The 35 Best Restaurants In Birmingham, Alabama

For a city of its size, Birmingham far out kicks its coverage when it comes to dining out. Historically known as an iron town, garnering the nickname the Steel City, a more modern analysis of the city’s strengths might render it the Foodie City or a Southern Dining Capital. Over the past few decades, this central Alabama city has blossomed into a destination known across the country for its award-winning food and beverage scene. Over the years, Birmingham has amassed an impressive collection of more than 60 James Beard Award winners and nominees. In 2022, Fodor’s even named it as one of the country’s 10 most surprising food towns. Whether you’re in the mood for smoked barbecue, authentic tacos, Southern comfort cuisine, or creative globally inspired tapas, you can find it all—and much more—in Birmingham. Here are 30 must-try restaurants for your next visit to the Magic City, ranked in no particular order.

Bottega

Chef Frank Stitt is the undisputed patriarch of Birmingham’s restaurant scene. Some of the South’s best chefs have come from the kitchens of his three restaurants. At Bottega, find Southern-Italian fare in two distinct spaces: a more casual café and a reservation-only dining room. Prices for wood-fired pizza and seasonal handmade pasta are reasonable, so you can order a feast without breaking the bank. Just be sure to cap your meal with a slice of coconut-pecan cake, the signature dessert of retired pastry chef and James Beard Award winner Dolester Miles.

Chez FonFon

While Stitt’s lauded Highlands Bar & Grill remains on hiatus, head to his third venture, Chez FonFon. The French bistro serves every manner of classic French fare from steak frites to escargot to a killer Croque Monsieur. If you visit when the weather is mild (and it often is in Alabama), request a table on the magical outdoor patio.

Hot and Hot Fish Club

Another heavy hitter of Birmingham’s expansive fine dining scene, Hot and Hot Fish Club has been a local favorite special occasion since opening in 1994. Blending Southern, French, and Californian influences, you’ll find everything from ham hock ravioli to oven roasted snapper (with the most exquisitely crispy skin) on the Hot & Hot menu. In summer months, the famous staked-high tomato salad is the restaurant’s most-ordered dish.

Eugene’s Hot Chicken

You don’t have to visit the Music City for top-notch hot chicken. Birmingham’s contender can be found in Eugene’s Hot Chicken. With locations in Birmingham’s Uptown District and the suburb of Hoover, plus a roaming food truck, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to have your fill. Pick your heat (ranges from Southern to stupid hot), make sure to ask for an extra cup of homemade ranch, and prepare to have your mind blown and your tastebuds tingling.

Trattoria ZaZa

What has for years been a weekday working crowd hotspot has evolved into a beloved brunch and dinner restaurant, too. This modern café is known for tasty Roman-style pizza, handmade pasta, and a rotating menu of daily specials that folks plan their weeks around. On weekends, expect lines out the door for slices of breakfast ‘za topped with farm fresh eggs and French toast covered in seasonal fruit. Go early if you want a cherry rosemary scone to take home.

The Essential

Pastry chef Kristen Hall first burst onto the Birmingham dining scene through her pop-up bakery Baking Bandits. Over the years, that business has evolved into two restaurants where she continues to crank out her satisfying sweets alongside savory dishes from chef Victor Hall. At all-day café The Essential, the atmosphere is light, airy, and effortlessly chic. The menu is riddled with seasonal dishes, plus a few trusty standbys like chicken piri piri with peanut-lime gremolata and a ridiculously photogenic cheeseburger served Big Mac style.

Last Call Baking Co.

The art of laminated pastry is alive and well at this downtown bakery that took the city by storm in late 2022. They sell out of treats like blackberry cream buns, pistachio-chocolate pain Suisse, and shishito Danishes nearly every morning. If you can’t make it until later in the day, you’ll be just as satisfied with a classic almond croissant and a cup of joe from next-door neighbor June Coffee.

Great Wall

Authentic Chinese food can’t be found around every corner in Birmingham, but at Great Wall you can rest assured your cravings will be curbed with traditional dishes like braised beef noodle soup, Hunan-style eggplant with minced pork, and Szechuan-style braised fish fillet. Make sure to start your meal here with an order of wontons in spicy peanut sauce.

Saigon Noodle House

Get your fix of aromatic pho and salty-pickled banh mi at Saigon Noodle House. If you visit during peak lunch hours, you may have a tiny wait for a table. But once you’re seated, it won’t be long until you’re up to your elbows over a giant bowl of steaming broth. If you want to venture from your normal order, consider the Bún Bò Huê', thick vermicelli noodles in a spicy beef soup with brisket, Vietnamese ham, and meatballs topped with cilantro, onions, and beansprouts.

Blue Pacific

You can’t judge a book by its cover, and Blue Pacific, located in a former gas station in the suburb of Hoover is living proof. The unassuming restaurant is known for having the best Thai food in the city, but it’s not all about curry and drunken noodles here. The beef and pork noodle soups, served as specials on Tuesdays and Thursdays respectively are truly something to write home about.

Taboon Noon O Kabab

Middle Eastern and Greek restaurants are a dime a dozen in Birmingham, but for Persian cuisine, there’s only one place to go. Taboon Noon O Kabab is fittingly known for its kabobs (order the Soltani Special to try several), but also gains extra points for fresh-made bread and weekly specials like Kabseh, basmati rice with braised lamb shanks.

Tacos Dos Hermanos

Texas may be known for its vibrant taco truck community, but Birmingham’s is just as robust. If you see one parked at a gas station or roaming around the city, chances are you’ll get a great and affordable meal, but you should get especially excited if you see one of Dos Hermanos’s three trucks, located in downtown Birmingham, Bessemer, and Homewood. Mix and match tacos with fillings like lengua (tongue), carnitas (pork), and barbacoa (lamb), then pile them high with cilantro, onion, pickled cabbage and carrots, and spicy sauce.

Gianmarco’s

This cozy restaurant specializing in classic Italian cuisine is everyone’s go-to date-night spot. Reserve a table in the white tablecloth dining room or find a perch in the more casual wine bar out back. The menu at Gianmarco’s is extensive, featuring everything from pistachio-crusted fried Gulf oysters to eggplant involtini as appetizers; veal chop parmesan to mushroom ravioli as entrees; and bombolini to tiramisu for dessert.

Niki’s West

Join the long cafeteria line at Niki’s West, an institution that has been dishing out classic meat-‘n’-three fare since 1957. You may have a hard time choosing just one meat and three vegetables from the seemingly endless hot bar, but favorites sides to consider include macaroni and cheese, fried okra, turnip greens, yams, and banana pudding. Folks have been patronizing Niki’s West religiously for years to get their fill of traditional entrees like country fried steak, lemon pepper catfish, and Greek chicken.

Johnny’s

For a modern take on the classic meat ‘n’ three, Johnny’s in Homewood is the place to go. Also referred to as a Greek ‘n’ three, Chef Timothy Hontzas dishes out Aegean eats like Keftedes (Greek meatballs) and Fasolakia (stewed green beans and tomatoes) alongside Southern specialties like 15-hour pot roast, fried catfish, and chicken pot pie. This relatively small lunch spot tends to get rather busy at peak hours, so be prepared to wait in line and have your order ready when you reach the front of the line!

SAW’s BBQ

Asking Southerners where to get the best barbecue can be a polarizing question. While everyone has their favorite spot, most Birminghamians can agree on the many merits of SAW’s BBQ. The original Homewood location opened in 2009, but thanks to its popularity there are now six locations sprinkled around town. Favorite orders include Carolina-style smoked pulled pork, chicken, and ribs with sides like vinegar-based slaw, potato salad, and the most heavenly whole-fried okra you’ll find anywhere.

Shu Shop

Moody lighting, hidden alcoves, and hip décor make a big bowl of noodles all the cozier. At this Japanese Izakaya and ramen shop, there are five ramen varieties including seafood, vegetarian, tonkotsu, spicy miso, and shoyu. Start your meal with small plates like hot and sour Brussels, soy butter scallops, and pork gyoza, then tuck into a warm bowl of noodle soup for the perfect cold-weather dinner.

Helen

Chef Rob McDaniel pays tribute to his grandmother, Helen, at this upscale Southern eatery where the dishes are served family style and the Warm Angel Biscuits (with whipped cane syrup butter) are gloriously fluffy. Choose a couple meats (the various cuts of steak are all excellent), then complete your meal with sides like braised button mushrooms, celery and blue cheese slaw, and Yukon gold potatoes with dill and crème fraiche.

El Barrio

Gulf seafood, farm-raised meat, and seasonal produce come together in Mexican-inspired dishes like plantain nachos, ceviche, pozole, and roasted chile relleno at El Barrio, a longtime favorite downtown restaurant. Outside of their delicious food, the restaurant is also known for its killer margaritas and lively atmosphere.

OvenBird

Live-fire cooking is the name of the game at this Chris Hastings’s tapas spot in downtown Birmingham’s popular Pepper Place district. Find flavors of Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, and Portugal in small plates like roasted vegetables with salsa brava, snapper throats with chickpea salad and fennel hearts, and Gulf shrimp ajillo with garlic butter and chile de arbol.

Bettola

Another Pepper Place darling, Bettola is known for its farm-to-table Italian fare and cheery patio dining. At Chef James Lewis’s longtime establishment (since 2008), Neapolitan pizzas are made with naturally fermented dough, that gets hand-tossed and baked to perfection in a wood-fired oven. There’s nothing better than a slice, a glass of red wine, and a balmy evening.

Automatic Seafood and Oysters

There was considerable buzz surrounding this opening from Chef Adam Evans of beloved Ford Fry and Atlanta institution The Optimist. Since opening in 2019, Automatic has more than lived up to the hype with its elegant, coastal-inspired dining room and menu of dishes like duck fat poached swordfish, fish collars with Calabrian chili butter, and octopus a la plancha with harissa and yogurt.

Hero Doughnuts

Wil Drake’s two-day brioche yeast doughnuts started as something of a myth in Birmingham, when he began pedaling them at pop-ups across town in 2016. Eventually he opened a brick and mortar in Homewood where you could get the beautifully layered donuts, as well as a simple but delicious burger or fried chicken sandwich on a homemade bun. There are now four locations in the Birmingham metro, plus others in Charleston, Nashville, and Atlanta.

Tasty Town

Local restaurateur Nick Pihakis opened this Greek restaurant and lounge in Birmingham’s Parkside district in the summer of 2022, and it’s quickly become a local favorite for fresh Greek cuisine in a bright, modern diner setting. Start with an appetizer of zucchini fritters or chargrilled eggplant, then choose from traditional dishes like pastichio, souvlaki, and lamb chops with lemony yogurt.

Sam’s Super Samwiches

Locals swear by the burgers and hot dogs at this no-frills lunch counter in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood. Owner Sammy Graphos opened Sam’s Super Samwiches in 1970 and owned it until his passing in 2021. Today, his son Ted, has taken over the family business, where he continues to sell the famous Birmingham style of hot dogs that’s dressed with ground beef, mustard, onion, sauerkraut, and tangy Birmingham sauce.

Taj India

The city’s longest-running Indian restaurant recently relocated from its well-known perch in Highland Park to a larger spot just a few minutes down the road. The change of address hasn’t stopped faithful fans from flocking to Taj India for their daily lunch buffet full of spicy curries, flavorful veggie dishes, and all the fluffy naan you can eat.

The Rougaroux

Inside a kitschy pink house in Birmingham’s Forest Park neighborhood, you’ll find some of the best Cajun cuisine north of New Orleans. Po’boys, gumbo, boudin, and an addictive specialty known as Zombie Bread are served alongside cold beer and frozen cocktails year-round. For any doubting The Rougaroux’s authenticity, note that all their po’boys are served on Leidenheimer Baking Company bread.

Yo’ Mama’s

Gluten-free and fried chicken don’t typically reside in the same sentence, but at Yo’ Mama’s, the two live in perfect crispy, crunchy harmony.  Get your fried wings served alongside fries and slaw or atop a Belgian waffle—you can’t go wrong either way. Make sure to ask for plenty of homemade POE (“Put On Everything”) sauce because as the name suggests, it’s good on just about anything.

Pizza Grace

The pies at this Birmingham pizza joint are truly something special. They’re so good that they earned a spot on our Best New Restaurants List in 2023. Chef-owner Ryan Westover’s recipe for three-ingredient sourdough crust is the basis for all things delicious at Pizza Grace. Inside a warehouse-chic dining room, chow down on a classic pepperoni pie or the veggie pie that’s topped with pesto, roasted mushrooms, garlic confit, kale, and smoked sea salt.

Makarios Kabob & Grill

Makarios prides itself on offering a little something for everyone. Specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine, their expansive menu offers everything from fluffy falafel to gyros to stuffed baked potatoes. The Sampler Plate for Two, which comes with tabbouli, hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, chicken and lamb shwarma, shish tawook and kafta, plus rice and your choice of soup or salad, is more than enough to feed a crowd.

Tortugas Homemade Pizza

There's only one place in Birmingham to get Chicago stuffed (also known as deep dish) pizza. Luckily, it's the real deal. Husband-and-wife duo Carlos Vizcaino and Carol Wilson opened their spot in Hoover in 1999, after meeting and learning the art of deep dish at Edwardo's Natural Pizza in Chicago. Head to their original Hoover location where the walls are covered in Chicago sports memorabilia and photos of longtime patrons. Munch on garlic bread while your 2-inch-thick stuffed pizza bakes in the oven. Tortugas means turtle in Spanish, a subtle nod to the slow-but-worth-it cook time of 45 minutes for each pie. No time to wait? Their thin-crust, square-cut pizzas are also excellent and require far less waiting. Tortugas opened a second location in downtown Birmingham near Regions Field, this one helmed by the couple's son Matt, in 2017.

Current Charcoal Grill

The second venture from James Beard Award-Winning Chef Adam Evans of Automatic Seafood and Oysters opened in April 2024 to much acclaim from the city. Current takes a note from Automatic's book by championing sustainably-caught Gulf seafood, but the similarities end there. Charcoal's menu is inspired by the flavors and techniques of Asian cuisine. The Charcoal Grill portion of the menu features chicken and pork skewers, along with scallops, tiger prawn, and lamb ribs, all cooked using a traditional Japanese method that requires special Binchotan charcoals. Other menu standouts include whole Cantonese-style roasted duck and Korean short rib beef bossam. Perhaps as impressive as the food at Current is is ambiance. The striking dining room, with its lofted ceilings, exposed brick, and buttery leather banquettes, was designed by Evans's wife Suzanne Humphries Evans.

Gus's Hot Dogs

You haven't eaten in Birmingham until you've had a Birmingham Dog from Gus's. The last of the city's many Greek-owned hot dog stands, Gus's has been serving lunch in its downtown location since 1947. Today, the operation is helmed by Lee Pantazis, who grew up eating at Gus's and took the longstanding business over in 2017. If you want to order like a true local, follow this formula to a T: a Special Dog (comes topped with mustard, onions, kraut, beef, and the special tangy-sweet-spicy sauce), a glass bottle of Grapico, and a bag of Golden Flake Sweet Heat chips.

Tacos Don Tacho #2

Hiding in a strip mall on Green Springs Avenue, this is the place to go for authentic Mexican. Order a bevy of street tacos topped with cilantro and onion, then make your way to the sauce bar to top your tacos with your choice from at least six different homemade salsas and hot sauces, plus pickled veggies, lime, and more. Tortas, quesadillas, burritos, fajitas, and large plates are also available. If you're at Tacos Don Tachos on a weekend, order the Menudo. Always save room for a trip to their snack bar, where you can grab a scoop of ice cream, a paleta, or fresh fruit sprinkled with Tajin.

The Bright Star

The oldest restaurant in Alabama, The Bright Star opened in 1907 just a few blocks from where it now stands in downtown Bessemer. It started as a 25-seat establishment, and today it can hold 330 customers (with five dining rooms plus a bar) and a staff of 70. The legendary Greek and Southern restaurant is known for many dishes, but the fried snapper throats and Greek style beef tips are standout favorites. Crowded on a plate with any Southern meat 'n' three side you can imagine, it's the perfect meal.

For more Southern Living news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Southern Living.