Wonderful experience today at the bar in the Essential. Service was great: informative & humble, attentive without being pushy., definitely friendly & kind. Had the Rainbow Trout in a beurre blanc sauce. The sauce was the star of the show: great butter lemon balance. Trout was very, very good.

Excellent service. And excellent food. Loving the new location on 1st Ave N. Outdoor seating area is perfect for mild evenings.

This place was fantastic! Super intimate, great date night spot with outstanding food and service! Highly recommend and will definitely be returning!

Found this gem by chance coming from out of town on trip. Love the limited but diverse menu I believe too big a menu is a fault. Let's be real , can't do everything excellent. Our group of 8 ordered a wide range of items and entrees. From pasta ,fish and their renowned hamburger. Service was spot on with the manager Wes, showing up and pouring wine and engaged. High quality ingredients was a big plus.

The Essential is a cute American bistro spot. With its new location on first Avenue, the essential has a cute outdoor patio and inside seating. Personally do miss their prior location as it felt more French and cozy. Also, a big new plus is that they've opened brunch for reservations on resy - able to secure a table just the day before! Onto the food. Enjoyed the burger for brunch. The burger is quite vertical so definitely had to attack with fork and knife. My friends had the breakfast hash and the pancakes with eggs and bacon, which they enjoyed. The star of the show for this meal was the carrot cake - it has a nice crême with the cake, and the cake itself was very moist. Definitely miss their croque madame menu items when they were going for a more French-inspired bistro feel. Definitely now more of an elevated American brunch spot. Will still be coming back especially since it's easier to get reservations.

This place has been in our Birmingham eateries list for years. We finally made it, and the place absolutely lives up to the hype. We enjoyed the olives and pickles (pickled okra, actually), chicken piri piri, and the burger. Everything was absolutely delightful. The chicken just might be one of the best chicken dishes we have ever had! It was just enough spice, lots of flavors, and perfectly cooked. It's easy to see why this is a staple dish on the apparently ever-rotating menu! The lemon bliss, old fashioned, Chardonnay, and Moscow mule were really tasty as well.

Some bites were incredible! Others were a let down. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and I hope next time every bite is amazing!!! The good: the apple crisp was the best I've ever had. It was spectacular! Garlic bread was substantial and tasty! The meh: cool aesthetic, but bad acoustics. Tiny tables made me feel a little crammed. The bad: the crab bucatini was such a let down. Way overpriced and the flavors just didn't hit. There was a pickled flavor didn't work for me (and wasn't hinted at on the menu description either). I also had quite literally, no crab. Maybe it all broke down into sauce, but you couldn't see a single tiny sliver of crab. My husband got the same dish and could only find two tiny slivers of crab. Truly almost microscopic. If I come back I'll for sure try a different entree!!

What is it about this French Cafe that keeps bringing me back? Is it the fabulous welcoming and professional wait staff? Is it the freshly baked authentic breads? Is it the artfully prepared and presented food? Is it the perfectly crafted cocktails and the carefully collecting wine selection? Perhaps it is the beautifully appointed interior, reminescent of a Paris cafe. All of these things rarely come together in one place, but they have here. The chef, the waitstaff, the hosts and hostesses, all deserve the highest compliments!! None of this happens by the way without excellent management. Hats off to everyone for another great experience!!

Stopped in for lunch and a spot to do a little work. Sat at the bar and enjoyed the 5 grain salad with salmon. I was a little skeptical initially as the salmon was shredded as if it came from a can but the combination of the grains and feta with the lemon vinaigrette made it tasty. I'd definitely come back