What to Eat in Birmingham

It seemed like an urban legend. I heard from a friend that she had a friend …. who loved to go to this happy hour at 26, one of my favorite restaurants. And it had cheap appetizers. Including sushi. Enough for a meal. Several of which come from their regular menu (which I love-and promise to review soon).

Could it be true? Mr Foodie and I, along with two work friends who I love not only for their exceptional conversation skills but also for their ability to eat, were determined to find out.

To people who have lived here all their lives, this may not be a particular draw, but the place has free valet parking (don’t forget to tip!). One of the novelties of living here that hasn’t worn off is the ability to park (or leave one’s car) directly in front of any given restaurant or venue. This photo was taken from the valet stand:

Happy hour takes place at the bar, which has limited seating (maybe 12 seats?). The bar was full by the end of happy hour but everyone who came seemed to be accommodated right away.

Happy hour is 5-6:30 for food. We were there from about 5:15 to 7, and made the very most of our time. In fact, we overdid it by about 2-3 apps, but had plenty to eat for lunch the next day. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Here’s the menu:

Mr Foodie and I arrived first and were starving, so started out with three apps. First, the mac and cheese. This is a dish with several blended melty creamy cheeses that must contain at least 2 full days’ worth of fat and cholesterol. And this was just the beginning of the meal. To add insult to injury, they gave us the full size rather than the happy hour size by accident (and didn’t charge us for it-classy!). It was incredible:

We also had the hummus/pesto/tapenade, which is served with crunchy, salty flatbread. Was tasty and filling:

And of course, the smoked salmon king crab roll, one of my favorites from their menu, served at half portion. How adorable are these 4 little pieces of sushi?

By this point, we were beginning to enter into a food coma, and our ability to make rational choices was diminished. Our friends were running late from work, and the happy hour clock was ticking-it was already 6:10! After some frantic texts, we called the bartender over to begin the next round. In our haste, we ordered the following, and delicious chaos ensued:

2 of the actual app-sized mac and cheeses:

An order of fries with homemade ketchup:

Pork sliders with slaw:

Two orders of the shrimp spring rolls:

Two orders of the tempura rolls:

Two orders of the tuna bonbons:

One order of the spicy beef and blue rangoons:

And finally, an order of the tomato and goat cheese dip:

In case you’ve been keeping track, we ordered everything on the menu but the veggie sushi rolls. I’ve always wondered what would happen if I went into a restaurant and ordered EVERYTHING-turns out that they just bring it out to you and add it to your check. I was surprised by how efficient the service was, and that the quality of the food was uniformly good, despite the fact that we were there for happy hour and ordered so much. And for two people, we only spent about $36 on our portion of the food. Not a bad deal.