Jack Brown's Beer & Burger Joint

(as also seen on alabamawomenbloggers.com)

You want to go to heaven?  I'm sure we all do -- well I found it.  This place is incredible.  I am so glad that they decided to invade our little Birmingham.

Located in the Lakeview District in Birmingham is a brand new little restaurant called Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint.  I can promise you that you will not be disappointed.  It’s a little place with bar stools, a few tables and a patio.  They have all kinds of beer, on draft and in their cooler.  Pretty much any beer you could possibly want or need.  They have a few regular burgers, plus a new burger to try every day.   They make their burgers with Kobe beef, and oh my goodness, I wish I could describe the complete juiciness and tastiness of these things.

We went on a Wednesday, where I had the special burger of the day which was the Popeye.  It was their amazing burger topped with house-made spinach-artichoke dip, pepper jack cheese and fried onions.  We also went back again that Saturday, and I ordered the Chiflet which is a bacon, egg and cheese burger.  You can see a complete listing of all they have to offer here.

A cute look inside…I’m not sure how you can hate on a place with a disco ball and pallet siding!!

A fun encounter with one of the owners!!

 

And of course the food!  I even forgot to mention the fried Oreo!  $1.  $1!!!  If you allow yourself, I bet you could eat a dozen.  Challenge accepted.  Also their dipping sauce should be renamed “crack sauce,” because it is that good.  I dipped everything on my plate into that stuff.

 Oh wait -- have I not convinced you yet...??

Blurry, but yes, that is an honorable  Birmingham Police waiting for his food.  I mean, if it's good enough for them, it's definitely good enough for you.

Seriously -- go check it out.

Post Office Pies - Avondale

In case I've never mentioned it before, I love pizza.  

To me, there is nothing better on this earth.  Nothing.  It is better than rainbows; it is better than unicorns and puppies; it is better than cabins in the mountains or the beach.  It just is.

So when I had heard months before of another pizza place opening up in Birmingham, I knew that I had to try it out.  It's squeezed into the place between Avondale Brewery and Saw's Soul Kitchen, in an old post office.  Hence the name.  Also, if you didn't catch that, don't worry.  B had to tell me when I asked, "I wonder why they call it Post Office Pies?"

Duh.

Anyway, once you get in there, you order your pizza and beverages (I have heard they have some superb cocktails, and all the girls had some pinky/purple drink, but this girl loves pizza with beer) right at the front, grab a number and go to sit and wait on your amazingess to arrive at your table.

We ordered the Swine Pie -- full of piggy goodness.  They bring it out right on the server; no plates necessary and you've got a roll of paper towels.  Simple, right?  Simple and awesome.

Another awesome thing about this place?  Open late night y'all!  Go have yourself a couple of beers next door at Avondale and then pop right on into POPs and get yourself a pie!

The Perfect Birmingham Day

Last Saturday was reserved for doing all things Birmingham.

It didn't really start out being planned that way, but it just sort of happened.  I have always wanted to go to Pepper Place Market, and in the five years I've lived here, I have never gone.  I don't even know if it was a thing back when I first moved here.  

Anyway, it wasn't was I expected it to be!  It was humongous!  There were so many stands and so much stuff!  I didn't know where to start.  We walked around the first time, just kind of in a daze, trying to take it all in.  We walked through the food, then through the craft section and back through the food again.  We settled on a shaker of spices from Dak's Spices, some Chilton County peaches, and this guy:

Meet my cute ass succulent, Antoine.

After wading our way through a million people, we had gathered quite an appetite.  I've wanted to go to Urban Standard for so long, sooo of course I won that battle and that's where we went.

I got the iced coffee and biscuit with sausage.  It was so simple, but so good!  It was so awesome that I decided to recreate it for Sunday breakfast.

Theirs was better.  I will be going back.  Next time, most likely for dessert.

Then after much cleaning, shopping, other weekend chores, I was starving.  And the only thing that came to mind was Rojo.

I loooove Rojo, but very rarely go, because of how popular it is and how packed it normally is.  But, I put on my thinking cap, and was like, "hey, it's Memorial Day weekend, maybe no one will be there."  And I was correct.  

I had the enormous chipotle pork and mushroom burrito and pretty much died right afterwards.  I don't remember being that full in a long while.  We also thought it was a brilliant idea to order a pitcher of PBR.  We were reminded that that is almost never a brilliant idea.

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a few beautiful Birmingham only photos:

I can't wait to have another only Birmingham day!

There is so much to explore in the city!

Dat Dog - NOLA

In anticipation of everyone grilling out and eating hot dogs, I think it's time the world hears about Dat Dog.

They've got three locations in New Orleans - Freret, Magazine and Frenchman street.  I've had Freret and Magazine, but haven't yet made the venture to the Frenchman street location, although I have no doubt that it's just as delicious.

Here's how it works --- you pick your hot dog, then you add any topping you want, and they range from normal yellow mustard to etouffee and guacamole.

Then they have the most delicious cheese and bacon fries, and their chili cheese fries are incredible, too.  The weather was beautiful, so we sat outside.  It was our Easter dinner that day, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Bonus?  It heat up incredibly well as leftovers, even after the five hour drive home.

This place is a definite must go while you're down there...umm, maybe more than once.

It was incredible.  

I hope y'all have a very happy Memorial Day!!

Lebanese Food Festival

Birmingham has gotten really big on food festivals.  They've got the Greek Festival, which is usually pretty enormous and crowded.  I've been here about eight years and have never tried the Lebanese one.

And I've recently discovered, that hey! there's a Turkish one too!  And, best news yet of the day, it's less than two miles from the house!  At a Baptist church.  I don't get it either, but hey, any excuse to eat.  I'm not going to argue.  

The line for the Lebanese festival was way shorter than the Greek one, so we got there, got our food and headed out to the patio to eat. 

And the food, was flippin delicious.  I had a kibbee sandwich, and it was amazing.  The weather was perfect, and even had awesome table mates.

I'm a big judger of tomatoes.  I admit it freely; I am a tomato snob.  And the tomatoes on this thing were delicious and juicy.  

I love when the weather is perfect and Birmingham forces its food festivals on me.  I mean, really.  How dare you.

A Downtown Treat - Cosmo's Pizza

Blink twice and you'll miss this awesome place downtown.  Nestled right in Five Points, across from the fountain in neon lights you'll find Cosmo's Pizza.  It doesn't look like much with it's unassuming front that shares a location with an underground bar, an Asian place, and World of Beer.

But walk right in, sit where you like, and enjoy.

We went pretty early on a Saturday, so there were few people in there.  We ordered a few beers, some breadsticks and a pizza.

Our waiter was super sweet, and our pizza was great.  I'm not big on "saucy" pizzas, and these weren't at all.  Their marinara was so good that we asked for more to dip our crust in.  

If you're looking for a quick yummy pizza, definitely check this place out.

Alabama Biscuit - Cahaba Heights

I heard about this place on Twitter.  It's not necessarily a brunch place; they mostly serve biscuits.  There were some other limited selections like muffins, but I have no idea why you'd choose something other than their biscuits.

Nestled behind the Summit, really close to Myra's BBQ, the people who opened this place knew exactly what they were doing.  The place serves biscuits and beer!!  Beer!  And a biscuit!  I'm not sure what else you really need in life.

They have daily specials plus some constant stand-bys.   I got the fried bologna biscuit and a cup of coffee, and it was pretty much a religious experience.

 

They sell those amazing mugs as well as their biscuit mix.  If you ever get around to finding yourself there, go Saturday around brunch time-ish so you can enjoy an awesome beer with your biscuit.

Have a great weekend!