OvenBird

In my opinion, this is the best restaurant in town. I have been twice and the menu is always inventive and different. The passion and love put into making it comes out tenfold in the flavor.

Excellent dinner! We had 6 in our party and I think we tried over half the offerings on the menu! Our favorites were the goat, pork shoulder, beef shoulder, cheese soup and Brussels sprout slaw. I ordered the beef fat candle because it sounded so unusual. It was delicious. My favorite dessert was the flan with black pepper cream. The lemons curd was yummy also. The server was attentive and helpful in deciding what to order. He even gladly gave us separate checks! I highly recommend Ovenbird!

«Unique and Delicous!»
Unlike anywhere I have been in Birmingham! The menu, cocktails, décor and overall atmosphere was wonderful. The staff is very friendly and informative about the menu. I had the ceviche and the beef shoulder and they were both mouthwatering. I will definitely be back for more :)

I had an interesting thing happen to me at OvenBird. It is something that has never happened to me before. My friends and I enjoyed a nice meal with our wives and paid our bill. Seven minutes later, the general manager came out and asked us to either go to the bar or leave because they needed the table. I know it was seven minutes because we texted our babysitter when we signed the bill. I have never been asked to leave a restaurant before.
I should have known this was going to be trouble, because our server, Ali, had been pushing us out the whole night. She said, «If you don’t order right now, you will be here for at least another hour and a half.» That was the first time she came to our table. We are professional people and weren’t being loud or obnoxious. We simply wanted to have a night out, and were at the table for less than 90 minutes total.
Overall, the food was decent. It is Tapas style, but the portions are very small even for this style of restaurant. We had a group of 6 and ordered 11 entrees and 4 appetizers with 2 desserts. I think all of us left hungry. The best thing on the menu is the braised goat. It was great.
I think that I am disappointed because I like Hot and Hot so much and I really wanted to like OvenBird. As I said, the food was good, which made this a 2 star instead of a 1 star review. But my friends and I were asked to leave 7 minutes after paying! This is ridiculous. I will not be back.

The ambiance was warm, the food was inventive, and my company was delightful. The service, to the contrary, was deplorable.
Our waitress was very proud of the restaurant and made sure we were aware of it every pretentious second of our visit. She informed us that «if you don’t order all of your food now, you’ll be here for at least another hour and a half.» After eating and drinking to our hearts content, we had spent approx $ 250 over 1 hour, 45 minutes. As soon as our bills were paid and signed with awkward feathers twined to chewed ballpoint pens, the manager came around to greet us. He thanked us for coming in and then asked «to stand us up to the bar to continue our evening» as they were «in desperate need of tables».
These personal interactions soured the otherwise pleasant evening we were having and ensured I would no longer patron this establishment.
Now back to watching Portlandia…

YES! Thankful for this more accessible restaurant by Chef Hastings. Always an honor to dine at a restaurant where the chef beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef!
Aside from the ~45 minute wait (which was somewhat expected) everything was perfect. The dishes we ordered were the cheese soup, squash pâté, beef shoulder, and spit fire chicken. The cheese soup was so rich and creamy. The pecans really helped mellow the cheese out, and we asked for a side of bread to go with it, which was great for getting every last drop! The squash pâté had so many perfect flavors married together. The pork belly was cooked excellently and paired well with the squash. My mouth was in heaven. The beef shoulder was definitely a substantial plate, served rare with chimichurri and grilled vegetables. It was like a pot roast for modern day adults. I honestly should’ve gotten at least another one for my meal. The spit fire chicken was tasty as well, but not as good as that beef shoulder.
For dessert we went for the warm winter fruits: two shortbread cookies with kumquats, pomegranate, candied pecans, and others over a bed of lemon custard. The sweet custard in contrast to the tart kumquat slices was divine. Very refreshing dessert that this usual chocolate lover highly recommends.
I’ll certainly be back to explore more of the menu!

Ovenbird is a less formal, slightly more accessible version of Hot & Hot, with more of a focus on small plates that encompass all manner of food: pork, poultry, fish, beef, vegetarian, and even goat. I have been waiting patiently for the opening of Ovenbird, and if did not disappoint.
Overall, an excellent experience. I love the location as well as the ambiance. It is such a beautiful building, inside and out. The service was great, and the owner, Chris Hastings, even stopped by to inquire about our experience.
I ordered the Beehive cocktail, which was exceptional. The two standouts of our food were the goat dish and the cheese soup. I will definitely order both again.

Good and worth it on someone else’s dime. The small plates are fantastic but when recommended to order at least four per person ($ 10+/per plate) so you can share a bite or two with others is crazy. With that said the food was good.
The beef fat candle I would pass on or at least try it once just to say you ate a candle. It tasted like salt and a candle just put out smells and oily.
The goat with soft poached egg on girts was amazing. The meat was cooked perfectly and the runny yolk add a nice thickness and tied the whole plate together.
The gulf fish was amazing. The beet root purée on the plate was delicious and made me think of umami. I have read about umami and it was what I imaged it to be. It kinda reminded me of miso. The fish was good but the purée was the star of the dish.
The tuna confit reminded me of Italian tuna canned in oil. It was good too.
The shishito peppers were delicious. The egg yolk coated the peppers and held on to the salt. They were very good.
We had one of all the desserts and I can’t choose a favorite. They were the highlight of the meal after the goat and gulf fish.
If you go I would do it right and have a good time because I can’t afford to do it too often.

I was not really sure what to expect from this place when I first went. I heard the plates were all really small (tapas) ranging in price from 8 – 13.00. So, we get to Pepper place where the restaurant is located… WOW, they did an awesome job on the patio and inside. There are tons of windows and seating outside and inside… It reminded me of a little French restaurant. The service was excellent, the specialty drinks were fantastic! So, the plates were a little small but not horrible… we ordered about 7 different dishes and split them between us. All of the food is amazing that I had (pork shoulder, pork belly, goat, salad etc.). I am confused why its called oven bird (only like one chicken dish on the menu). I honestly can not wait to go here when the patio is open. This is a Great place to bring friends, sit outside and order some tapas and wine!

The only good thing about this place is the décor/​ambiance. The food, service and even desserts are subpar. The dessert arrived before the food. We were splitting, so we went ahead and ordered everything. I feel like common sense should’ve kicked in at some point, but nope! Maybe that was our fault. Regardless, wouldn’t go back!

My mom always said if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But y’all, I can’t bite my tongue! The only reasons I am giving two stars are: the food, the ambiance, and the bartender named Chris. Food is so important in a dining experience but service can taint one’s own experience no matter how good the food. I am surprised that Chris Hastings would allow such inattentive (or inexperienced) and oblivious staff to serve at his restaurant.
We started the evening off with the understanding that this is a new establishment and there is a learning curve. However, after sitting at the bar for at least 15 minutes, the bartender only made one of the two drinks for us (but made drinks for others) and walked away in the middle of our food order. Honestly, I shouldn’t have to ask for cutlery, napkins, plates, or water when my meal is served. It is also really disappointing when the food runner tells you she has no access to silverware and to ask the bartender for cutlery. Overall, we felt that the waitstaff received more attention from the bartender than we did. And it was distracting from our own experience to have to flag down staff for the very basics. Finally, to receive my bill, I shouldn’t have to remind the bartender what I ordered.
The only saving grace was the bartender named Chris who saved the day (and his coworker) by being attentive towards the end of the meal.
Honestly, for the price tag and the reputation of Chris Hastings, we expected more. No apology or compensation was given for this subpar dining experience. Hopefully this can be resolved as the setting is lovely and the food is impressive.

First visit to OvenBird and WOW!
Ambience, yes! Best outdoor patio I have seen in Birmingham. Beautiful décor inside, we had to take in all the elements, from the wide open panel doors to the rustic ceiling overhead, fantastic.
Drinks, yes! Unique wine choices and any type of handmade mixed drink is available for your enjoyment. The bar in the main dining area was crowded, so we went to the ‘back’ bar and immediately found a seat. Nice tip from the hostess!
Food, yes!!! Authentic Spanish tapas with a variety of protein and vegetarian choices. Interesting combinations, a little intimidating for those lacking culinary adventurism. But if you put your faith in the chef, you will not be disappointed. We chose the Serrano ham, mackerel spread (with just the right amount of spice) fidelos (a sort of mini paella) with clams, mussels and shrimp and the beef shoulder, equally yummy. With four plates we were satisfied, but not full. Still room for desert and I must urge you to try the flan, OMG, candy on a plate! Sweet and salty.
Service, yes! Our server introduced himself as our ‘culinary tour guide’ and he was just that. Very attentive, knowledgable and friendly. Food was timed perfectly. Absolutely no complaints about the service.
Why 4 stars you ask? My only negative comment would be the portion sizes are really small for the price. Bring your wallet as this culinary road trip is pricey. Definitely a place we will return to, but probably not on our weekly list of places we patronize often.

I am a Chef Hastings fangirl. I love Hot and Hot (for special occasions) and I’ve been keeping tabs on OvenBird’s opening for an embarrassingly long time. It pains me to give this place a mediocre rating but they missed the mark during my recent visit.
The beau and I arrived at 10:30pm after a looong work week on a Friday evening. Their website, Unilocal,Google and Instagram all listed the closing time at midnight (yay for night owls like me!). We arrived, sat at the bar and were ‘greeted’ by the bartender telling us the kitchen was closing soon. We were *those* people who walked in at food ‘last call’ to staff who really didn’t want to see any new customers… except we were 1.5 hours before their advertised closing time. I assumed I read all four websites wrong, apologized and felt like a jerk — I’ve worked in the food industry, I get how irritating it is for people to walk in at 9:55 when the kitchen closes at 10.
It was my first visit and I like to read — not skim — my menu so I took a moment to take in the ambiance, the incredible options, the libations. Again, I was reminded, a bit abruptly, that the kitchen would be closing soon. Fine. I ordered a Rufus, the beau got a fancy Scotch, neat. We ordered deviled eggs and the beef candle and I asked for a bit more time to parse our other food options. Drinks were served, the Rufus’ feather garnish and brandied muscadine made my heart flutter. Our starts were delivered, I squealed at the ingenuity of the beef candle dish and was the obnoxious basic girl who started orchestrating my own personal southern living food shoot to show my social media ‘friends’ just how posh and sophisticated my food choices are. The bartender came over, told us in no uncertain terms that if we wanted any more food we would have to order NOW. I scrambled to decide and ordered the goat and grits. I was flustered and felt rushed. I looked down and my beef candle had blown out prematurely in the flurry of menu flutters and bartender gesticulations. My sadness was palpable. I’m sure I looked like a kicked puppy. It was at this point that I rechecked all my information sources (I’m a recent smartphone adopter and still forget this is an immediate option) and realized that I had *not* been wrong. Everywhere that listed hours for this place lists midnight as closing. I have to admit, I was a little irritated. I gently brought it up to the bartender by framing that we would have never come in if we knew the kitchen was closing prematurely but we saw that the hours were posted on all outlets as until midnight. He seemed shocked and bordered on questioning my honesty about the posted hours.
Our main came out. It was divine. All the food was, truly. It was flavorful and inventive and take-​your-​breath-​away beautiful. I just wish I hadn’t felt initially guilty and then irritated at the kitchen closing prematurely. Being rushed to make decisions and not being allowed to savor the food/​experience really dinged our enjoyment of the evening. It’s fine if you don’t want to keep your kitchen open until midnight, just don’t tout that you do when you don’t. Further, this meal was a little too pricey to be rushed through. For now, a bummer. I’ll have to try it again at some point but I won’t be rushing back and I will only be offering recommendations with an aside to arrive *hours* before closing time.

Wow. I’m so happy that I can walk to this gorgeous place. I highly recommend sitting outside, especially at night. It’s like you’re in a secret garden. Our waiter was Pk, he was extremely knowledgeable and never kept us waiting.
It is a tapas/​small plates restaurant so if you order 3 between two of you it is great if you aren’t looking to stuff yourself. We split a bottle of the Rioja and ordered the veggie paella, a goat in grits plate, and a beef plate. All were amazing and cooked to perfection. PK had great suggestions for us. They brought them out one at a time in the order in which they should be enjoyed. Everything was cooked to order. I wish I was hungry for another plate! It was too dark to take good pictures of my food, but the ambience was beautiful.
I cannot wait to return to try more food!

OvenBird is a welcome addition to the Birmingham area. There is not another restaurant like it. We sampled many things on the menu last night on opening night, and nothing disappointed. Everything we had was delicious. I especially liked the beef shoulder complex and the deviled eggs. The atmosphere is really great, too. The premise of the restaurant is «small plates» so be prepared to order multiple courses to share with the table. Can’t wait to go back.

Simply one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Anywhere!