
Our story When you dine out, your experience should always be one that you won’t forget. If you’re ready to enjoy a new standard in fine dining, then it’s time to visit Bistro on 19th in Bessemer, AL. Our friendly staff are ready to serve a variety of exceptional dishes, including our signature seafood and steak offerings. We also host a variety of live entertainment options throughout the week, so you’ll get to enjoy your food alongside a fun show. Live band each and every Sunday.
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Bistro on 19 | Bessemer AL – Facebook
Bistro-19
Bistro on 19th, 109 19th St N, Bessemer, AL 35020, US – MapQuest
Reviews
I arrived at 1:40 PM. By 2:45 PM, I still hadn’t been given water or a place setting. By 3:15 PM, I had to ask for my food to-go because nothing had arrived. At one point, I was literally bussing down my own table while my friends’ table was being cleaned—wild work.
The only reason I’m giving the food five stars is because at this point it only exists in my imagination. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (in a dream).
To be fair, there was just one server covering the entire floor, but when you know a party of 40 people is coming in, you staff for it. That’s just Business 101. Instead, here I am at 3:36 PM, still waiting, while my truck has been idling for half an hour because I started it remotely thinking I’d finally be walking out.
I go out of my way to support Black-owned businesses, but situations like this make it incredibly hard to keep doing so. This is my first and last time here. At this point, they can keep my $70—I’d rather walk away with my dignity intact.
I receive my to go order at 16:10.
20% GRAUTITY ADDED TO ALL
CHECKS
FOR SUPERIOR SERVICE!
Should be scratched off the menu.
We ordered 5pc wings with cajun ranch fries. Both were cooked too hard that it was dry and crunchy.
Bourbon salmon was overly sauce which would be needed to rehydrate salmon that was overcooked such a disappointment.
Catfish Filet was good but I know better than ordering fried fish on delivery my fault it was soggy.
I ordered brussels sprouts but got Collards instead apparently they were out. Didn’t know if it was pork so we didnt risk eating them.
The garlic parm mashed potatoes was the best! The garden salad was decent cant mess up salad.
Biggest issue was the mac and cheese… I thought I was tripping when I tasted them. So I asked everyone to try it. It was bad but we couldn’t make out what it was until my son said hey why does my Macaroni taste like dish soap.
Spinach dip the cheese on the bottom was burnt and the tortillas may have been cooked fresh but they were stale and expired beforehand.
First time in a long time throwing away food
Understaffed:
We had several issues that boiled down to it being understaffed. When we got there I would say it wasn’t busy at all and there was only 2 “big parties” of us (7) and another part of maybe 8. The rest of the occupants consisted of people of dates or a group of 3-4. I would say in total there was no more that 10 separate “parties”. There was 3 “waiters” one the owner, one the bartender and the last one I think is normally a waitress (she had an Afro). There was a delay in us being seated because there wasn’t a distinct hostess to seat us. When we did get seated it took the girl a long time to get us water and to get our order for our appetizers (remember this). Not only that but we could barely hear her (and I give people leniency but she was genuinely quiet) because she talked so low and i would like to say that music was playing but it wasn’t that loud she just talked every low because my party and I could still hear each other fine if we talked normal. Along with her extremely soft voice she moved really slow as if she didn’t want to be there. Finally, it got so bad the owner had to move the bartender to take over our table (mind you it’s still 3 of us out of 7 at this point). Just when the bartender takes over we follow up with him about our appetizers (mind you we only ordered two). At this point we’ve been there close to an hour and we’ve only gotten waters because of the previous girl. We wait some more time (read below under “miscommunication” to see that happened in the meantime) and we finally get our appetizers AFTER my family ordered from the hot meal area ( we’ve been there for about and hour and a half at this point).
Miscommunication:
The bartender takes our order, well actually I ordered fish and grits. Speaking of that, the menu originally said tilapia but they said they have catfish. I asked to clarify if the catfish is the fish that has skin on because if it was I wouldn’t want it because I can’t stand skin on fish but he confidently said it was skinless (I normally only get tilapia when I get fried fish so I didn’t know better). So I ordered that. Upon talking to the bartender/waiter after taking my order all of my family opted to get food from their hot meal area because they liked what was offered and it helped that the bartender said it’s already made and they can just get in line and get their food. Upon going up there only a select few were actually ready. My mom was the only one to actually get something from up there and I had to get her utensils because there was none on the table. The rest of my family wanted fried chicken and oxtails (but no rice). The guy making the meals said the fried chicken and oxtails would have to be ordered at the table. So time was taken up having to wait in that “hot meal” line then having to come back to the table to wait for the bartender to come back to order the “hot meal” option. Okay, now once they are back my sister specifically asked if the oxtails were already made because at this point we were hungry and she was only getting it if it was already made so it wouldn’t take long to come out. He again said yes it’s already made so it wouldn’t take long. YALL probably an hour goes by and nothing has been brought out and our mom been finished her food. We are restless and we are about to cancel our orders when my food comes out. The fish has skin in it (UGHHH) and the was a lot of bacon, tomatoes, and the green leafy stuff (pic doesn’t due it justice) that I spent so much time picking out all of that and taking the skin off so it was a 6/10. So, to recap my mom is done eating my almost down eating and the rest of my family (5/7) still hasn’t gotten their orders from the hot meal area that not actually over in that area but you would still think that its still already made just in the kitchen right? After 3 hours in total, we ended up only paying for my mom and I meals and going to a restaurant a block up.
When we arrived we had to park a good distance away and walk to the restaurant. This place was packed and overcrowded with people, tables and chairs. It felt very cramped! Our party was in the back of the building in a room that had a previous party that they didn’t bother cleaning up before our party started.
The DJ played the music so loud we could feel our internal organs vibrate. Literally had to shout in order to speak/hear people at our table, due to the loud music. When people got onto the microphone to speak, the volume on the microphone was low so it was hard to hear what they were saying.
The best part was the food. Enjoyed it and the desert was good also! When it came to the alcoholic beverages being served, the bar tender put wayyyyy toooo much alcohol in the drinks. My wife got a Long Island ice tea and all you could taste was the alcohol. Others sitting at our table were overwhelmed over the alcohol content.
Overall the party went well! Happy the town is well lit at night while we walked back to our vehicle to leave.
Location: it is in a decent location.. the overall restaurant is very nice and has a great vibe! Loved the music and atmosphere. Plenty of seating.
Customer service: the service was not great to me. We had to ask to the waitress to take our drink order. When I asked can I have a sprite the waitress didn’t hear me apparently and asked did I just ask her for drugs. That was a shocker! Not sure why she would think I would ask for drugs or how she got drugs out of a sprite. She could have just said sorry can you repeat what you asked for. We sat down at 12:30 and didn’t leave until 2:14. We didn’t get our food until 1:24 pm. Waitress didn’t come check in with us after dropping the food off until we were DONE eating.
Food: the food was not great at all. My bourbon salmon tasted like just bbq sauce put on top of salmon. The salmon didn’t have any seasonings that I could taste. My husband had fried pickles and they tasted like straight chips. The mozzarella sticks tasted old. The spinach casserole smelled awful so I couldn’t even eat it. The chicken and waffles were ok. The waffles were dry and the chicken looked old too. The price does not match the quality of the food. I’m all about supporting local black owned businesses but this was not a place I would recommend or return to.
They charge a 20% gratuity upfront which I obviously see why because if they didn’t I would have not tipped at all. The service was poor and the food was basic and tasteless.
I HIGHLY DONT RECOMMEND this place.
It was me and my husband and we spent 78 dollars for 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. 1 sprite and one drunk (no refill)
Could have been an off day but our experience was very poor.