Food fantastic. 5/5 Only reason not 5 overall: (1)servings are very small for the price (similar to higher end NYC or LA price and portions), but again the food was great....we tried about 7 items and all great. (2)Some people in the group were cold, as the front door opens right to outside, so every open and close created a good draft. Imagine layout is set up for all seasons besides winter (summer outside seating looked great). Again, def would go back! read more

My husband and I were on a road trip through the south and were passing through Birmingham. We loved our whole entire meal! From the salads to the roasted chicken plate it was delicious! Our waitress was wonderful and even recommended some late night bars for us to explore since we only had one night in Birmingham! We often talk about how this was the best meal we had our whole two week vacation spanning from Texas to South Carolina! Definitely try the duck breast, best duck we ever had! read more

See all

AMAZING. If you're looking for an upscale dining experience without the stuffy, "fancy" atmosphere this is your place. Staff takes care of you; knowledgeable of the menu and very attentive. Food is somewhat of a tapas style so you'll have a lot of small courses which keeps you interested in what's coming next. Seasonal drinks are always excellent as well. This is definitely a favorite for my husband and I in Birmingham! read more

Rabbit Paella: great, Braised Lamb: delicious, Roasted bone marrow: Yum, split roasted duck: fabulous! I was fortunate to enjoy this meal with friend who like to share. Food and service was great. And the aroma adds to the atmosphere. If you are visiting Birmingham I highly recommend this restaurant. To finish off enjoy the Burnt cream, but be sure to wait until it is burnt... I mean branded at the table. read more

Ate at Ovenbird with my honey and it did not disappoint. I would actually give it 4.5 stars. Our server was knowledgeable and had several wonderful recommendations. We arrived at 6 on a Saturday night and the restaurant was about a third full. We left at 7:30 and all of the indoor seating was full as well as the bar area. We started with the beef empanada which was a good, flavorful starter but not a "wow" for me. Next we were served the beef fat candle and the goat dish. The candle and dipping bread was one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. My husband said it was like eating a steak and I agreed. The goat was delicious and the roasted root vegetables were amazing! The flavors of both of these dishes perfectly complimented each other. The only disappointment we had was with the final beef dish. The flavor was very strong garlic. Typically I love garlic but it overpowered the steak and we didn't finish it. Another downside was that no steak knife was provided and it was very difficult to cut through the seared outside with a butter knife ;-/ Dessert was the burnt espresso creme brûlée and it was amazing. I wanted to lick the pan but that would have been weird. I cannot wait to come back to Ovenbird and try everything else on the menu! read more

Chris Hastings and his son are doing such a great job here! The beef fat candle and whole fish is amazing!

The gardens, the smokey inviting aroma, the small plates of delightful bites pretty much gave us a delightful experience. Proud that our city of Birmingham offers yet another superb grill! read more

OvenBird - Almond Cake / Ovenbird brought delights in every way - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

Had a great time at OvenBird. The food was excellent. I wanted to try everything on the menu, but I restrained myself! The service was pleasant, friendly and informed. I believe our waiter's name is Drew. I will definitely visit OvenBird again and again. read more

Food is fantastic, service was great and wine list is on point. Great selection of Spanish and Portuguese wine. Im giving it 4 starts because the cocktail menu was "so so" and the cocktail that I ordered was tiny, overpriced and not that good. read more

Ovenbird is a fantastic treat for a nice night out. Being a tapas place, the idea is to get several small plates to split and try. All said and done, your meal will end up being around the same price as the normal courses at a traditional restaurant, only you've been able to indulge in a bit more variety. The atmosphere is wonderful - intimate but not claustrophobic. I definitely want to return for a meal on the patio in nicer weather. Service is good - our waitress was knowledgeable about the menu and had no issue answering our questions. She also let us sample a glass of wine before we committed. Between the two of us, we ordered five small plates and a dessert. The beef fat candle is a must simply because it's both a spectacle and delicious. We also enjoyed the charred broccoli and the cheese soup. We weren't disappointed with any of our orders, but those stick out as tops. While the price point is high, you get a lot of bang for your buck. We enjoyed getting to try some new dishes and definitely be back to try some more. The only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is that it doesn't jump to the top of my list to return to frequently. Even so, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it for a fun night out. read more

We had a wonderful evening at Ovenbird. Our experience didn't start great as we did find the hostess to be quite rude as she basically encouraged us to leave because we didn't have reservations. It was pouring out so we decided to stay and wait. Wait only ended up being about an hour for four of us and the bartenders were wonderful to us while we waited. Once seated, servers were attentive and helpful. We had an amazing meal including a rose "perrone" which is basically an alcohol bong but classy lol. While dining, Chris Hastings came to our table to address our concern with the initial poor service from the hostess and was very gracious and apolgetic. Chris and the entire Ovenbird team when out if their way to make us feel welcome and contributed to a great experience. read more

"Unique and Delicous!" Unlike anywhere I have been in Birmingham! The menu, cocktails, decor and overall atmosphere was wonderful. The staff is very friendly and informative about the menu. I had the ceviche and the beef shoulder and they were both mouthwatering. I will definitely be back for more :) read more

I finally made it to OvenBird last Friday for dinner and was not disappointed. I made a last minute reservation and I am glad I did. The restaurant was packed, but I enjoyed the ambiance. The food is labeled on yelp as Spanish, but there is a distinct Southern filter to all of the tapas and small plates. This isn't extremely authentic Spanish food, but it is delicious. I especially enjoyed the bone marrow. It was served on a bed of hot coals! read more

What a homerun! A couple of my prospects were in town so I took them to OvenBird for dinner. Holy Cow! They couldn't quit raving about the experience...and, the outdoor seating allowed us to casually discuss business. Very productive. Great wine offerings (Somm came by and made a recommendation that was outstanding), great food, and great service (thanks Chelsea). If it's not apparent yet, I was very pleased with my choice. The next time I have customers in town, we'll be headed to OvenBird. Thanks OvenBird read more

Had one of the best dining experiences of all time here. Went for my wife's birthday and had a group of 8 on a Saturday night. We opted for the "chef's menu" so they brought four courses with two or three options each round for the table. It really allowed us to enjoy the experience and get a great grasp of the menu. Baked oysters, avocado crab toast, and the foraged mushrooms were highlights. read more

Perhaps my favorite restaurant in the US. Every dish has been perfectly executed AND consistent over subsequent dinners. I don't live anywhere near here, but I'm often looking for excuses to drive through Birmingham just to stop in here. read more

I've been really excited about trying Ovenbird for quite sometime. We decided to have dinner here as part of a friends bachelorette party and they did not disappoint. Parking was very easy as there is a parking lot conveniently located right beside the restaurant. We had a reservation and did have a short wait which we were able to grab a drink. Once we were seated they brought us our two bottles of champagne for the celebration which was such a thoughtful touch. I ordered the duck which was really fantastic! After dinner the owner, Chris Hastings, stopped by the table and took some pictures and also showed us how to make the s'mores in the fire pit outside. He was wonderful and made us feel very welcome at ovenbird. He also sent us another celebratory drink! I highly recommend giving Ovenbird a try!! read more

What can I say? This is my favorite restaurant in all of Birmingham. Unique, delicious and the perfect atmosphere for a special occasion or date night. This is a must go if you're in town. read more

Drinks are delicious. But I was underwhelmed by the food choices and price. Not that big of a menu and the prices are kind of ridiculous for the amount of food you get. If you're going on a date night and want to get unique and blow some cash, this is probably the place for you. The ambiance was nice. Probably will not be coming back. read more

OvenBird - Corazones ala plancha - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

Beware -- you may need to eat again when you leave... To say that I hate this restaurant is an understatement! Menu difficult to decipher so staff have to spend an inordinate amount of time at each table explaining. Portions are small, prices are high. Too much hype, not enough execution. read more

You gotta try this place. #Exclusive #Alfresco Great bourbon selection #AngelsEnvy The duck was great! read more

OvenBird - Roasted Duck Confit w/Sweet potato puree' w/ fingerlings in truffle butter #GoodStuff Great bourbon selection also. Al fresco dining! - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

One of the best restaurants in Birmingham. Been a few times now and have been impressed every time. The beef fat candle is a must. We always get 3-4 dishes to share between the two of us. Great drink and wine menu as well. If you are looking for a nice place to have dinner in Birmingham definitely check Ovenbird out. Love the patio also! read more

Our waitress was very slow, forgot about some things, and again...slow. Took us over 3 hours to get out of there. The food was good but nothing blew my socks off and you can get much better food for a fraction of the price. Maybe i bought into the hype a bit too much but it absolutely did not live up to any expectations whatsoever. We stopped somewhere on the way home to get more food because we left hungry after a HEFTY bill between the two of us. Unfortunately i wouldn't recommend this to anyone or take them there again. read more

Excellent dinner! We had 6 in our party and I think we tried over half the offerings on the menu! Our favorites were the goat, pork shoulder, beef shoulder, cheese soup and Brussels sprout slaw. I ordered the beef fat candle because it sounded so unusual. It was delicious. My favorite dessert was the flan with black pepper cream. The lemons curd was yummy also. The server was attentive and helpful in deciding what to order. He even gladly gave us separate checks! I highly recommend Ovenbird! read more

OvenBird - Beef Fat Candle - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

So myself and 3 buddies had reservations the other night, we arrived 15 min early, headed to the bar to grab a drink, that's when it started into a shallow dive. The bartender served half of our party and pretty much ignored the other 2 members of the party. Additionally even though we had a reservation our table wasn't ready on time (not a big deal but why book a reservation). We we're then seated about 15 min late and the proceeded to order every single apprised on the menu, because we are 4 grown ass men with healthy appetites. Be advised the portions are for dwarves and little people. The QR bar code reader menu function is a trendy hipster worthless function, I want a menu to peruse like a real restaurant back before this fake flu made the sheep scared of their own shadows. Because the menu is so vague and cryptic, we ended up just asking the server for a recommendation, she named off the entire menu and made no recommendations because she was too timid and indecisive to just say something. Finally we agreed for the seafood pasta dish. If you like burned pasta in a cast iron skillet for $17 be my guest. It wasn't just mine, they literally burned every single One of our orders and passed it off as upscale artesian fine dining. If I want burned pasta, I know some 6 year olds who can do that, and offer better service cheaper. As if it couldn't get worse, ordered the same drink (Kentucky mule, so it's not like you need a degree to know what it is and how to make it) but some other drink came out and only god would know what it was. The wait time for drinks was so long I basically said f@$& it, and just drank it. This is the only fine dining I've ever tacked on a trip through a drive through to grab a burger afterwards. Hopefully they can fix their issues or maybe it was just a bad night and I caught them on an off day? Good luck Ovenbird, I hope y'all can rebound. read more

They atmosphere was great, we really like the outdoor dining option as well as the great in outside seating options. We did all small plates and share them. They were out of chicken the night we went which was kind of odd. In general the food was good but not great and way over salted. Especially the fish had way too much salt on it as if they were trying to hide something by putting extra salt on things. The wine selection was good. They had several bottles that you don't normally find. read more

Came here with my wife for our 11 year anniversary dinner and it was fantastic. We tried all the things, including the fabled beef fat candle. I'll be honest, it was good, but our favorite thing was the bone marrow. We also drank a few cocktails to wash down the 7 or 8 small plates we enjoyed. Pleasantly surprised to see Flor de Caña (Nicaraguan rum for the uninitiated). Excellent service and the food came out quick. We'll definitely add it to the special night rotation. read more

The food is amazing, eclectic, and creative. It's visually stimulating and the atmosphere is inviting. I would have a suggestion for those who haven't eaten there, be prepared to order several plates for yourself...depending on what you choose, the portions can be small. It's better to be safe than leave hungry. Enjoy! read more

Chris Hastings had outdone himself...his other concept Hot and Hot is a place we have been to several times and this place just elevated our opinion of him to a whole new level!!....AMAZING experience!!!...I would give it 10 stars if I could!!...the experience, the food, the people, the drinks, ALL incredible...just go...you won't be sorry... read more

Ovenbird blew me away!!! I came here on a busy night with a reservation for 8. The outdoor and indoor settings are equally beautiful. The wait wasn't too bad and they had our table ready in no time. Serving a larger party was no issue for our waiter, we had awesome service. The food was off the charts delicious. This is definitely a place to share and try many different dishes. The Roasted Bone Marrow was my favorite by far, it was served on hot charcoal with plenty of bread. The sprout salad was nothing special, I liked that it was fresh though. I sampled the Beef Fat Candle and was again blown away at how creative and delicious this was. The Gaucho cocktail is something that you must try if you come here. It's a tequila drink with yerba mate, served in a really nifty miniature copper mate mug with a classy mate straw. The whole experience was amazing, this is a rare restaurant in Birmingham that pays great attention to every detail and does almost everything right! One gripe, and why no 5 stars: the options for vegetarians are nowhere near as satisfying as everything else. The paella, potato dish, and salads were very bland and unfilling for my fiancé. read more

We stopped by for brunch before we ventured into Pepper Place. My partner had been before and loved it and he'd been dying to take me for a meal so brunch seemed like the perfect time. I called in a few days before and made reservations which was very easy and they even called to confirm the day before. Parking was fairly easy because we had an early reservation and have been to Pepper Place so much that we know where to look. The actual restaurant is nestled to the right of one of the entrances to the farmer's market. To be honest, I never really noticed the place until I saw the brunch sign but what a cool little spot it was. It's like the entire place is built around the brick oven/wood fire concept, with the oven as the focal point, a large bar, a few tables spread throughout and a lovely outside seating area. Our waitress was great, seated us quickly, was very patient and really tended to our needs. We kicked everything off with some very tasty drinks and ordered the chorizo gravy and biscuits, an order of grits and the fried chicken & chorizo waffles. Man, what a meal! The chorizo gravy was packed with spicy flavor and the biscuits were light and fluffy. The grits were fresh ground, creamy and light. The chicken & waffles were such a fun rendition of the classic dish! We finished off our meal with the churros and blackberry jam which were light little sticks of cinnamony goodness. So good, just so good. I like to consider all factors when making reviews for a restaurant. The environment, service, drinks, and food all play their separate roles to make a great dining experience. This was such a great dining experience from start to end. I'll be back soon to try dinner! read more

See all

We enjoyed a wonderful evening at Ovenbird. Savannah was our waitress and she was charming and attentive. The food, wine and cocktails were excellent. You have to try the Beef Fat Candle - it's delicious! The beef shoulder, fresh catch, shrimp and mussels and paella were equally delicious. We shared. Bottle of the house Grenache Syrah which complemented all of the dishes. The atmosphere is warm and festive. Highly recommend Ovenbird! read more

Warm fire pit outside to greet us on a cold night. Everything we ordered was good. The whole flounder was excellent! Lovely experience!

Went to OvenBird the other night for a birthday dinner. We made reservations after numerous recommendations from friends to try it. In my opinion, it barely lived up to the hype. Wasn't bad, wasn't great. Especially for the bill. For it to be such a small restaurant, the service was not very good. There were maybe 2 waiters and they seemed like they were running around overwhelmed the entire time or always trying to play catch-up. We ordered two appetizers to start, one was very tasty, the other almost inedible. We then ordered two entree plates and one side. The problem was that the side (potatoes) came out almost 15 minutes before the entrees. Our waiter, to his credit, did notice this on his own and sent another complementary appetizer to compensate for the error. Once we got the entrees they were both very good. We went into the evening understanding that it was a "small plate" concept and made for sharing. However, in order to engage in the sharing experience, there must be enough to go around. Both entrees were laughably small, to the point where we almost couldn't share because cutting it in half resulted in one bite each. Overall, I was disappointed in my experience. I will say though that this place came very highly suggested, so maybe it just wasn't my style and others find it enjoyable. In other words, I'd return with a group who's interested to go, but I won't be the one suggesting it. read more

If you're wanting to try something different this is the place. They are a "tapas" style restaurant with an amazing drink menu. Even though the building itself is small, the walls open up and seating extends outside providing ample room for a busy Friday or Saturday night date. However, if you don't want to sit at the bar for dinner, be sure to make reservations. Since we didn't have reservations, we sat at the bar and had a great show the entire night. We had a front row seat watching both the food prep and bar areas all night. My husband is curious and asked many questions, which everyone handled in stride. Tons of knowledge was shared and we could tell the staff was proud to work at OvenBird. My husband and I ordered 6 plates total and it more than filled us. The deviled eggs were absolutely delicious. The saltiness from the anchovies resonated nicely on the tastebuds. The next items that came out were the shaved Brussels Sprouts and ceviche. Individually they were good, together the dishes were incredible. The Brussels were a smidge on the bitter side and the ceviche was heavy on the cilantro and lime. Take a bite of both on the same fork...pure heaven. Following that was the Beef Shoulder complex and braised goat. The shoulder was brought out first but it should have been the grand finale. It melted in our mouth. We were able to cut it with a fork and would have been completely satisfied to have 6 servings of that plate. The sauce and veggies complimented the beef very well. We really got the feeling this dish was the pride and joy of the chef that was cooking that night. The last dish served was the braised goat served over grits with a soft poached egg. This plate left much to be desired. The goat had a decent flavor, but we had to dig for the pieces. The grits were cooked nicely, the egg was perfect, however it lacked seasoning. We didn't want to end the night on a low note so we ordered the house made s'more. The marshmallow and graham cracker are scratch made. It was gooey, sticky, melty, crunchy. Everything a s'more is supposed to be. Throughout the night Chef Hastings made his way to different tables, shook hands and made small talk. This was the first time I had met him and it was definitely a highlight of the night. We also met HeadChef Bobby who was equally pleasant. At the end of the night we walked outside to the fire pit and enjoyed a few drinks and more s'mores (those were free). All in all this place was great. We were there for 3 hours and never felt rushed. Chef Hastings gave his recommendations for brunch and we will definitely be back. read more

Honestly not very impressed. The beef candle was basically a broth you dip bread in. The wagyu was really good and the drinks were amazing but overall I wouldn't go back for the food :/ read more

The dishes were tasty but they were tiny! If you have a load of disposable cash, and you do not mind feeling cheated with tiny portions, this place may be your fave! I felt totally ripped off and our waiter was really condescending and flip. Birmingham must have some rich and feckless snobs to keep this place in business!! Sheesh! read more

Not being a Birmingham resident, I'll admit my knowledge of Birmingham restaurants is a bit limited, however, OvenBird was very good. The Tapas concept (smaller portions to share) is the foundation of this restaurant. Every dish we had at our table was great and I would order again. However the exceptional dishes were the Beef Far Candle, Blistered Okra, and Beef Shoulder. I would highly recommend those. A great wine pairing is the Tempranillo (Emilio Moro). read more

Just had a wonderful dinner at OvenBird! We sat at the bar and had Carl as our server, he was great, he explained the dishes and paired our cocktails perfectly! We definitely are looking forward to coming back on our next visit to Birmingham. read more

Amazing food! Small portions... and very pricy. Awesome for a date if youre trying to blow some cash on amazing food. Just make sure you actually eat a sort of filling meal before you go or you will have to get a second mortgage read more