Little Donkey

My first major disappointment was that chips and salsa was 2 bucks. Once ordered it tasted more like tomatoes than anything else.
I ordered the quesadilla which left something to be desired.
Long story short, it’s just fine. I won’t be returning.

If you are looking for good Messican, look no further than Little Donkey in Homewood. Translation in Messican: Burrito. The name serves as an accurate metaphor of what the food is: a translation of the authentic. These are not Taco Truck tacos, people. But they are still good! The service at the bar is my favorite part but I have many other favorites including but not limited to the fact that they always have a $ 2 shot of either a whiskey or a tequila, which are my two favorite alcohols. I also like watching the bartenders shake their drinks. Ask for Emily, because she has a nifty dance she does at the same time. José is more of a «stern» type shaker, but he has a good vest. ⁵⁄₅

We really like the little donkey. Definitely a family friendly place. Sometimes the service has been underwhelming but other times it has been top notch. I love the taqueria tacos (the pork is super tender), get the elote corn or the concoccion as a side and you will be pleased. Husband has had the green chili burger as well and gives it a thumbs up. The Picado salad, with added pork, is a great meal too. Our daughter loves the churros with chocolate sauce for dessert.
We love the guacamole and the chorizo fundido for appetizers.

My order from Friday’s lunch:
1. 2 tacos (1 veggie and 1 pork) with pinto beans as a side
2. La Concoccion as an additional side
3. Jamaica as a drink
Total 18.65 (I think.)
Fresh ingredients.
Tender pork.
Awesome atmosphere.
Amazing waitstaff.
BUT disturbingly underseasoned. Lacked the deep, developed flavors I associate with this type of cuisine around the country. The vegetables were so bland I stopped talking. Salt would be a start but garlic, char, smoke, brightness… these are needed and attainable.

Hey, donkey. What’s goin’ on? You’re a donkey, I like that. You eat apples, right? I produce Entourage. Okay, talk to you later. Say hi to your Mother for me.
Good place. Close to very good. Not great. I’ve had tacos and the drunken hog pork sandwich. Pinto beans and Mexican rice. All were good to very good. Decent local and craft beer selection, bottle and draft. Margaritas are made correctly as well. Service was also pretty good though today they were understaffed and drinks took a bit. Recommended with reasonable expectations.

BEST ENCHILADAS VERDES. Wow, didn’t expect to find great Mexican food in Alabama… much less find the best enchiladas verdes i have ever tried… even better than what I’ve had in Mexico!
Wish I had time to go back to try other plates but was only in town for two days during Jessica’s residency interviews.

Since my review over a year ago I have been back several times, twice on Father’s Day! This is a great place to go over and over and it is a great place to take someone who is in Bham for just a few days and wants to check out the local flavor.
FOOD:
As promised in my first review, I tried the fried chicken and loved it. The spicy sauce definitely kicked it up a notch and the crispy skin was very memorable. Elote is still a favorite of mine and a favorite of my wife.
SERVICE:
I have always had great servers here… attentive, know the menu well, and ready to make personal suggestions.

If you’re craving authentic Mexican cuisine, this is the spot! We started off with chips guac, queso & salsa. The guac & salsa were amazing and fresh. I ordered one of their signature cocktails – Tequila Mockingbird margarita and it was refreshing. It was a pineapple based drink with cardamom, agave nectar, fresh lime and a touch of serrano. Hands down THE best tasting margarita I’ve ever had.
For my meal, I ordered the brisket taco & chicken tacos. Trust me, two tacos were filling! They give you a generous amount of meat & the tortilla wrap itself has you feeling satisfied quickly.
We also had the pleasure of sampling the perfectly steamed tamale (thank you Derrick!) and it was fantastic.
I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re trying to satisfy your Mexican/​margarita cravings.

We started off our lunch with fresh guacamole with chips and salsa. The flavor of the lemon and lime juice was fantastic. I ordered the poblano shrimp special. It was a creamy dish topped with rice. I really enjoyed it and the favors were so different with the poblano peppers. We also tried the brisket tacos. The brisket was a strong flavor that was tender and juicy. The side or corn was AMAZING! The chipotle slaw didn’t have much taste to it. The chips and salsa served (red and green) were wonderful! I highly recommend this place and the atmosphere is really inviting and cool.

The overall experience was nothing memorable. The chicken burrito was mediocre. The guacamole was more like a paste and was not worth the price.
The service was okay but somewhat slow.

Went to lunch with the hubs one day. Parking at the actual restaurant is impossible, they are busy busy and there are other popular stores in the area. There is however a gravel parking lot across the street. It too was full, found a spot by chance in a corner where no one else wanted to park.
Indoor and outdoor seating. We thought about eating outside, but they have the smoker right next to the seating and you would get up and smell like smoke, not entirely undesirable, but we were on the way to a meeting.
We were seated and put on the pay no mind list. When our waitress came by we ordered an appetizer of queso dip, La Taqueria taco and Pastor taco. The queso dip was okay, much better than cheep Mexican restaurants, but not amazing. When we mixed it with the salsa it was very good. The salsa is thin, like a picante salsa. My husband really likes it. I thought it was refreshing and had a nice flavor but I prefer a thicker salsa.
We both thoroughly enjoyed our tacos. Well balanced, nice and meaty and the pineapple on the Pastor taco really makes it. The lunch Tacos come with one side. My husband got the roasted corn on the cob. It comes smothered in buttery cheese and sprinkled with maybe paprika, it’s sprinkled with something. He loves it! He would just eat the corn if it came in mass quantities. I got the cold slaw. Love me some cold slaw. This one was great with a Mexican riff. Not too dry or smothered in sauce. Great flavor.
All around a very nice meal.

What a fun restaurant. The theme makes you feel like you are in Texas, and the staff are very bubbly. The food was incredibly fresh and clearly homemade each day. I ordered the veggie enchilada and the first thing I notices were the fresh tortillas they we’re served in. The texture was perfect. There was plenty of food without it being overpowering and I finished the entire plate. There was a great mix of veggies in there and everything just complimented each other well. Next time I to I want to try one of the delicious looking cocktails I kept seeing go by!

While visiting B’ham, I asked around if I could find any Hot Chicken in town, people looked at me like I had 2 heads and they all directed me to Google. I was surprised to find that the Little Donkey features this on their menu. Minor frustration trying to order takeout online, so I called in my order and was told the wait time for chicken was about 20 minutes. I made it down on time, fought for a parking space during a busy lunch, and was semi-​rewarded for my trouble.
I ordered a 4 piece plate with pintos and chipotle slaw. What I got was a leg, a breast, and a leg quarter. I don’t consider a leg quarter 2 pieces of chicken, and it was messy trying to separate the leg from that weird piece of chicken nobody wants. The chicken was outstanding however, and soon my nose was running from the subtle heat they brine into the meat. The sides were nothing to write home about, seriously, and at $ 3 for a small cup of whatever I’d just flat call that a rip off. My tab was $ 17+ for a lunch chicken and 2 sides.
The rest of the menu is pretty intriguing, you can find it online. My kids love the tacos here, but again $ 9 for 2 tacos and one side is on the outside of reasonable. What else they do have is an amazing bar with about 30 Tequila selections, and a wide variety of designer Bourbons, including Pappy Van Winkle. Expect to overpay for the excellent service here, and dont be surprised if there’s no place to park.

This will blow your mind on its great service and cuisine.
My party started out with chips and dip with had one tangy sweet sauce and the other was standard salsa. Both sauces were fantastic, I had trouble up till the end of the meal keeping my hand out of the basket for another chip to dip in either of the sauces.
My entrée came out and I only had 2 small soft tacos with a side of black beans. The dish was delicious up till the last bite.
I would definitely recommend it over most Tex/​Mex places in Birmingham.

I just moved here from Houston so I have a high standard for the Mexican food. I walked in with high hopes because of what others had told me.
Little donkey kills it in the drink department. I had a frozen margarita and added chartreuse. 2 and I then wish this damn city had Über!
The food was so so. The queso and salsa was great tasting however the size was small. Like «is this the sample? Can I have the full size now?» Yeah for the price A GIRL NEEDS MORE CHEESE SAUCE.
The tacos where also pretty tasty but you can get the same great taste in Hoover from a taco truck for a1.50. Not $ 4.00.

Mexican Monday, it seems. I was told that Little Donkey was excellent, so I headed here for dinner. Starting with the guacamole that could have been a bigger portion but my main course arrived before I was even half way through it. And that started the theme of feeling a little rushed tonight.
I chose the Enchiladas Rojo, one pork and one chicken. Topped with way too much shredded lettuce, but under there were two nicely sized tortilla shells folded over and filled with tasty meats inside. And a separate place with some excellent rice and beans.
I’d just about finished the last bite of this big portion when my waiter took my plate. And asked if there would be anything else. I still had food in my mouth, so I gave him a no. My check arrived shortly afterwards, which I paid and left.
Other than the rushed service, the food was pretty good. It cooled very quickly. Maybe serving it on a hot plate would have helped?

Little Donkey is the place you want to go for Mexican food when you don’t want Mexican food.
It’s strange how you can throw the same ingredients into The Bowl and still have a dish that tastes totally different than actual Mexican food. Their carnitas are great! They were soft, fell into pieces, and had a mildly sweet taste to it.
I substituted my rice for more lettuce. I felt like that way I was able to really taste all of the flavors. The beans were good and adding a comforting feel to the food. They somehow managed to make this big Bowl of food feel healthy.
The salsa isn’t spicy. If you order the cheese dip, it comes with salsa so it feels like a two-​for-​one deal.
The restaurant is pretty. The service is great and attentive. They had my order wrong the first time but replaced it immediately.

I have been waiting to try this place since February! To save you the trouble of reading the rest of this review, here’s the cut-​and-​dry:
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Okay, the fun part. We sat for dinner at 9pm (we had been running around town and it took us 2 hours to decide where to go eat…). We were promptly seated and Sarah was our waitress. She brought water and treated us like regulars. We had to break it to her this was our first time here. She was super kind and helpful. We went with her recommendations: tacos! Before our food arrived, she gave us a chips-​and-​dip platter on the house. Mm… the guac was SO yummy. My fiancée ordered the non-​alcoholic almond drink (forgot the name) and he said it tasted exactly like how Sarah described it: cinnamon toast crunch. He really liked it!
When our food came out, we dove in to our sides. (I feel like sides never get much credit in a meal!) I got the elote and my fiancée got the Mexican rice. Those tastes were completely new to me. I am a fan of roasted corn with chili power now! I ordered a chicken and steak taco while my fiancée had two kinds of pork tacos. Sarah brought out a house made sauce they use on their ribs for us to try with the tacos. She said it starts out sweet, hits you with some heat and fades. My fiancée loved it so much, he was ready to buy a bottle. (Bottle up that sauce, Little Donkey!!!)
We thought 2 tacos would be child’s play, but we were SO full. My fiancée is already making plans to come back on a Friday/​Saturday. I can’t wait! Keep up the good work!!!

This place reminds me of one of my favs back in Texas… authentic Mexican vibe, interesting menu, good service and it even offers some of fav drinks from the Texas joint (ie, the paloma). Smallish restaurant with booths, low tables, patio & bar seating. We were seated in a large booth in the middle (ish) of the restaurant — great size for 4 people. We started off with chips, salsa and guac… the salsa is out of the world. Incredibly flavorful and you can taste that it’s freshly made. I can see why they charge for it. no complaints here! The guac was also really fresh and good. I prefer my guac a little chunkier but overall it was really good. Tortilla chips were salty and perfectly crunchy.
We all ordered something a little different… chicken in mole — flavorful and my mom hardly shared. She also requested all white meat, which they prepared with no problem. Dad ordered carne asada — the meat was cooked perfectly, had a ton of flavor but this dish definitely packs in the heat. If you don’t like spicy food either ask for it for less spicy or pick something different. Husband ordered two chicken tacos — he enjoyed them and did not share. I ordered the catfish taco and the pastor taco (smoked pork & grilled pineapple). Loved the two taco I chose… fresh and packed with flavor. The amount of food wasn’t overwhelming; in fact it was nice to feel like I overate.
Our food was a little slow to come out, but we weren’t in a rush so it wasn’t a big deal. Our waiter was really friendly and was knowledgeable about the menu and history of Little Donkey and the owners — we enjoyed talking with him.

We ventured to the Homewood area of town for lunch at Little Donkey. The whiskey/​tequila-​inspired Mexican bar provided us with a quick, delicious meal.
Our server was a delight. She happily answered all of our Birmingham, touristy questions, in addition to offering excellent service throughout the meal. We started off with chips and guac, which was prepared brilliantly. The guacamole didn’t try to do too much. The kitchen allowed the avocado to work its magic. Very simple, yet extremely appetizing.
I ordered the Brisket Tacos, which again were simple, but very good. The standout ingredient was the homemade tortilla. They prepare fresh masa in house! You don’t see this every day, and the flavor speaks for itself. To top it all off, our main dishes came out in under six minutes!
No complaints here. A quick, delicious meal with hospitable service in a trendy environment? I’m sold, sign me up! The name may be Little Donkey, but the experience is nothing short of grand.