Restaurants in Birmingham

[Neanne]

With our CL weekend coming up itd be great if anyone has restaurant suggestions. I looked at the web site Maelynn suggested but Id like something a little more personal. Help please!!

[Maelynn Cheung]

Here are three places to dine created by award-winning chef Frank Stitt (recently awarded this year's James Beard award for best chef in the southeast)

The Highlands Restaurant http://www.highlandsbarandgrill.com/
This next site will take you to two places - the Bottega restaurant and the Bottega cafe http://www.bottegarestaurant.com/

Here's a website dedicate to dining in Birmingham...
http://www.bhamdining.com

I can come up with some more and let you know...

Another close one. I've heard pretty favorable reviews... http://www.hotandhotfishclub.com/

Here's another - it's about 7 miles south of bham in the Wynfrey hotel. Go to the site and click on Dining and then on Winston's. I hear it's pretty good.
http://www.wynfrey.com/


Maelynn



[This message has been edited by Maelynn Cheung (edited 05-03-2001).]

[Joyce]

I want one of everything on the menu at Bottega restaurant.

[lorilei]

Really?
Do you mean to tell me that no one on these boards is from the Birmingham area? No one has vacationed there? I'm really surprised. I was looking forward to hearing some good old fashioned reviews http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[KLynn]

I live in Birmingham, and I second all of Maelynn's recommendations!

Bottega has a great outside dining atmosphere, plus they have two options - a more casual cafe side and also a fine dining side that is wonderful. Their website is great.

Another favorite place of mine is La Paz. It is a chain, but still fabulous Mexican food. In fact, I am going there this week for a birthday party! La Paz is located in Crestline Village, which is one of three separate villages in the Mountain Brook area. Mountain Brook is only 10 minutes or so from the CL headquarters. There is Mountain Brook Village, Crestline Village, and English Village. Each are full of great shops, etc. - fun places to stroll and window shop. We're not New York, but we have our charms! In Mountain Brook Village there is a small cafe called Rue de Provence, which has great pastries and such for breakfast and is a wonderful spot for lunch.

Another fun area is downtown Homewood. There is a great coffee shop called O'Henry's and plenty of shops and restaurants. Dave's Pizza is a classic pizza place with outside seating, bands, etc. AND great pizza http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Hot and Hot Fish Club, Highlands Bar and Grill, and Ciao are favorites - but more on the expensive side, FYI

Hope this helps! I hope you all enjoy Birmingham, and please let me know if you have other questions. I'm not a native, but I've been here 6 years and know my way around pretty well.

KLynn

[Neanne]

This is great!! Wow Im really getting excited!!

[Bhamdining]

I was tickled to see the administrator list our web site, http://www.bhamdining.com. If you're looking for a more personal touch, this is it -- just my husband and myself and our personal observations about restaurants.

One of our latest discoveries is Daniel George restaurant in Mountain Brook. We've been twice, and in our opinion they're the next best thing in Birmingham to Frank Stitt's restaurants. A real focus on fresh, high-quality ingredients. Everything tastes very fresh, and a lot of it seems to be pretty low fat. Not a lot of heavy sauces and the like. The service was great both times we went, as well. You can read a review on our web site.

[Neanne]

Klynn your going to think this is strange but Im thinking it might be nice to try some Southern home cooking type places since this will be our first time in any southern states. Guess this will mean my meal wont be very light. Do you have any suggestions? I guess Im looking more for local than atmosphere or anything like that. Do you have any suggestions??

[KLynn]

Wow - your first trip to the South! I hope our Southern hospitality lives up to its reputation!

Here in the south we have a whole genre of restaurants aimed at your exact request - affectionately known as the "Meat 'n Three" - Translation: Meat and 3 vegetables. These are the places to get the best, Southern cooking...black-eyed peas, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, mashed potatoes and gravy - you are right...it won't be a light meal...

Here are my favorites:

The Little Professor in Homewood is a bookstore with a cafe inside called Crepe Myrtles. They have great vegetables and the cutest older lady that works there...she always has a hat on...

The Heights Cafe is located in the Cahaba Heights area...also good vegetables...

There is a place that I believe is called the Irondale Cafe - I have never been, but it is the restaurant that Fannie Flagg based her book "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" on...and then the movie, of course. I can't recommend it personally, but I am sure it is wonderful. The CL people can give you detail, I'm sure.

Hope this helps! Have a great time, and don't sweat to death...it is pretty hot today...

[Neanne]

Thanks KLynn. I knew youd come thru for me!!

[Maggie]

Since I live in Birmingham, I thought I'd post a few suggestions too.

My favorite restaurant (at the moment) is Surin West in the Five Points south area. They serve great Thai food and for a vegetarian (which I am), there's a better selection than most restaurants around here.

For barbeque, I'd recommend Jim n' Nicks or Dreamland, which are both also in the southside area.

For good old vegetables (overcooked to perfection) I like to go to Burt's On The Bluff.

Rue de Provence is good for a light lunch. It's sort of a French bistro-ish place in Mountain Brook Village. DH and I love to go there on a slow afternoon, have lunch and take home some treats from their bakery for dinner.

Dh and I also like Preston's, it's in the Forest Park area (which is still southside to me). I'd consider the food there to be upscale southern "cuisine."

I'll add more as I think of them.

If I can help with any directions or more information , I'll be glad to.

[This message has been edited by Maggie (edited 06-06-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Maggie (edited 06-06-2001).]

[Bhamdining]

As a transplant to the South, I have become a convert to "Southern Veggies" as I call them. Hard to eat light, as even something as basic as green beans is traditionally cooked for hours with fatback. And you'll have to try Southern favorites like fried green tomatoes and fried okra (heck, they even fry pickles down here!) You can at least get plenty of fiber from mashed potatoes and peas or beans like blackeyed peas and pinto beans. Make sure to try some "greens," too, such as turnip, mustard, or collards.

We list some of the local "Meat-n-Three" joints on our web site at http://www.bhamdining.com/Listings/typelisting_meat-n-three.html.

At home, I make much lighter versions of many of these traditional favorites, making for a very nutritious meal with lots of vegetables. Knorr's ham bouillon makes a great substitute for bacon or fatback in greens, peas or beans, or green beans. Mashed potatoes (or "creamed potatoes," as they're called here) I cook with chicken bouillon, then mash with just a small amount of butter and some buttermilk or light sour cream. Casseroles are lightened up with light sour cream and lowfat soups. In the summertime, a plate of big, juicy, red ripe tomato slices is a must.

[Gail]

Bhamdining,

Thanks for your suggestions. You'll be pleased to know that I checked out your site and actually copied copy several pages which I toted along on our weekend in Birmingham. It proved to be a tremendous help!

Gail (Neanne)

[SusieO]

I'd like to thank Maggie for suggesting Surin West. Wonderful food, service and atmosphere. Plus I got my sushi fix for the week! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Maggie]

SusieO

YAY! I'm so glad you liked it! I confess I've been checking all day to see which restaurants the CL weekend group visited, and I'm so glad I could offer a suggestion that helped. I may have to go to Surin tonight just to celebrate (any excuse, you know).

[luv2cook]

We went to Surin West with SusieO and her DH and also DH and I hit La Paz. It was pretty good. The green tomatillo salsa was great, tho. The only thing about La Paz was you didn't get a lot for what you paid. My DH got beef nachos and he got four...

Oh, we also went to Bahama Breeze which was rated the best new rest. by B'hm guide. They screwed up our table but made good by comping the whole table. Good PR on their part!

[This message has been edited by luv2cook (edited 06-11-2001).]