Eating Out

If you love seafood, then a Birmingham restaurant you should check out The Fish Market on 612 22nd Street. The fish is fresh and the portions are huge. Customers can choose either grilled or fried halibut, snapper, catfish, rainbow trout, frog legs, and flounder. Shrimp lovers can have grilled or fried shrimp, shrimp and crabmeat salad, coconut shrimp, or shrimp kabob. Other shellfish include scallops, alligator, crawfish, and oysters. Sides include fries, Greek-style home fries, fried pickles, cabbage, lemon-butter pasta, and steamed broccoli. There is always a crowd here, so if you are doing dinner & a movie, plan accordingly.

Good Japanese cuisine can be found at Surin West on 1918 11th Avenue South. This Birmingham restaurant is the place to go for thai food and sushi. For lunch try the yum yai salad with shrimp & chicken in a sweet and sour dressing, the spicy beef salad, spicy eggplant noodles, and roasted duck with red curry. All lunch specials come with coconut tofu soup. But if it's sushi you want, try the kaboom maki which is shrimp tempura, cucumber, cream cheese, fried, and served with seaweed salad & panang curry sauce. Another good choice is the salmon skill roll.

Like Indian food? Then one Birmingham restaurant not to miss is Taj India on 2226 Highland Avenue South. There is something here for everyone including vegans. For starters, try the chicken or vegetable pakora which is similar to tempura. Entrees include lamb badami, goat meat curry, shrimp spinach, fish malabar, chili shrimp, lamb tikki masala, chicken madras, kori gasi shrimp, and lamb or chicken vandaloo. Tandoori food is a Indian food treat and Taj India offers several entrees. Examples include tandoori chicken, tandoori fish tikka, tandoori shrimp phuljhari, and mixed grill. All entrees are served with basmati rice.

If you are looking for a Birmingham restaurant that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, then check out ALS Deli and Grill at 1629 South 10th Avenue, near the UAB campus. Serving Greek and American food, this eatery offers burgers as well as gyros. Other items to choose from are the falafel plate, greek salad, bbq chicken stuffed baked potato, vegetarian omelet, egg, cheese, and sausage breakfast sandwich, shrimp kabob, turkey melt pita roll-up, mahi-mahi sandwich, and chicken fingers. There are daily specials as well. For prices and directions, check out their website at alsdeliandgrill.com.

If you are a Rocky and/or boxing fan, then the Birmingham restaurant for you is Rocky's Pizza and Italian Foods at 715 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard South. This place has so many specials from daily to monthly. Besides pizza, customers can dine on jabs (subs), wings, pasta, salads, and lasagna. Everything has a boxing theme like the wings are referred to as "Don King," appetizers are "opening bouts," and pizza comes in such specials as Oscar De La Hoya and Muhammad Ali. Leave room for dessert to enjoy their strawberry, chocolate, or blueberry cheesecake, or cinnamon and brown sugar pizza.

For good Chinese and Szechuan cuisine, check out Shangri-La Restaurant at 4500 Montevallo Road. This Birmingham restaurant offers the freshest food and reasonable prices. They have daily specials, lunch special, as well as delivery. Some of their best sellers are sesame chicken, mongolian beef, mo shu pork, and the szechuan combination. There are other menu entrees to enjoy like shrimp with blackbeans, orange beef, szechuan scallops, orange lemon chicken, peking duck, mandarin style lobster, chicken lettuce wraps, and vegetable delight. There is a bar serving beer and wine also. For directions and prices, visit their website at shangrila3168.com.

If you enjoy organically grown food, the Birmingham restaurant to visit is Cobb Lane Restaurant on One Cobble Lane South. Open for lunch and dinner, customers can feast on fried green tomatoes, chicken divan, stuffed pears, red tuna, warm feta salad, shrimp & grits, chicken salad, fried asparagus, and braised beef short ribs. Brunch is served here as well and features cinnamon rolls and omelets. The late world famous chef Julia Child said that the she-crab soup was the best she had ever tasted. Reservations are not necessary, but suggested, as this eatery gets crowded rather quickly.

For a beautiful and elegant dining experience, the place to go is Ocean at 1218 20th Street South. This contemporary Birmingham restaurant was voted best restaurant, best chef, and was given four stars by the Birmingham News. Customers can enjoy fresh seafood from around the world in such entrees as oysters, peel & eat spicy shrimp, sushi, tuna tartar, crab cakes, poached lobster chop salad, lobster pot pie, grilled salmon, and an entree called "James Brown Soul Roll" with tempura fried alaskan king crab, jalapeno, cream cheese, carrots, and cucumbers. Reservations can be made online at their website, oceanbirmingham.com.