered to locals but tried Perry’s last night and was also very good
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 3:59 pm
Posted on 5/31/26 at 6:50 pm to hubertcumberdale
Perry’s is fantastic. I don’t think anybody I know thinks poorly of it because it’s a chain. I usually don’t include it on my list for visitors just because you can get it elsewhere, but it is a great steakhouse. The pork chop is dangerously good. It’s like $20 I fridays I think.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 6:50 pm
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:35 pm to Ramblin Wreck
For bars, I'd choose House of FO, Collins, Adios and/or Lou's first. Lou's has a fairly good n'hood vibe, though I'd hesitate to call it a true n'hood bar.
Upscale dining (somewhat) based on a bit of creativity or authenticity (as opposed to higher quality/higher prices), there's Ovenbird and Bottega, maybe a couple of others. I like North Italia in the Galleria area. Would like to say Highland Grill, but apparently they aren't coming back after closing for covid. Bit of mystery there. Haven't been to Helen's but I think it's more or less a steak house instead of interesting Southern fare.
High quality casual fair is wide open, as everyone has suggested. Denada is a new Mexican place downtown I plan to visit fairly soon.
Very good baked treats at Last Call Baking Co., which is right next to June Coffee, but there's usually a line at June's before opening.
Not a BBQ afficionado, but I think there's plenty of high quality Q to meet anyone's needs.
Pepper Place has a lot of different venues, trucks, markets, etc, so check that out.
If you're in Vestavia, Masaman Thai is solid.
ETA: Continental bakery for various bread loaves and other baked treats, and Homewood Bagel for bagels, though the service is "one bagel at a time" type.
Upscale dining (somewhat) based on a bit of creativity or authenticity (as opposed to higher quality/higher prices), there's Ovenbird and Bottega, maybe a couple of others. I like North Italia in the Galleria area. Would like to say Highland Grill, but apparently they aren't coming back after closing for covid. Bit of mystery there. Haven't been to Helen's but I think it's more or less a steak house instead of interesting Southern fare.
High quality casual fair is wide open, as everyone has suggested. Denada is a new Mexican place downtown I plan to visit fairly soon.
Very good baked treats at Last Call Baking Co., which is right next to June Coffee, but there's usually a line at June's before opening.
Not a BBQ afficionado, but I think there's plenty of high quality Q to meet anyone's needs.
Pepper Place has a lot of different venues, trucks, markets, etc, so check that out.
If you're in Vestavia, Masaman Thai is solid.
ETA: Continental bakery for various bread loaves and other baked treats, and Homewood Bagel for bagels, though the service is "one bagel at a time" type.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 7:38 pm
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:44 pm to Ramblin Wreck
My personal top 5 “fine dining” places in no particular order.
Helen
Automatic
Current
Bayonet
Chez Fon Fon
Next Tier:
Gianmarcos
Ovenbird
Others I have tried recently and enjoyed:
Epice
La Fete
Helen
Automatic
Current
Bayonet
Chez Fon Fon
Next Tier:
Gianmarcos
Ovenbird
Others I have tried recently and enjoyed:
Epice
La Fete
Posted on 5/31/26 at 9:31 pm to deltadummy
quote:
Highland Grill, but apparently they aren't coming back after closing for covid. Bit of mystery there
They just haven’t been able to get the staff to man it full time. They predominantly use it as an event space now and just run Bottega and Fon Fon full time now.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 10:10 pm to GoCrazyAuburn
Do you know any good places with a view? Years ago I was in town and went to Baby Doe’s. I don’t remember anything about the food but the view of the city from Red Mountain was great. I see The Club is still there but it requires a recommendation to join and I’m not sure if it is worth it even if I knew someone. I know the Elyton Hotel has a roof top restaurant. I don’t know of any on Red Mountain, Oak Mountain, or Double Oak Mountain with a cool view of the valley.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 10:46 pm to Ramblin Wreck
Not that I can think of. The Club is definitely the best for sure. I go there a good bit, I think it is worth it but for plenty it wouldn’t be. Their terrace bar is definitely the best views of the city and rooftop bar and The View restaurant has great ones too.
Elyton hotel has a bar/lounge on its roof that has small bites. Redmont Hotel has a rooftop bar as well, but it isn’t like a dining spot really.
Mayawell bar has a way to get on their roof and you can get some decent views of north Birmingham, especially around sunset. They have a decent food truck. Other than that, I’m drawing a blank on any others.
Elyton hotel has a bar/lounge on its roof that has small bites. Redmont Hotel has a rooftop bar as well, but it isn’t like a dining spot really.
Mayawell bar has a way to get on their roof and you can get some decent views of north Birmingham, especially around sunset. They have a decent food truck. Other than that, I’m drawing a blank on any others.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 10:48 pm
Posted on 5/31/26 at 10:59 pm to GoCrazyAuburn
Not related to that, but High Dive is a cool new listening lounge and restaurant that just opened. It has a bakery and breakfast as well as Asian inspired sandwiches and small plates. Very cool spot.
El Royale is a cool spot as well. Really awesome courtyard. It is a on the pricey side for being upscale Mexican food, but is still solid overall. Drinks are really good and atmosphere is top notch. Don’t go a ton but it is a fun time when we do.
El Royale is a cool spot as well. Really awesome courtyard. It is a on the pricey side for being upscale Mexican food, but is still solid overall. Drinks are really good and atmosphere is top notch. Don’t go a ton but it is a fun time when we do.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 11:00 pm
Posted on 6/1/26 at 6:46 am to GoCrazyAuburn
Thanks for all the info!
Posted on 6/1/26 at 11:46 am to Ramblin Wreck
Posted on 6/2/26 at 10:15 am to GoCrazyAuburn
quote:
t’s like $20 I fridays I think.
Used to work over there and me and a coworker would go on fridays a lot just for the pork chop. It used to be closer to $15 and it was such a good deal. One of the best pork chops you can find even if they are a chain
Everyone else has already covered the restaurants really well. I’ll say I did try Bayonet recently and it was great. A very large and diverse oyster menu
Posted on 6/2/26 at 11:59 am to Mstate
Yea I think Bayonet has proably the best raw bar right now. Automatic's is good, but their entrees are their winners. Not discrediting Bayonet's mains by any means either, their raw bar/oysters just definitely stand out amongst the rest.
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News