Epiphany and a weeknight out

If you are looking for a nice meal or even a great weeknight deal, look no farther than Epiphany in downtown Tuscaloosa. I consider myself pretty "in the know" about things going on in Tuscaloosa, but somehow I totally missed that Epiphany has half price small plates Monday-Thursday 5-7pm. And, if you aren't familiar with this restaurant, the small plates aren't boring, bland appetizers. Their focus on bringing fresh, local, and upscale food to Tuscaloosa. With the words Farm to Table on the building, you know they desire to provide fresh, local, food. And that's what you find with items on the menu from places like Buhl and Coker.  And, the menu changes often. In fact, the night we went, the bartender mentioned the menu would be changing the next night. I think we have been hesitant to  go to Epiphany because of the price. But, it really wouldn't be that far off some of the other restaurants we go to more often.  And, for a nice night out, I certainly think this would be one of the best options in Tuscaloosa.

For the half price deal, you have to sit at the bar, out front, or at one of the high top bar tables. We don't mind doing that at all. In fact, on this visit, we asked our bartender, Anthony, lots of questions about different menu items and we really enjoyed talking with him. They serve a lot of local Alabama beer and Wes tried one from Huntsville. The have a nice wine list but a limited number of them are served by the glass. It seemed there was at least one of each type of grape, but often times, just that one. All of that is good with me, though.

We started with the bread service. This is a freshly made brown sugar bread served with a homemade pork butter. The slightly sweet bread paired wonderfully with the slightly salty butter.

Bread service with pork butter

We then shared four small plates. We probably could have even done just three, but that would have meant we didn't try one of these dishes, and I have no idea which one was my least favorite. We had shrimp cakes, roasted mushrooms, stuffed squash blossoms, and a polenta dish.

All four of our small plates

The shrimp cakes were similar to the more commonly seen crab cakes. They were topped with a radish salad which didn't have a ton of flavor but gave a nice crunch to the dish. The sauce, apricot and pickled peach purée, had a great flavor with the shrimp cakes. In all, this dish was fresh, not too heavy, and delicious.

shrimp cakes

The roasted wild mushroom dish was probably both Wes and my favorite. It was served with crispy pork, which tasted like yummy bacon in the dish. It also jalapenos that had me a little worried. I am not a fan of things that are too spicy. But, we didn't outright eat the peppers, so the spiciness was not too strong and the dish as a whole had the best flavor, texture, and was just delicious.

roasted wild mushrooms

One of the specials that night was the stuffed squash blossoms. The blossoms were filled with goat cheese and ricotta, lightly breaded and fried. They were served with fried crooked neck squash, mustard greens and topped with a green goddess dressing. YUM! It was all amazing. I love greens and Wes doesn't, so I probably lucked out and got every bite of those.

fried squash blossoms

And, finally, we had the polenta dish served with crispy chicken skin, soft cooked farm egg, cheddar, and wild mushrooms. What can go wrong when you throw some crispy chicken skin in a dish? With the egg, cheese, and polenta, this dish had the taste and feel of an almost breakfast or brunch item. It wasn't too rich but had tons of flavor in every bite.

polenta

As I said before, all the food we had this night was amazing. You certainly have a higher quality food and atmosphere at Epiphany than you would at other restaurants in Tuscaloosa. With the uniqueness of the dishes, I think this is more on par with what you would expect in a bigger city. And, in general, Tuscaloosa just doesn't have too much of that.  And, with the half price small plates during the week, we were able to spend a reasonable amount for a nicer night out and enjoy special food.

On A Roll /Fifth and Main

On A Roll was formerly Fifth and Main in downtown Northport. What a quaint and adorable area downtown Northport is. I went to lunch last week with my friend Rebecca and we got lucky that this June day was cool enough (and not too humid) that we could sit outside. With a few tables out front, you are able to enjoy the small town feel of Main Avenue. This is a great lunch spot with a variety of salads, sandwiches, soups, and combos on the menu.

Sitting outside on Main Ave in Northport

For this meal, I had one of the daily specials. I had the caprese sandwich with chicken.  On the menu, you will find the caprese sandwich without chicken and I would imagine that to be just as good. I love anything with pesto and I'm likely to pick it off the menu. This flavorful sandwich had tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, pesto, and this day, chicken. It is served with chips.

Chicken Caprese Sandwich

 Rebecca had a salad on our visit. I believe it was the Cobb with chicken. You can see it looks great. The dressing was a vinaigrette and it and the salad got approval from Rebecca. 

The next time I visited On A Roll, I had the pimento cheese BLT and it was delicious. It was a part of my sandwich and salad combo. I got the Lewis salad that had avocado,black beans, yellow peppers and onions and a vinaigrette dressing. I'm not sure these two items were meant to be served together but it certainly worked for me. I was with a client and I convinced her to split the rainbow cake with me. This is their signature cake that has a layer of strawberry, key lime, and orange covered in a delicious cream cheese frosting. I really wish I had thought to take a picture. Hmmm, maybe I need to stop in just to get another piece (for the sake of the blog of course).  This cake was amazing. We kept debating which flavor was the best and had a terrible time deciding.

Another Broken Egg

If you are looking for a great breakfast or brunch spot here in town, Another Broken Egg is the place. About a year ago, Another Broken Egg opened their Tuscaloosa location at the new River Walk. Just off Jack Warner Parkway, this location has great views of the river, a patio, and the quality food that you get at all their other locations. Of course this is a pretty casual place since its breakfast and lunch only. But they also have a full bar which means mimosas and bloody marys. And they serve their coffee in these really cool mugs.

Menu with signature coffee mug

I have been several times for lunch and breakfast since they opened, but I always get breakfast food. On this last visit I had the veggie omelet with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and goat cheese. The omelet comes with their potatoes and English muffin. I love the way goat cheese tastes in the omelet.

Veggie omlet

Another one of my usual items is the skinny omelet that also has goat cheese, asparagus, and tomatoes but is made with only egg whites. Both omelets are delicious. And there is a lot to love about the potatoes and English muffin. The English muffin is denser than one you might buy in the store. Oh, and it comes with whipped butter that is light and fluffy. The potatoes have always been fresh with just enough crispiness but aren't overdone. They have a light seasoning on them.

I went with two girlfriends this trip after we visited the farmer's market one Saturday morning. Deidra got the black bean sliders. I didn't try them but they looked really cool so I wanted a picture for the blog. She said they had a little bit of a kick to them. I think it was the "slaw" topping that had some peppers in it.  The black bean burger was between two small pancakes and topped with the slaw.

black bean sliders

It has been great to add a breakfast spot to the mix here in T-town. And, it is even better that the food has been delicious each time I have been. The only complaint, or more of an issue, is the wait that you will often find, especially on a Saturday morning. But, that is a good sign and of course you can't really do much about that.

Little Donkey

Ok, Little Donkey is such a fun name for a Mexican restaurant! It is so unique and stands out from your traditional Mexican names. Which is appropriate, because this isn't like your normal Mexican place.  Little Donkey is located in Birmingham, or Homewood more specifically. Now, I know this isn't in Tuscaloosa, but, Birmingham isn't that far away and we Tuscaloosians often find ourselves in Bham needing somewhere to eat.

Outside shot (I forgot to take a picture so I borrowed this one from my company) :)

I was in Birmingham for training this week and stayed over night.When planning dinner, I wanted to try somewhere I hadn't already been. I had heard that the food was extremely fresh, unique, and good at Little Donkey, so that was my pick. Wes joined me as well as a couple of our friends.

On their website, Little Donkey claims to be original Mexican food, inspired by Southern roots, with slow-cooked meats, and scratch made everything. You could tell that all of these things were happening on the menu. I have already said it was unique, or as they say, original. The variety of meat was really cool. They offered tacos with steak, chicken, fish, brisket, and pork all with different fresh ingredients. And, you could tell the tortillas weren't store bought.

We started with guacamole. This is one of Wes and my go to items at Mexican restaurants, especially those that seem to be using more fresh ingredients. My hope was that it would be made at the table. But, that didn't happen. It did end up being delicious guacamole. Topped with a little tomato and cheese, and the chunks of avocado brought extra flavor and freshness to it.

guacamole (half eaten)

I chose the enchiladas verdes. The fresh tortillas were filled with chicken and cheese and topped with the green salsa. I thought the cheese was a little thick and not as melted as I would have liked. I guess I was imaging the idea of traditional queso cheese in the enchillada, but this was more of a slice of cheese with the chicken. But, the flavor was great.

Enchiladas verde

This dish was served with two sides. The sides are unique too. You can choose from mexican rice, black beans, pinto beans, street style corn, fresh fruit, or la concoction. This last item was rice, with black beans, some sauce, and a poached egg on top. I tried the black beans and corn with mine. The corn had a seasoning on it that was really interesting. I am not sure what it was, but it wasn't spicy, it had a little kick of sweet to it, and the flavor of the corn, which was roasted on the cob, was yummy. The black beans seemed just normal to me; not bad, but nothing special either.

black beans and street corn

 

Wes got the tacos and tried a steak and a fish. His favorite of the two was the fish. I didn't try either of these but there wasn't a bite of either left! And, he had the la concoction as his side. It was really cool looking and definitely had neat flavor and texture. I did try this and it was tasty.

Fish and steak taco and la concoction

All in all, Little Donkey has a really cool atmosphere and vibe. The fresh ingredients and unique ideas make this a really awesome spot. I hear that we may be getting a Little Donkey in Tuscaloosa, which is really exciting. I think local places like this are exactly what we need in town.

Birmingham food

Saturday Dinner

Ok, so for the final round of birthday fun, we spent Saturday night in Birmingham and did dinner Saturday night and brunch Sunday morning. Birmingham has really become somewhat of a food destination. I have been hearing all kinds of great things about lots of different restaurants downtown. We were excited to have a night out and then follow up with something yummy on Sunday too.

I had gotten a gift card to Ocean and we had saved it for out birthday celebration week! I had heard great things about their food and it was all true. Everything we had was fresh, unique, and delicious. Everyone gets bread with olive oil and a cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta, and olive oil salsa type spread. I must say the fresh tomato topper was one of the best parts of the meal. Even Wes, who isn't a big fan of anything like that, really enjoyed it. I tried to take a picture but I just couldn't capture the real essence and deliciousness with a picture.

Our first item ordered was the calamari appetizer. This is always one of Wes's favorite starters, so when I see it on the menu I usually want us to try it. This was perfectly breaded and tender! One of the worst things is getting really chewy calamari. Of course, this one was perfect. And the sauce!! It was described as a remoulade. You know I have a hard time waiting to eat until I have taken the picture. As you can see, this one was no different.

Calamari appetizer

I followed this up with the Ocean salad. This was the best part of my meal! Imagine a Greek Salad topped with fried feta cheese. Yes, fried feta cheese. In the picture below, the piece of cheese look like croutons, but no, it's cheese.

Ocean salad- with fried feta

For my entree, I ordered pan seared scallops. Not only do they offer several special meals, they also offer a list of meats cooked in a variety of ways (pan seared, greek, fried, etc). All of these came with sage mashed potatoes and root vegetables. I chose the scallops with mashed potatoes and vegetables instead of doing the special meal with risotto. I know I would have like the risotto better than the sides that I had with mine. But, the scallops were perfect.

scallops, mashed potatoes, and vegetables

Wes went with the grouper. His sides were white cheddar cheese grits and a crawfish cake. Everything on his plate was delicious. It all has lots of flavor and as I mentioned before, you could tell it was all fresh.

Grouper with cheese grits and crawfish cake

I find that no real dinner is complete without a dessert. And I especially feel this way at restaurants like this with specialty desserts that I can't find just anywhere. So, I politely asked the waitress to hold off on bringing us the dessert menu until I was a little less about to pop. And, we were so glad that we did. The strawberry shortcake was spectacular, mainly because of the tempura battered pound cake. Neither of us were sure about the basil whip cream. It was wonderful consistency, but the flavor just wasn't my favorite. It also came with white balsamic sorbet. I thought the tangy, crisp, and fresh flavor was really interesting. Wes did not.

strawberry shortcake

All in all, this was a great night out at a really delightful restaurant. I told Wes I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. I think a big reason for this is the fact that I didn't order the risotto. Risotto is always my favorite. When I didn't really like the sage in the potatoes, I knew that the risotto would have made all the difference.But what we had still made for a wonderful night out on the town.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday morning, we got up and headed over the mountain to Chez Lulu. Even though we had asked a few people their suggestions for brunch, we just used the handy iphone and asked yelp for some brunch ideas. We narrowed it down to 3 and honestly, I probably picked this one because it seems French-ish. I am currently all about anything French in preparation for our big trip. This quaint restaurant is in Mountain Brook. With cute little tables outside and Christmas lights up inside, it was an adorable spot for brunch.

The bakery next door is also a spot where you can pick up items like croissants, muffins, and pastries and I am sure that all their offerings would be as tasty as the things we had at the restaurant. They start you with a very European breakfast option, bread and olive oil. There was a variety of bread, of course we tried them all, and were quite pleased with this start to our meal.

Bread at breakfast!

For my meal, I decided to go with a crepe. It was a French inspired place, right? With a wide variety to choose from, I decided to go local and chose the Chilton county peach crepe. Light, flavorful, and yummy whip cream on top, made this a great selection.

peach crepe

I also ordered the white cheddar biscuits. This was to share with Wes, but, who can resist trying some cheddar biscuits.  My comparison here would be the asiago cheese bagel at Panera. I love the way the cheese is delicate in the bread and not overpowering. But, you still get such a strong flavor. They also served these with fresh jam which made these biscuits Amazing!!

white cheddar biscuits

Wes has the daily frittata special. I now can't remember what was in it, but the bite I had was delightful. And, I didn't take a picture of his either. Oops.

This is a really cute place for brunch and I can imagine their lunches are just as great. I wish I had stopped in the bakery and picked up a couple of things to go. But, the weekend of food had to stop somewhere.

Friday food at FIVE

Five has already shown up in one of my blog posts, but here it is again. A few weeks ago, I talked about the very cool jazz brunch on Sundays at Five. This post is about the fabulous dinner we had at Five Friday night. This has quickly become a very hot spot in downtown Tuscaloosa and for good reason. There is always a crowd, the food is consistently good, and the atmosphere is unlike anywhere else in town. Five is located on 6th Street next to Catch 22 and just down from The Shirt Shop.

Outside seating at Five.

There is a small outside eating area, and one big dining area/ bar/ stage area. The whole room is very open with tons of chandeliers, a gorgeous bar, and a fairly crowded eating area.

View of the bar and chandeliers

Wes and I find ourselves at Five pretty often. The crowd is usually the same. Depending on the time of night, there may or may not be a good crowd of college students. They tend to come in a little later.  While we were there Friday, there was quite a few college students, 30 something's on both dates and group dinners, and parents bringing their college students to eat. The restaurant is somewhat small and the crowd is usually big, so there is often a decent wait time. This weekend we were at the wine tasting around the corner at Carpe Vino and we put our name on the list while we finished. It was a great idea! Five is working to turn the building next door into a pastry and lunch spot that will then serve dinner too. It will be nice to have more room!

Like I said above, the food is consistently good. There are five entrees written on a chalkboard in the restaurant. The options change a few times a year. There are also nightly specials, five appetizers, five white and red wines, and five specialty cocktails. The idea is simple and unique, and has been well received in Tuscaloosa.  My favorite item on the menu is the paneed chicken. It is served with mashed potatoes and a salad. All the entrees come with the same salad. It is topped with fruit, nuts, and feta cheese and their homemade vinaigrette type dressing. It is delicious. Wes ordered this Friday night and here is the picture.

Paneed Chicken

At dinner, we talked about what nice size portions you get at Five. This plate is $17, which is a little bit more expensive than some other places in town. But, it is a full plate. You definitely don't leave hungry. You know sometimes you can go to those fancy places with fancy ingredients and spend more than that for too little food. So, the prices range from $13 to $20ish but you will be pleased with the food.
I had the Friday special. This was the first time I had tried the jalapeno tequila shrimp and I was very pleased. It was served with a polenta cake and the same salad that comes with the other meals. The shrimp had a little bit of spice to it but it wasn't too much. The shrimp was served with peppers, onions, and a light sauce over the polenta cake. The polenta cake was just slightly crusty on the outside and really tasty. Wes and I talked about what exactly polenta is. I was thinking it was similar to grits and I looked it up to make sure. Yes, it is similar to grits made with cornmeal. All in all, the meal was delicious as always. Here is a shot of mine. The polenta cake is covered up in this shot. I forgot I also got a piece of bread.

Jalapeno Tequila Shrimp

We have taken several friends from out of town to eat at Five. Everyone is always pleased with their meals. It really is such a cool atmosphere and you don't even feel like you are in Tuscaloosa. Later in the night they have live music, which is cool but gets kind of loud. They also serve food late, so if you are out in downtown and need some food this is one of the few places still serving late. Quickly, this has become the place to go for dinner, drinks, live music, and to be seen. Even though parking in downtown can be a challenge, you can park once grab dinner, drinks, meet up with friends, and have a great night out in downtown Tuscaloosa. I highly recommend Five!!

Good Weather Good Food

The weather this weekend was fabulous as February weekends go. Wes and I wanted to enjoy the sunny days, so we stopped by our favorite patio spot yesterday and had brunch with a hint of outside today after church.
If you know Wes and me at all, you know that we really like, ok maybe love, to go to Innisfree Irish Pub. And, when the weather is nice, we like it even more. When Innisfree moved to it's new location in Ttown, they really did an upgrade. They built in an old garage and have a wonderful patio and garage doors that open to the back room. So, there is plenty of seating for those wanting the fresh air. Not only that, but the food at Innisfree is much better than your regular bar food. We really have tried almost everything and are usually always pleased. For anyone looking for traditional Irish fare, the Shepards Pie is delicious. But, my favorite is the grilled chicken sandwich made into a wrap with Irish Gold sauce. It is just enough kick and not too heavy. And, it is hard to beat the $4 pitchers. We enjoyed the sunny Saturday on the patio.

Today after church, we wanted to enjoy the nice weather again, so we headed to Five for brunch. The small patio out front was full, but we were able to grab a high top table in the front of the restaurant near the open garage doors. We grabbed one of the last open tables and there was actually a wait for the regular tables. Why is that worth noting? Well, about a year ago, there were very few places open to eat on Sundays. Once the alcohol sales on Sunday passed, many places started opening on Sundays for lunch or brunch. Certainly not everyone in the restaurant was having a drink, but the place sure was full. And, there was still a wait when we left.
Five is such a cool new spot in Tuscaloosa. It has only been open about a year, but Wes and I have quickly made this one of our favorite places to eat. The atmosphere is really cool, hip and the food is always really good. The idea is that there are five options-- five entrees, five appetizers, five wines, etc. On Sunday, they have a jazz brunch. Yes, live Jazz that was so enjoyable. They also have a bloody mary bar and a selection of delicious food.

Today, we both had the wings and waffles.The wings had a really nice breading to them that certainly didn't taste like your traditional wings. And the waffles had a sweet taste and were really good. I was very pleased with my selection! We also had a couple of the $2 mimosas. If you are in town and want a great spot for Sunday brunch, then I would definitely suggest Five.