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✔️Breakfast ✔️Brunch ✔️Lunch ✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in ✔️Take out ✔️Delivery
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Trendy contemporary American cafe offering lunch, dinner & weekend brunch, plus specialty cocktails.
Hours
| Tuesday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Thursday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Friday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Saturday | 9 AM–2 PM, 5–9 PM |
| Sunday | 9 AM–2 PM, 5–9 PM |
| Monday | 11 AM–9 PM |
Address and Contact Information
Address: 2215 1st Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35203
Phone: (205) 718-7612
Website: https://essentialbham.com/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Reservations: resy.com
Photo Gallery
Related Web Results
The Essential
On a sunny corner of downtown Birmingham, The Essential has been serving up scratch-made dishes, house made pasta, natural wines, and carefully curated …
Menus – The Essential
We’ve got a seat for you. Monday-Friday: 11a – 9p. Saturday & Sunday: 9a – 2p (Brunch). 5p – 9p (Dinner). Book Now. 2215 First Avenue N. Birmingham, AL.
The Essential | Birmingham AL – Facebook
The Essential, Birmingham. 4369 likes · 25 talking about this · 4760 were here. An American Bistro Lunch – Dinner – Weekend Brunch Craft Cocktails -…
Reviews
Smith Sherrer
Just ate here for the first time this week and loved it so much I took my husband back three days later! The pastas are incredible! The sourdough OMG! The 5 grain salad wow! Simple yet delish! Wonderful service! Parking can be tough so go early if you can.
… moreBethany
We got seated really fast even though it was busy for brunch. I had the pancakes and they’re amazing. The coffee is really good too. Also the tea they atmosphere and decor are very cute and welcoming. It gets very loud in here. Our seating was more communal style, where you sit with others at a very large table overall, the breakfast was fantastic and I would definitely visit again.
… moreLaToya Holt
The Essential has well known dishes but they add a bit of a twist. It’s not your everyday pasta or roasted chicken. The sauces, the vegetables, the blends of spices make known dishes come alive in a different but satisfying way. I would suggest to make a reservation to ensure you don’t have a long wait time and are able to dine-in on the day of your choosing.
… moreS Dra
This place is a tucked away cozy treat! From the moment you walk in the door, you feel welcome. The atmosphere and ambience is amazing as well. All of the staff were extremely friendly, and management visited our table to check on us as well. My wife and I had the burger and the chicken dish, both of which were amazing. My wife really enjoyed the sourdough bread appetizer. We finished with their in house made sorbets. The blackberry banana and the peach were both so refreshing.
… moreLuvonia Alexander
This is a great place to have brunch with friends, brunch date with your significant other or even a business brunch date. It works for any type of brunch date. It’s a beautiful spot, great service and great food! The pancakes are phenomenally, the breakfast hash was delicious and the banana bread with the walnut butter is delicious! My bestie and I had a great experience and is now one of our new favorite brunch spots in the city!
… moreAixa J Alfaro
Aesthetically, beautiful. The sourdough bread 1000/10, the entrees were nothing short of amazing! Katie, our table concierge, was very attentive and pleasant. Our experience was top quality all around and would absolutely recommend when you are in the Birmingham area!
… moreE G
When my girlfriends suggested going here for a girl’s night out, I was so excited cause I’d “never been there”- or so I thought.
I got there before the others for our reservation, and the hostesses who sat me were really sweet. Our server got me water immediately while I waited. He was really dry and deadpan, but wasn’t rude. That’s just his personality, I guess.
We started out with these four little rice balls with some overly vinegary dipping sauce and some bread that tasted like any old sourdough from Publix. That was $20 right off the bat.
One of my friends got redfish, one got a salad, and two of us got the agnolotti ($24). The sweet potato filling of the agnolotti was pretty tasty, but the actual pasta, itself, was rubbery/slightly crunchy as if our food were sitting under a heat lamp too long.
Three of us were underwhelmed with our dishes, but at least the salad was decent- according to our friend. Two out of the four of us weren’t impressed with our French 75 and negroni, either. A negroni- when done properly- shouldn’t taste medicinal.
Against her better judgment- and my warnings- my friend got the tiramisu….with SESAME SEED OIL. The heck? As someone with an Italian background, what kinda bastardization is that? I’ve seen a lot of iterations of tiramisu, but this one took the cake. As someone who lived in S. Korea a half decade, it tasted like I was literally eating espresso-flavored Korean food. Normally, I love Korean food, but one thing that’s almost always prevalent in it is the addition of sesame oil. While it’s amazing on Korean cuisine, it does NOT belong in an Italian dessert.
The one highlight of the meal was my dinky citrus tarte. I will give them credit- it wasn’t half bad. But trust me, we didn’t need the four spoons to “share.” Ha! And it wasn’t $12 good.
The worst part was the seating. The place is so tiny and the booth backs weren’t angled at all, so your back is just stiff as a board vertically. I’d just done back extentions at the gym that day so I was in pain at that straight upright angle for almost 2 hrs. That, and as a short person I never have an issue with my legs bumping others peoples’ under a table, but I kept having to switch my legs being crossed different ways to avoid my friend’s.
When we were walking back to their car on Morris, my friend pointed to a corner restaurant and said, “That’s where they used to be so we accidentally parked in the wrong place.” Suddenly, my mind was jogged to a time a little over 5 yrs ago when I had BEEN to their old location and- lo and behold- was absolutely not impressed with their services, food quantity, and uncomfortable seating then either! I’m also amazed they relocated a block away to a store front equally as tiny. Not sure that was such a great investment, but hey.
Lesson learned. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well…you know the rest.
… moreI got there before the others for our reservation, and the hostesses who sat me were really sweet. Our server got me water immediately while I waited. He was really dry and deadpan, but wasn’t rude. That’s just his personality, I guess.
We started out with these four little rice balls with some overly vinegary dipping sauce and some bread that tasted like any old sourdough from Publix. That was $20 right off the bat.
One of my friends got redfish, one got a salad, and two of us got the agnolotti ($24). The sweet potato filling of the agnolotti was pretty tasty, but the actual pasta, itself, was rubbery/slightly crunchy as if our food were sitting under a heat lamp too long.
Three of us were underwhelmed with our dishes, but at least the salad was decent- according to our friend. Two out of the four of us weren’t impressed with our French 75 and negroni, either. A negroni- when done properly- shouldn’t taste medicinal.
Against her better judgment- and my warnings- my friend got the tiramisu….with SESAME SEED OIL. The heck? As someone with an Italian background, what kinda bastardization is that? I’ve seen a lot of iterations of tiramisu, but this one took the cake. As someone who lived in S. Korea a half decade, it tasted like I was literally eating espresso-flavored Korean food. Normally, I love Korean food, but one thing that’s almost always prevalent in it is the addition of sesame oil. While it’s amazing on Korean cuisine, it does NOT belong in an Italian dessert.
The one highlight of the meal was my dinky citrus tarte. I will give them credit- it wasn’t half bad. But trust me, we didn’t need the four spoons to “share.” Ha! And it wasn’t $12 good.
The worst part was the seating. The place is so tiny and the booth backs weren’t angled at all, so your back is just stiff as a board vertically. I’d just done back extentions at the gym that day so I was in pain at that straight upright angle for almost 2 hrs. That, and as a short person I never have an issue with my legs bumping others peoples’ under a table, but I kept having to switch my legs being crossed different ways to avoid my friend’s.
When we were walking back to their car on Morris, my friend pointed to a corner restaurant and said, “That’s where they used to be so we accidentally parked in the wrong place.” Suddenly, my mind was jogged to a time a little over 5 yrs ago when I had BEEN to their old location and- lo and behold- was absolutely not impressed with their services, food quantity, and uncomfortable seating then either! I’m also amazed they relocated a block away to a store front equally as tiny. Not sure that was such a great investment, but hey.
Lesson learned. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well…you know the rest.
Monica Maino
We really wanted to love it, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype for us. The atmosphere was trendy and inviting, and all the staff we interacted with were friendly and welcoming. We arrived before the lunch rush, but the place filled up quickly and got very loud, making conversation hard.
As for the food it was mediocre at best.
We ordered the rigatoni Bolognese: the pasta was fresh and cooked al dente, and the ragù had good flavor, but the dish lacked salt overall.
The cacio e pepe was disappointing. It was heavy on the “pepe” (black pepper), and the spaghetti were clumped together clearly not stirred properly while cooking.
I did enjoy the 4-grain salad. It was fresh, original, and well-balanced.
The arancini had a nice crispy fry on the outside, but the rice inside was overcooked.
The biggest letdown was the espresso completely undrinkable.
We paid just over $100 (with tip) for a lunch that looked much better than it tasted. For a place with such a strong visual brand and beautiful photos, we expected more. Maybe we caught them on an off day, but we left disappointed.
… moreAs for the food it was mediocre at best.
We ordered the rigatoni Bolognese: the pasta was fresh and cooked al dente, and the ragù had good flavor, but the dish lacked salt overall.
The cacio e pepe was disappointing. It was heavy on the “pepe” (black pepper), and the spaghetti were clumped together clearly not stirred properly while cooking.
I did enjoy the 4-grain salad. It was fresh, original, and well-balanced.
The arancini had a nice crispy fry on the outside, but the rice inside was overcooked.
The biggest letdown was the espresso completely undrinkable.
We paid just over $100 (with tip) for a lunch that looked much better than it tasted. For a place with such a strong visual brand and beautiful photos, we expected more. Maybe we caught them on an off day, but we left disappointed.
Rachel Maldonado
We came during lunch on a Wednesday. Not super busy but the server took a while to get to us to order our food, over ten minutes. I ordered the agnolotti pasta and my friend ordered the hamburger plate. Though the presentation was fantastic, my pasta was drenched in oil, a bit too much and her burger was crispy to the point she had to remove the sides so she would not chip a tooth. I expected more from an establishment such as this. Will not have a repeat visit from me.
… moresegway summer (SegwaySummer)
Amazing place, a little annoying that we got sat outside but the decorations and food presentations looked amazing. I ordered the essential hashbrowns with ketchup and it was divine! The coffee was also delicious. Overall an amazing place and a cute little spot for some breakfast. Our server, Evan was always getting stuff out of our way and filling water and fixing us stuff, truly some of the best service I’ve ever had.
… more