The Essential - Birmingham

Nice restaurant with inside seating and a covered patio. Prompt and courteous service. Five grain salad with added protein (fish) was great! My coworker enjoyed the pork tenderloin scallopini. We also had the sourdough toasted bread with butter, which was sinfully good.

I?m torn about this review. The Essential was both a great experience and a puzzling one. The food, design, and style of the restaurant was everything I typically enjoy. It has a forward thinking, contemporary and creative feel. However, on a Sunday early afternoon with families all over, somehow the uncut versions of a Lil Wayne song, then a G-unit and 50 Cent were played. As we were trying to enjoy our meal all I could hear was N ga this, Shake that A , and B ch that. I

Excellent service and great food. Small quaint place. Will be back?because i left a half bottle of corked bubbles for tomorrow. I came back. Had the pastrami sandwich to go and ate it out front of the restaurant while there was a 90min wait. This pastrami could b the best Ive ever tastes. It was juicy, fatty pieces, and packed a lot of flavor. The fried egg was perfect. The pictures dont do this sandwich justice. By far the best pastrami sandwich Ive ever had.

One of my favorite restaurants in Birmingham. Their dishes are consistently high quality and the atmosphere is nice. It?s been difficult to visit often with the pandemic and all but the staff are all masked and polite. Would highly recommend the Chorizo Rigatoni.

Really good coffee tasty food. Great ambiance! We ordered the French toast and the fried chicken grits with an oat milk latte. Sat on the patio. Was afraid it might be too cold (since it was a chilly December day), but the heaters kept us warm.