The Boot at Preserve Village

Well, unfortunately I have to «downgrade» my review. One of my favorite things about the chicken sandwich was the delicious bun. Sadly, they have changed to a thicker, stale tasting bread, and it changes the taste completely. Our favorite neighborhood restaurant has now just become ho hum.

We’ve eaten here 5−6x in the past few years and it has progressively gotten worse. We love the location but the food is the same and knowledge of the staff is pitiful. They used to offer grass fed beef but none of the staff seemed to know what that is. They claimed it still was grass fed, but it is no longer specific on the menu and they cook it medium well even when you ask that it to be cooked medium. The one server that helped us seemed older and knowledgable when we mentioned it and showed her the two burnt burgers. She offered to get us another, but we didn’t want to wait. Most of the staff is super young and under-​trained staff.

Food was great. The best burger I have ever had in my entire life. My husband had the tacos and really enjoyed them. Great atmosphere. There was one downside. They advertise Prim Rib and didn’t have any at 4:00??? But would still go back.

Great evening at The Boot. Very busy with 30 minute wait. The food was great. Our group enjoyed pimento cheese sandwich, fish tacos, and steak tacos. The flavor was fantastic.
With being busy we had to take available seating. Two man band playing and we were closer than I would like. With everything said and done we are already making plans to return.
Thanks go out to son’s friend for $ 10 off coupun!!!

We went on December 29 around 6 pm, a very busy night. The line was out the door and we waited very patiently. Once entering the restaurante and still standing in line we noticed 2 tables of 15 to 20 seats that weren’t occupied we were told that they were reserved over a month ago by the host. The host allowed these people to come into the restaurante via the side door and cut the line to place there orders which made our wait at least and additional 30 to 40 minutes. This continued for at least 30 minutes, I mentioned this to him and he said they know the Owners. The food overall is good, but don’t expect good service unless you know the «Owners».

I love everything about this place! Good food, good atmosphere & good prices. I love burgers & all 3 that I’ve tried here are great!
Nights are usually crowded but service is quick! Best time to go is when it gets cold outside, the big fireplace definitely gives a great ambiance & the live music they sometimes have doesn’t hurt either!

Worst seating method. I should upload a picture of the empty tables while patrons wait behind the chain barrier! I expect that a restaurant will be busy on a Friday night, but if you do not have enough staff to bus tables and seat those waiting then you need to put an ad on Craig’s list???

I love this place simply bc it’s a cozy casual layout right beside the park. Wonderful for making it a family outting. Being said the food isn’t anything special the customer service is constantly declining and to top it all off they close down every day at 2 and the reopen at 4! #WeirdestShitEver! I have been coming here since my son was a few wks old. He’s now 11 months. Now saying that I’m only a repeat customer because of the great Groupon deals $ 15 for $ 26 worth of food. I’ve never eaten here without one! They are ridiculously expensive for the menu options but worth it when you use groupon. More recently I was very disappointed with the customer service and management when my family and I planned to eat here and purchased the Groupon literally while driving to the restaurant. We arrived, ordered, and as we got ready to pay due to technical issues on groupon end we couldn’t log into the account to show the cashier the voucher number, nor could the cashier log into her system to look up our voucher, but we had the order confirmation email yet the workers were very unapologetic and didn’t even attempt to offer a solution. So we contacted groupon and had a 20min wait time but we were ready to eat and refyse to pay full price at The Boot, so we gathered our family, took our phone call to the car and drove to somewhere else to eat. Groupon was very helpful canceled our purchase for The Boot and refunded our money immediately. I probably would never eat here again simply because they have terrible customer service but being that groupon had a local deal that gave you an extra 20% off $ 15 why not get a super cheap meal for the family and enjoy the park! ;)

Best Bloody Mary I’ve had in Birmingham. Alan, the bar manager, makes them absolutely perfect, spicy and flavorful with bacon! (They use Zing Zang as the base which is hands down my favorite).
Shrimp tacos are yummy, as are the fish tacos.
My husband and his friends love their burgers!
The «collards with a kick» are my favorite of anywhere I’ve found other than a place in Jamaica which would tie! And the black eyed peas are also heavenly and the most flavorful I’ve had on their «best days», other times they are just pretty good.
I really wish there were more restaurants like this in Hoover!
The only negative thing I would say is the entrees and sides are inconsistent. Sometimes everything is great and others it’s just okay.
I would love to see them develop a brunch menu!
We’re regulars here as its basically in our neighborhood, probably eaten here inside or takeout 25 times so far, so I feel pretty qualified to write this :)

So my review for Boot is based on our party of four where half were really happy and half were not. I was of the former half. I liked the restaurant atmosphere. You have to order your food at the window and then they bring it out to your table.
I had the Mahi Mahi sandwich. Everyone else had burgers. I really liked the French fry medley that comes with all the sandwiches. Mostly regular fries with some sweet potato fries and some fried green beans. Original and tasty. Loved it. My sandwich was great and came with a spicy mayo that I loved. I got the fruit as my side which was pineapple with some grapes and granola over the top. Loved it! I also loved the unsweetened tea I had which has a fruity taste to it.
My daughter really enjoyed her kids burger. My son had the bacon cheeseburger. He thought it was overcooked and didn’t like the thick bacon on it. My husband thought his was just OK. He didn’t like the mac and cheese he got with it. He didn’t think it had much flavor. I tried it and I thought it was good.
We sat outside on a Friday night. There was live music which I enjoyed.
The question is, would I come back? Honestly, this is pretty pricey for what you are getting. I could see people coming here for the atmosphere and for convenience if they live nearby. We had a Groupon so that made it a little more affordable. So yes, if I had a Groupon or other deal. Otherwise, probably not.

Where to start… They did have a live band on Friday night… seating is limited so get there early. We had to sit outside by the band. Ok first off, if you are going to charge more than 13 dollars for a burger make sure it is worth it. In my opinion burgers were on the small side. They did have that back yard grill taste, but that is where it ended. As far as a bar? Well only a handful of beers are available, they do have a full bar though. I have to admit, if it was not for the groupon we would have steered clear. I will not be returning to this place anytime soon. Over priced and under stocked.

Look for the groupons/​amazon local coupons!
Have seen it advertised often and never thought it looked intriguing enough. I’m so glad we tried it!
Order is up-​front which is kind of slow and odd given the quality of food and ambiance – in all other respects it seems like a traditional sit-​down. They have good options. I ordered salad with grilled chicken and spicy dressing and the fried «blend» side. Husband got a burger with regular fries.
The ambiance is quite nice and very clean. Has a lovely porch too and would be a nice place for a small party or bridal lunch. They had to-​go wrapped desserts at the front that I was dying to try but didn’t!
The food takes a few minutes but it’s ’cause it’s made to order. My salad was good and very pretty. The chicken didn’t blow me away but I would go back again and try a sandwich. Comes with an array of fruit, veggies, and toppings and the dressing was good.
Husband liked his burger, too!
The biggest (surprising) negative was the fry-​blend! It was actually very disappointing. It’s a mix of fries, waffle sweet-​potato fries, and fried green beans. It’s 80% regular fries and 20% the latter two. I hope I just caught them on an off night because it’s hard for me not to like fried food. But all 3 options tasted old, cold and stale! They were lukewarm at best and just quite chewy. The fried green beans were the best of the lot, but there were, literally, 3 in the basket.
I’d go back again and indulge in something unhealthy and give the fried blend another shot because it has the potential to be so awesome.

I am not from Alabama and was visiting a friend who insisted on taking me here. I will say that the ambiance is cute: very rustic in a trendy way, and it seems very «Alabama». You order at a counter and the food is then delivered to your table.
The food was alright, but nothing special for the amount it cost. I had a cheeseburger and fries and it was good. I would compare it to a Wendy’s junior cheeseburger and I felt I should have paid about the same, but it was much more expensive. I did really enjoy the fries because they come out as a variety with string, sweet potato waffle, and fried green beans mixed together.
What makes me give this place a ²⁄₅ was the lack of consideration. The place closes at 2 before reopening for dinner at 4, and we came in at 1:30. At 2:00 we were still eating, not chatting and hanging out, but actually eating food. The soda machines were cut off immediately so we could not refill ice or drink, then the tea machines were taken away. We started feeling like we were being pushed out, but continued to finish our meal. At about 2:15 the lights were cut off and a chain was put in front of the door we entered. Let me say, there were 3 other tables besides us still in the restaurant, we were not the only ones holding everyone up. When the lights were shut off we all got up and left out a different door without seeing anyone who worked there in the past 20 minutes. There were no blatantly obvious signs stating they temporarily closed, so eating a late lunch did not seem inappropriate.

Pretty sure I got food poisoning from eating here. I had the mahi salad, tasted ok I suppose, but some things were weird– the «sweet granola» crumbles are just nature valley granola bars crushed, the salad dressing tasted off, the beets were obviously from a can not cooked fresh, and the mahi was not hot.
Best part though was within 4 hours I was very ill. I was with my family all day, and except for my salad we all shared food family style and no one else was sick.
If staff hadn’t been so apathetic to our other needs while we were there, I’d be inclined to call it a fluke and give them the benefit of the doubt. Not impressed in any way.

Preface: the food is good. Everything else about my experience today? Sub-​par. Apathetic cashier who I soon regretted leaving a tip on a to-​go order with… (and honestly if you’re going to go to the trouble to tip generously on a to-​go order, the very least the apathetic cashier girl could do is acknowledge it, or even say, «thank you,» but regardless). I came in just after noon after finishing an errand nearby. There was 1 person ahead of me in line at the order counter, so I did not anticipate the ridiculous wait that I was in for.
I placed my order, paid, & was given vague instructions («over there») as to where I should wait for my to-​go order of a 1 chicken sandwich meal & green bean/​sweet potato fry mix. There was a loud, large party of men seated & eating, with a prominent elected local official. They were very loudly holding court, but seemed to be toward the end of their meal so I didn’t see how they could be the cause for the delay. An older gentleman who appeared to either be the restaurant owner or manager (?) was going around and assisting select individuals as well as randomly shouting odd loud noises. (Maybe it’s their version of «welcome to Moe’s!» but I highly doubt it.)
I sat there for about 25 minutes with many other meals coming out, but not mine. There were a couple of seemingly-​busy young waitresses bustling around, who had mastered the art of looking very busy, but none met my eye contact or requests for help. One other patron had placed a to go order just after me and we looked at each other like perhaps we’d made a bad decision. When I finally was able to get the attention of a waitress (because the apathetic counter girl REPEATEDLY saw me looking for help but was WAY too occupied rolling napkins with silverware while touching the wrong ends with her hands — EW GROSS & unsanitary), I explained to the waitress that I’d been waiting 25 minutes for a my to go order of 1 sandwich and I needed to leave ASAP in order to pick up my child from school. She gave me my order and the grand irony is — my favorite part of the meal is their «fry mix» with regular fries, sweet potato waffle fries and fried green beans — they had given me precisely 2 sweet potato fries (how generous for a meal that I paid like $ 14 for — pathetic!!), 3 fried green beans, and a ton of the regular shoestring fries. The whole reason I went to The Boot was I remembered how good the sweet potato fries were the last (& only) time I had eaten there. By the time I ate my food, it was cold. Cold chicken breast sandwich. Yuck.
If they are going to expect you to wait 25+ minutes for a ONE to-​go meal, they should at least have given you access to the «Public Wi-​FI» network that was listed but no password displayed. Disappointing experience at best. A lot of potential with the atmosphere, décor & food — but if you ignore your patrons & move slowly with no explanation, we won’t likely return. Abysmal customer service. Unless you’re in the group with the elected official, I guess. Next time I will give the pizza place next door a try.

So much food. The fried green beans mixed in with the French fries was an interesting surprise.

I have been wanting to come to The Boot since it made a «Best of» list a few years back. And even after mixed reviews on Unilocal,we decided to give it a try. It is pretty far out from where we live. But we were on that side of town, so a little more convenient this go round.
First, the ambience was great. We really enjoyed the atmosphere. As previously stated, you order at the counter and sit down. We ordered our food and got a couple of beers. The beers were certainly on the expensive side. But they had a good local selection. We both got the burgers. They come with an order of fries, which is typically an assortment of shoestring, waffle sweet, and green beans, but I got just shoestring. You also get another side, and I went with the black eye peas. Everything was delicious. The burger was a little on the small size, but the flavor was quite good. I enjoyed the fries and peas. And even though the burger was a little small, I was still full after everything.
Once again, The Boot is pretty far out there for me. But it is a great stop if you are on that side of town!

The food is delicious! I had the Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos and it did not disappoint! Side order of fries and turnip greens were delicious too! Try the wings!
Very kid friendly which is okay if you have children but not okay if you’re on a date. Screaming kids all around. A little unorganized when it comes to delivering food to the table. You order when you first walk in and then runners bring it out to you through a number system.
All in all it was a great experience and I will be back. Hopefully on a night when their are less children around

Decent food in a casual and pleasant setting. We sat near the fireplace which was stoked with some nice dry wood on occasion — great on a cold night. That added to the experience…
Shrimp & Grits with Andouille sausage was the main course. Somewhat over spiced for me — too much garlic. But then again who is to say what is the proper seasoning.
I enjoyed the experience, would recommend that you stop by and try it, but I would probably suggest a different location on our next outing…

This is absolutely one of my favorite places in all of the Birmingham area. Kind of a community diner in an upscale community. Casual, comfortable, laid back, busy, buzz worthy, focused on the food… are all terms that come to mind about the Boot.
I have never had a bad dish here. They use fresh, high quality ingredients in everything.
Shoot, I’m getting hungry just typing this review… See Ya!