In town for a conference and the restaurant was a block from my hotel…read more Inside is very casual. Kinda bar-like with a nice restaurant vibe! We sat at the bar since it was packed. Service at the bar was good considering every seat at the bar was taken. We ordered our food and it was out within 15-20 minutes. I ordered the Nashville hot chicken, but subbed the sides for the whole fried okra and Gouda grits. When I say those grits and okra hit.....somebody in that kitchen knows what they're doing! The chicken breasts were juicy and flavorful. The spice level was typical for Nashville hot chicken, which I sometimes I can't take. But I loved the flavor so much I couldn't stop eating it. I will eat here again when I return to the city!

I found The Southern Kitchen & Bar completely through Yelp and the Yelp reviews, and I am glad I…read moredid. When I came in, the place was crowded, which is usually a very good sign. It had a good energy right away. I had been looking at a few things on the menu and was really going back and forth. I was interested in the hot chicken, the Brussels sprouts, and also the ribeye Philly cheesesteak. They told me both were really good, and I ended up going with the ribeye Philly cheesesteak. Great choice. I also got a side salad with the chipotle ranch dressing and that was very good too. Picture below. For dessert, I was planning on getting the key lime pie, because that is usually my move, but Hayden my server talked me into trying the blueberry cobbler cheesecake instead. I am glad he did. It was very good. Picture below. Between the crowded room, the good service, and the food, this was a very strong experience all the way around. I am giving The Southern Kitchen & Bar 5 stars.

If you're in Pleasant Grove and hungry stop by here. You won't be disappointed!read more

I have had this bookmarked forever. Not sure how or why I did, but I sure am glad that I did!!…read more It's an old school hole in the wall kind of place. These are my favorite kind of places in the world. From the moment I walked up and saw the big piles of wood outside I knew I was probably going to like this place. We had an amazing meal here. Every single bite was good. I ate myself damn near sick! I cannot wait to come back!! The day we were there the bartender was waiting on the whole place himself with just someone helping him run food and clear tables. We only had an hour before we had to be at an appointment, so when we sat down at the bar I got concerned that we would not have time to eat here. He was busy. He seemed behind. Thank goodness I was wrong. Once he finally got to us we were decided on our meals. He took our order on his little handheld register thing, grabbed our tasty beverages, and poof, off he went. C had the pulled chicken sandwich with deviled eggs and I had pulled pork, smoked chicken thighs, beans, and a giant pile of pork rinds. Holy shit it was good!!! I didn't pay attention to the fact that my thighs had AL white sauce on them until well after I had ordered. Had I know that, I would not have ordered them. I despise all things that have anything to do with mayonnaise. But.... Had I known, I would have never known. I fucking loved it! I could have eaten 10 of them. There were hands down the best smoked chicken that I have ever had. The pork was bad ass too! I dare say perfect. Beans were great, and the pork rinds side was massive and still warm from the fryer with a killer seasoning on them. There are not enough adjectives to describe this food. I am in love. I cannot wait to get some more of those damn chicken thighs!! '26 - 68

Now THIS was a great experience! Definitely a dive, but in the very best way possible. We were…read moredriving through Birmingham and a barista at a local coffee shop (House Eleven) nudged us this way. No regrets! I had a sweet heat fried chicken sandwich with a side of fried green tomatoes. My mom had a pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. TOO QUALITY! This place redeems Birmingham for the terrible experience I had at The Garage a few weeks ago. Immensely better food and infinitely better staff!!

Once again, this is my first of two go-to spots when I want to dine locally. (The 2nd is La Paz)…read moreEverything I've had on the menu is delicious. Service is great. That ambience is casual. I'll often pick up a pie to take home but when I'm dining in, I get something special and every time I do, it's delicious. Timing tip: don't wait too late in the evening to go there! Their building has tenants above them so they have to close at 9:00 PM

Finally made it to the Front Porch. We heard fabulous things about this place, so thought we would…read morecheck it out. Had an enjoyable dinner on the patio. It was nice and not too loud. Our waiter was great and had lots of suggestions. We ended up with the blackened chicken pasta and pimento cheeseburger. The burger was cooked to perfection and tasty. The bun itself was a little thinner than what I am used to but still good. The pimento cheese was not my favorite, as it seemed to lack something. The sweet potato fries with caramel sauce were delicious and great accompaniment to any burger. The pasta was just your average dish. They did have a nice cocktail menu... Ended up with a blueberry lemon drop martini and absolutely delicious. Will we be back? Yes... There are some other things we would like to try.

Farrelleys for my birthday dinner!!…read more We've been here several times and have never been disappointed! They have an amazing happy hour from 4-6. I got a marg ($8) and the baked pimento cheese dip to start - served with pita. ($7) I loved my pan seared scallops with grits and broccolini. The cranberry bacon "jam" really adds so much flavor and create the perfect bite when you add all components together. ($34) Dad and David got the meatloaf and loved. It comes with house made BBQ, potatoes and broccolini. ($28) Perfect for when you want to go to an upscale meal but still have to make your man happy - this is literally a "meat and potatoes" dish. Mom got the Paneed chicken with brown butter sauce, mashed potatoes and spinach. She had no complaints! ($28) Service was very friendly and parking was no issue at all! This is a perfect place for a big group because there's something for everyone. It's casual, comfortable but still feels on the upscale side of things. We will be back!

Our family enjoyed our first meal here today for a delicious brunch. Heavon B provided good…read moreservice. The food was very good and the servings were ample. The pimento cheese dip appetizer was outstanding. Definitely recommend the traditional breakfast and the French toast. The cheese grits were really good. My daughter, Emily Grace, took the pictures *

The Bright Star Restaurant is an absolute Alabama institution, and it never disappoints. From the…read moremoment you walk in, you feel the history, consistency, and pride that only comes from decades of doing things the right way. The standout--every single time--is the tenderloin. Perfectly cooked, unbelievably tender, and full of flavor without needing anything fancy. It's the kind of steak that reminds you why simple, well-executed food always wins. Pair it with their classic sides and you understand why generations keep coming back. Service is warm, professional, and exactly what you hope for in a place like this. If you're looking for trendy, keep scrolling--but if you want timeless quality, comfort, and one of the best tenderloins around, The Bright Star is the gold standard.

Being a Bessemer native, this was my first visit to the Bright Star. I came for a birthday dinner…read moreduring a Friday night. We were seated a few minutes after our reservation time. The waitress was friendly and we received our food in a reasonable time. I ordered the stuff snapper with a grand lemon drop for my drink. The lemon drop was okay. It wasn't the best I have had. It was a little too strong for me. The snapper was nice. The stuffing was a crab and shrimp dressing and the fish was topped with crab. Good experience and evening with friends

Yelp, we were passing by on Lakeshore and noticed, "Now open". So we had to stop on in here and…read moregrab some lunch. Looks like we are not alone. You have several people dropping by. This is great. Bae got his usual Meat and 3 go to, baked chicken. Today he paired it with mashed potatoes, fried corn, cabbage and cornbread. Decent. I got the meatloaf with cabbage, mash potatoes, carrots and cornbread. Everything is good. The atmosphere is pleasant and clean. I like it. The line service is truly the stand out. These are some nice folks, with a lot of southern hospitality. I love that. So, Y'ALL already know, I'll be back.

Food was well seasoned Staff was friendly and accommodating…read more The place was spotless. Especially considering what it looked like from the old business that was there prior to. I'll definitely be returning!!

My first time at Gabriella's was recently. This place gets really busy..... fast! When I arrived,…read more there were about 2 ppl already present and ordering at the hot bar. It's kind of hard to tell what all the food options are, so I had to ask what some stuff was. I managed to get a meat and 2 instead of a meat and 5! There were quite a few veggie options that looked amazingly delicious! I do not recommend coming here hungry or hangry. Ok, sooo I love meat loaf so naturally that's what I got. I also got collards and cornbread dressing & yes they had cranberry sauce. Everything was good tasting. The meatloaf was a little sweet to my taste so I probably wouldn't order it again. The veggies were not over seasoned or overcooked. I will definitely comeback here bc there is still just so much I wanna try. The staff is nice and took care of the crowd. I even witnessed them give a person in need food, as they were about to dig in the restaurant's garbage can outside for scraps. Made me count my blessings.. all of them! There is street parking only. I didn't have any issues parking on a Sunday afternoon. The inside of this restaurant is not big but I was comfortable dining in.

Good southern food on a Sunday afternoon while visiting. Couldn't tell from the Yelp pictures but…read moreit's a really small restaurant with food displayed buffet style behind the clear partition that they serve you in a container. Only about 3 people at a time can hold inside before it's starts getting crowded. It stay pretty busy. Options are 1 meat with two sides or 2 meats with three sides combination. A la cart is available as well. They have ice tea or lemonade drinks in a cup that they also serve you. Lemonade was good. There's a very small counter to pay after you order. Fry chicken is tasty with perfect crisp. Collard greens were seasoned well and perfect texture. Yams (my favorite) was perfect - flavorful, not too sweet and firm but not hard. Both of us thought the Black eyed peas looked really good but taste bland. I would have preferred it without the Okra. I didn't see that when I ordered. One in our group commented the meat loaf was good. The dressing was really good too - well seasoned and tasty. After paying there's a dining area for self seating. It serves the purpose to sit and eat but definitely could use sprucing up along with the restrooms. Please seriously consider! It would make the experience much more pleasant to enjoy their delicious food. I took off two stars for that reason and yes it's that unpleasant as the tables/chairs are also too clustered together. The chairs don't fit around the table properly. Overall good southern food at a reasonable price and recommended. Skip dining in if you don't have too. Just my two cents.

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when we got here. This place has been on my list since it…read moreopened, but I just never made it out. I'm glad I did!!! It makes me think of going to eat at your grandmas house, but elevated. The dishes all had a southern undertone, but were prepared in a new and exciting way. We started with the angel biscuits, as they were highly recommended. That brown butter that came with them was ‍ Then we shared a summer salad which was light and had apples, walnuts and a vinaigrette dressing. My friend got the New York strip and I got the Ibérico Presa, which is part of the pork shoulder , and we shared the collard greens and potatoes as a side. All of the meat we found out is raised in Franklin TN and is fresh. For dessert we shared the Alabama lane cake, which I was bossed with after reading To Kill a Mockingbird and have tried to make myself! The restaurant itself is small and cozy and they use real old southern style glass dishes. Our waiter, Micah was nice and attentive without being pretentious. He handled all of our questions about the menu seamlessly Hope to return soon!

I was curious about this place since I had read so much about it and seen it on lists of places to…read moreeat at. Make sure to reserve a table a day before; they book really quickly. We ate at the bar which I ended up loving. It is such a cool vibe there - classy and not too dark, so you can see easily. We got the Warm Angel Biscuits because it seemed popular and well liked, the Carolina Gold Middlins, and Bear Creek Farm Flat Iron Steak. They were all SO good. Definitely get the Biscuits. I can see why people love them so much - the biscuits were warm and had a soft texture, but what I thought shined was the butter. It was unbelievably smooth, sweet (but not too sweet), and just... had such a good flavor to it. I'd get it again. The Middlins was sooo decadent too. Full of flavor and different textures. I'd get this one again. The steak was really good, except, it was actually lukewarm when they served it to us. I was super surprised for a restaurant like this. They were nice and attempted to heat it up again but.... it didn't really make it much warmer. So that kind of spoiled it. But if it was hot, it would have been AMAZING. So that was my experience!

I've been wanting to try this spot for the longest and finally was able to stop by today. It's a…read morenice cozy place with a welcoming staff. I ordered a meat and two sides (fried catfish, mac n cheese & cabbage). I had to meal to go. I really enjoyed the meal. The cabbage was perfectly seasoned (not too much not too little), the mac n cheese was good. And catfish was fried nicely... just right. The portions were good and I was full after eating most of the food (I couldn't eat the last bite of the fish - I tried). I will definitely return to try other menu options.

Today, while I was driving through Bessemer, Alabama, I noticed a Soul food restaurant (The Back…read morePorch). This place reminded me of Soul Food restaurants in my hometown. I walked in around 11:30am today and there was a line of customers waiting for Sunday dinner. I ordered the "Sunday special "of Baked chicken with cornbread dressing/cranberry sauce with side of collard greens and macaroni and cheese with cornbread. Also, I ordered an extra side of cabbage greens. Oh my goodness, the food was very delicious! I enjoyed eating my dinner in the patio area of the front of the restaurant on this beautiful day. The customer service was amazing! I will visit this restaurant again soon during the week.