The Essential (Brunch)
No Breakfast.
Brunch Sat and Sun: $4 - $18
Lunch and Dinner Menu: $5 (small plates) - $30
The Essential has an excellent line up of cocktails, wine, and beer.
Location: They are located at 2018 Morris Avenue Birmingham, AL. Reservations are necessary. They have a beautifully decorated small indoor space and a small outdoor space. Expect a wait but let me tell you - it’s 100% worth it. Parking can be difficult so check times and make early reservations.
Interior: I didn’t see much of the interior because we ate outdoors. I did peek in there while we were waiting on our table. It’s decorated beautifully - one of the most aesthetically pleasing spots in Birmingham. Go to their Instagram Feed for more.
Service: We had a group of nine eating brunch on a Sunday. It looked like a tight squeeze in the outdoor seating area but it wasn’t bad at all. The service was excellent. Wait staff was attentive and very kind. Service Score is 9/10.
Food: I am so into brunch type meals and my excitement was palpable. The food lived up to my hype… I research restaurants and menus to have an idea of what to expect… they definitely lived up to my expectations! We ordered quite a bit.
brioche french toast- almond pastry cream, blueberry compote, ricotta
10/10 Excellent
salmon benedict- english muffin, smoked salmon, poached egg, holly
9.5/10 Egg was delicious. Silky perfection.
avocado toast with salmon- chive cream cheese, roasted peppers, poached egg, everything spice
8.5/10 It was delicious but had a tad too much salmon piled on top. Note: you can order the toast without the salmon. A bit messy to eat but that was fine with me. Avocado was perfect! Another note… I just took the salmon off the top and shared it with the table. But together with the avocado toast wasn’t for me.
cheeseburger with fried egg- big mac style, american cheese, russian dressing, mustard, shrettuce, french fries\
10/10 Their burgers are out of this world. Definitely get it!
pastrami sandwich- housemade pastrami, shrettuce, ranch, fried egg, american cheese, fancy white bread
7/10 The pastrami was tough and dry. Great taste but was disappointed with the texture.
Latte with Oatmilk
10/10 They use Seeds Coffee. This latte was perfection. I love to drink my coffee “burn my mouth” hot but this one was the perfect temperature to drink right away. My sister and I love oatmilk lattes, so much that we ordered four.
Alabama Products Used: From their brunch menu: Conecuh Bacon, Local Honey (not named), and Seeds Coffee.
Comments: It’s really hard to eat at the same restaurants as often as we would like - it’s just the nature of a food blog I guess. But I plan on making dinner reservations soon because their menu sounds amazing. And I want to sit inside! We need to find friends to go eat with us so we can try more of the menu. Overall, we give it an A. The food ranked high and everyone left pleased and full. No complaints!