Birmingham Foodies
Browse menus, photos and operating hours of your favorite restaurants or use the site as a tool to experience and explore new restaurants in the area.

BirminghamMenus is also the go-to place for purchasing gift certificates to many of the city’s most talked about restaurants.

Restaurant Owners
Listing your restaurant in our online guide is easy and provides you with many benefits for your business.

Our targeted audience of loyal diners – with over 15,000 email subscribers – and cutting edge online publishing platform is sure to help you get noticed. Membership includes photos, menus, special events, listing by location and cuisine, as well as, a link to your restaurant’s website.

So, what does it cost to join? Unique to BirminghamMenus, there is no cash fee for membership. For complete details and to join BirminghamMenus.com Call (205) 453-4717 or e-mail menus@birminghammenus.com.

Springalingadingdong is based on a long human tradition of communally putting winter and its challenges to rest, and in turn celebrating Spring’s promise of new birth and hope. Continental Bakery and Chez Lulu have tried to create a non-commercial community festival as a thank you to the people of Birmingham and Mountain Brook for supporting them over these many years. As in years past, they’ve attempted to keep things human scale…no motorized vehicles, free activities for kids and grown ups, giant hand carried puppets and a walking parade.

This year, Continental Bakery and Chez Lulu recognize a special need for hope and community as we face the harrowing aftermath of the tornadoes. In response, they will also be collecting contributions for the Sawyerville Tornado Relief Effort during the festival.

Festival events include:

* Come witness the mock beheading of Marie Antoinette, and her miraculous transformation from a cold-hearted ruler of winter to a warm-hearted May Queen.

* March with us in the old time Spring Parade, joined by Chad Fisher’s marching band and giant 12 foot puppets.

* Marvel at the beauty of the May Queen’s sultry Spring maidens and join their wild dance around the Maypole.

* Enjoy the dizzying gyrations of the Hula Hoop contest.

* Test your skill in the bread toss.

* Sample life at its fullest in our bustling European bakery and street cafe.

* Dazzle your friends in the kids’ costume contest.

* Thrill your children with the oodles upon oodles of children’s activities.

* Strut your tutu in the night time Madame Lulu Pageant.

* Sip on a cool Dingtini or Dongtini at the Chez Lulu bar.

* Thrill to the trumpet tickling tones of local jazz combo, Flyable.

* Still not convinced? Call 870-5584 or 870-7011 and bring your wildest dreams to life.

* Come as you are, or as you please!

For festivity times, click here.

The deal: Pay $1.95 for a warm meal to a hungry man, woman or child this holiday season at The Jimmie Hale Mission.

We kicked things off by purchasing 100 meals and then you did the rest! In fact, the Jimmie Hale Mission “deal in reverse” was one of the biggest deals we ran in 2010, surpassing 1,000 deals sold. Because of your support, 1,642 people were served a warm meal during the holiday season. Thank you for making The Jimmie Hale Mission a huge success and for your support in 2010 and beyond!

After specializing in restaurants for almost a decade, we’ve got some big news. We’ve expanded our discount offerings beyond just restaurants! In May 2009 we launched a new website called www.bigbham.com. At Big Bham, every few days we’ll offer a BIG discount (think 50% off or more) to a great local business. Unlike our discount restaurant program, where certificates are available in limited quantities, www.bigbham.com will not place limits on how many people can get the deal. We’ll feature a business for a few days, and anyone that comes to the site can take advantage of our special.

We’re going to have a wide variety of incredible deals. We’ll have restaurants, spas, entertainment, retail, and much much more. Before each deal runs, we’ll send out an email to our list to alert our friends of the special. If you want to make sure that you aren’t left out, you can add your name to our mailing list at www.bigbham.com. You can also follow us on Twitter.

We need your help! Please tell your friends about www.bigbham.com. The more people we can get taking advantage of our deals, the more amazing deals we can secure. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at support@instagift.com.

Dear customers and friends of Homewood Gourmet,

I am sad and glad to announce there are new changes coming to Homewood Gourmet, which will be effective the end of May. After a period of consideration, I have decided to sell Homewood Gourmet to a wonderful young couple, Chris and Laura Zapalowski. The style, service and staff of Homewood Gourmet will remain the same with the addition of new energy and new ideas, always a good thing to happen. Be on the lookout for more of the same great food and some wonderful additions to the menu.

I would be terribly remiss if I neglected to give deep-felt thanks to the current and prior staff of Homewood Gourmet. They have helped me through some great and hard times, all with caring support. They are all planning to stay on with Chris and Laura to provide the critical continuity of this transition. So Mitchell, Tina, Cindy and Lyn (she’s new) will be answering your phone calls and filling your catering orders, and Rene, Gerardo and Belizario will be cooking up the same food as well as learing some new things. No chef or owner has been better served by a staff than I have been by them.

I have known Laura (then Martin) for about 10 years, since she worked for me while a student at Samford University, in fact the other day she told my staff that she remembers me teaching her to chop an onion. I don’t know if that made her go to culinary school after Samford, but she did, up in NYC and then ended up at the “new” Food Network. She met Emeril Lagasse there and he eventually got her to go to New Orleans to work on his TV and book projects. Chris was also working for Emeril and I guess so was Cupid. They relocated to Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and have both been working for Chris Hastings at Hot and Hot Fish Club. Chris has been working as Chef de Cuisine and Laura doing editing and recipe testing on Chris’ cookbook. Laura also spent some time at Southern Progress doing writing, editing, food styling, etc.

The next question I’m sure you are all wanting to ask, is what will Franklin do next? For a while, I will be helping Chris and Laura with some transitional consulting. As well I will be working on special projects for the Pepper Place Saturday Market, which is near and dear to my heart. After that, well who knows what will come my way, if I leave my head and heart open.

As you may or may not be aware, I have been been undergoing treatment for throat cancer since January of this year. So I have had several surgeries, one even robotic assisted, and an emergency tracheotomy. Now I am in the beginnings of radiation and chemotherapy, which will last until the 25 of June (final day will be the Friday June 25 when I go hear Sam Bush wail on the mandolin at the Alys Stephens center). One of the side effects of the treatment is the loss of taste, which should be temporary. The length of the effect is unknown. Other effects are fatigue, so far they are correct and they have promised me the sore throat of all sore throats, and the beginnings of it are here. It may cause me to stop eating normally and have to rely on a feeding tube. There is no guide to side effects, as each patient is different, but I am trying to be as good as I can and do as well as I can. The prediction of the taste sense return has been from a month to a year, and it will be gradual. I will take it one day at a time…It is the only way, and recovery is on the way of the journey.

So my friends, please celebrate the changes. Chris and Laura promise to make good food, and hope that you all continue to be as wonderful to them as you have been to me. We have appreciated your years of patronage and friendship and hope for many many more.

Franklin Biggs
Homewood Gourmet

On February 8th, The James Beard Foundation announced the five honorees for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards America’s Classics category; The Bright Star is one of the five honorees named. “The America’s Classics award is given to restaurants with timeless appeal, beloved for quality food that reflects the character of their community – from small, regional restaurants, watering holes and shacks, to lunch counters and down-home eateries that have carved out a special place on the American culinary landscape.” Congratulations Bright Star, for receiving this outstanding achievement from one of the culinary world’s most prestigious organizations. We knew it all along and now one of Birmingham’s best kept secrets is out.

Click here to read the entire press release announcement.

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What makes Break ‘n Bread so great? First of all, the participating restaurants are among the very best in Birmingham. Each restaurant prepares a special dish (thousands of them, to be exact), and whether it’s scallops from Ocean, The Bright Star’s famous gumbo, or Guillermo serving Mojo Pork from Sol Y Luna, the variety and assortment of dishes is incredible (Click here for a list of menu items).  The wine selection from Birmingham’s top wine purveyors is the perfect pairing for these amazing dishes. Live music and children’s activities make this open-air event full of energy. There is no better way to spend a beautiful October Sunday afternoon in Birmingham.

We hope that you’ll come out on Sunday the 11th to Break ‘n Bread and support local restaurants in Birmingham. We think that you won’t find a better priced or more fun event anywhere in town. And, you can eat and drink as much as you like!

Click here to purchase tickets online and save $5