Birmingham Restaurant Review - John's City Diner

I'm shuffling through older photos that I've taken while out to eat. This one is a little bit of a flashback. I had heard of John's City Diner, but after it was recommended by a classmate we put it on our list. It's been almost a year since we were there, but I remember just how delicious it all was.

John's serves upscale Southern dishes that walk you down memory lane at your grandma's house. The restaurant has a modern diner feel. Our server was very knowledgeable of the menu and suggested some of the most popular items. When we try a place for the first time, I sometimes like to get the dish that everyone raves about unless there is something else screaming at me from the menu. I went with the suggested mac-n-cheese, but I couldn't bite the bullet for the meatloaf. It's supposed to be awesome, but meatloaf just seems like a cop-out meal to me. I'll have to give it a chance next time, though.

(He loves me, y'all. Even through my "hey, lean over there so I can get you with the cool wall" moment.)

What I ordered: Not Your Mama's Macaroni and Cheese (Original) and Fried Okra

What he ordered: Cripsy Duck served with mashed potatoes and collard greens

When we try new restaurants, we frequently will order a few items and share them all so that we can try multiple dishes. And we NEVER order the same thing. That's mostly my doings, because even if we both want the same menu item, I can't pass up tasting two dishes instead of just one. So I'll always have a back-up choice. Obviously we were never that couple who fought over sharing fries. ;)

Everything was delicious, cooked and seasoned well. We liked how the fried okra was kept as spears and the batter wasn't too thick - something somewhat unique. The mac-and-cheese hit all the comfort food notes. I can't believe it's been a year since we were here! We will definitely have to go back soon!
Bonus, outside is one of the city's murals, which is a perfect photo-op!

Overall Rating: I kind of feel bad only giving 4 bowls because we really enjoyed John's, but remember 5 bowls is for "wow! knock your socks off! this food completed my life!" kind of food.

Seattle / Food

By now we all know we love finding good food, and vacation is no exception. In fact, it's a priority on vacation to eat some of the best meals in town. Sometimes this takes determination and patience to wait in long lines, but my taste buds are rarely let down. Seattle is home to a sprawling selection of good food and drinks, so I thought I'd follow up my last post with our foodie experience. I got over being embarrassed of photographing my meals long ago. Jesse doesn't mind so much either, except he is usually ready to dig in while I find just the right angle where the food looks as good as it does in person (or at least, I attempt).

Below is our sampling of Seattle, listing what we had (not necessarily what you should order...unless I get demanding):

Skillet Dinner - "the burger" with bacon jam, arugula, bleu cheese; "the basic" burger with lettuce, house sauce, pickle, American cheese; sides of lentil soup and fries
Did you read that - bacon jam! That's what that aweful-looking pile of goop is, but let me tell you, it was awesome! The burgers were amazing - nice and juicy. The sides were great too. As stuffed as I was from eating most of my burger, the lentil soup was so good I wanted to finish it too!

Molly Moon's - I'm not even going to lie, I don't remember what flavors we had. Mine had something to do with apples. They are known for their Honey Lavender ice cream, but I was not a fan - it tasted too much like old lady soap in my opinion. As with any ice cream bar, sample away until you find your favorite! They have traditional and seasonal flavors, and a cute little freezer to buy by the pint!

La Panier - a small french bakery near Pike Place market. These guys have tourism down to a science. The line may be out the door, but only for a moment. Due to other blogs and food reviews, I knew I wanted a croissant, but I had to pick up a couple macarons from their pastries section too. Lemon and Passionfruit, I believe. We had one almond croissant, then on our last day in Seattle went back for a chocolate croissant (and another almond). If you are in Seattle, you must try these. Warning: no croissant will ever be the same.

Serious Pie  - known for their pizza, however they have an extensive biscuit menu for breakfast/brunch at their Westlake location. As a Southern girl, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of the quality of these West Coast buttermilk biscuits. To test the fates, I ordered the Southern-most listed biscuit - fried chicken and tabasco black pepper gravy. Jesse had the ham, egg, cheddar, and apple mustard biscuit. These biscuit sandwiches were truly something serious. Their texture was a bit thicker (not denser) and the tops had a greater golden crust than the buttermilk biscuits I was raised on. The gravy had a bit of a kick from the tabasco and pepper. Overall - great dish. I only wish we had also been able to try their pizza.

Chandler's Crab House - oyster platter (not pictured!), crab bisque, grilled octopus, famous crab cake. This is one of Chase's favorite places, so he took us here for a fine dining experience one night. We started with the oyster platter to sample a few different types of raw oysters. I didn't realize there were so many types of oysters, but we could definitely taste a difference between them. The octopus was tender and cooked very well, with the tips a bit charred which enhanced the flavor. Then, the crab cake. It is nearly 3 inches tall, packed with fresh, delicious crab meat. The garnishes vary with the season and however the chef prefers to change the menu. We were so glad we ate here and enjoyed this special meal.

Beecher's - cheese curds. This was one of our last stops on our second run through Pike Place. You can stand outside the windows and watch the cheese-making process. Thankfully there is a separate line for their food menu and their cheeses. We walked right in and bought these super fresh and squeaky curds! Apparently they have an awesome mac and cheese, but we didn't have time to try it.

Lowell's - creamy clam chowder; mixed seafood grill.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we waited quite a while to be seated here. Lowell's is in the heart of Pike Place and therefore a very busy place. If you sit on the upper levels of the restaurant, you get a waterfront view with your meal. We were pleased with our lunch choices, but thought we could have gotten seafood just as good at other places. For the wait this restaurant didn't blow us away. I'd say, stop in and enjoy if you can walk right in, otherwise keep moving.

We tried to make the most of our meals for the days we were in the city. While camping, we had many dehydrated meals prepped over our camping burner or in the town of Forks. Yes, from the Twilight series. Those were not worth talking about though. Except for one of the reasons I love camping...