Eating With Amy

Honored to be getting a first taste of Zad, Birmingham’s NEWEST Mediterranean restaurant! I am so excited to share the delicious details. Spoiler alert: they make their own pita fresh in house to order. Stay tuned for my full review!

Hidden gem alert! Amy & I had dinner at Joseph's Table, a lovely restaurant specializing in authentic Mediterranean & Lebanese cuisine. This was our first time dining here. Joseph’s Table was previously located in Chelsea, but reopened in Pelham 2 weeks ago.

🧆We started with Falafel featuring house-crafted chickpea croquettes seasoned with herbs, garlic & Mediterranean spices served with tahini & pickled veggies. Joseph’s Table is doing falafel right!! The flavors are bold & unique. The crisp exterior is incredible..some of the best falafel I’ve tasted. I also enjoyed the nutty, made in house tahini sauce.

🥩🥔For dinner, I chose the Steak & Potatoes featuring a 10oz angus ribeye served with herb roasted potatoes & seasonal vegetables. The ribeye was cooked correctly & the fat was well rendered making the steak buttery & delicious. I enjoyed the roasted potatoes too. The seasonal veggies were squash, zucchini & mushrooms with a heavy load of onion & bell pepper. The amount of bell pepper & onion made the flavors “fajita like.” I don’t hold this against Joseph though…I didn’t ask about the veggies. Given the high quality of service, I believe the kitchen would’ve accommodated had I requested no bell pepper.

🍽️Amy enjoyed the Roasted Lamb Plate featuring slow-roasted marinated leg of lamb with grilled veggies, basmati rice & taziki sauce. A 10/10 dish! The lamb was so savory. JT makes their own yogurt for the base of taziki sauce, which is impressive. It’s a time consuming process which you won’t find many places doing. We’d order this dish again. Our meals came with a crisp Greek salad with homemade Greek dressing.

💎Though this location is new, Joseph’s Table has been around for a while. I feel like I haven’t heard this place receive nearly enough hype! The restaurant’s atmosphere is refined, yet unpretentious & it’s not loud. Service was PHENOMENAL. Laura took great care of us. Thank you to Pamela as well, who spent time telling us about all the homemade sauces, family recipes & love that go into every dish. There’s a parking lot, so parking is a breeze. I like Joseph’s Table & think you will too!

The internet may have made Dot Cake famous, but Tina's Market in Homewood is making it unforgettable! I’ve never met a dessert from Tina’s Market that I didn’t love, but I’ll be honest…I side-eyed the internet famous Dot Cake at first.🤨 I mean, haven’t people been putting sprinkles on cake since the beginning of time?? However, my girl Tina has never let my tastebuds down, so I came to taste the hype, but stayed for the second serving!

🟢🟣🔴🟡If you’re not familiar, Dot Cake is a single serving layered cake topped with icing & a MASSIVE amount of colorful nonpareil sprinkles. The dot cake trend started in Roslyn, New York where a local bakery called The Dot Cakes launched the dessert to viral stardom. Tina’s Market has recently put their spin on it, & it has been flying off the shelves since!

😋Available in both chocolate & white cake flavors, Tina’s “Dazzle Dots” are sweet little masterpieces that are handmade by Tina & her crew. The cake itself is unbelievably soft, fluffy & fresh & the creamy homemade buttercream icing is incredible! The dots add a fun crunch, which I really enjoyed more than I thought I would. Every bite is a delightful mix of texture & flavor. At just $6 each, Dazzle Dots are worth every penny. If you’ve been searching for the Dot Cake experience in the Birmingham, Alabama area, you’ll find it at Tina’s Market located at 3027 Central Ave in Homewood.

Behind many of my foodie adventures is a dad who’s willing to try a new restaurant, waiting patiently while I snap pics & cheering me on every step of the way. Happy Father’s Day to the best, most supportive dad a foodie could ask for. Love you, daddy!

I’ve been curious about this place, so I’m excited to be pulling up a chair to Joseph's Table for the very first time! Full review coming soon! Have you dined at Joseph’s Table?

You’ve seen it, you’ve heard about it, but how does it taste? 🤔 Tina's Market DOT CAKE review coming soon!

🟢🟣🔴🟡🍰Which flavor of dot cake would you try first…chocolate or dazzle dots?

Birmingham, are you ready for the ultimate hot dog showdown? 🌭Join me next Saturday 6/27 at Cahaba Brewing Company for the Pink Boots Society - Birmingham, Alabama Great Birmingham Dog-Off! For just $15, you'll get unlimited hot dog samples, a front-row view of the hot dog eating contest, live music & a chance to witness the battle for Birmingham’s coveted TOP DOG title. 🏆🔥

🎟️Grab your tickets now & come hungry—this is one event you won’t want to miss! Tap the link below in the comments for tickets. 👇🏻🎟️

💜I’m incredibly honored to be serving as a judge this year. Huge thanks to Pink Boots Society for inviting me to help crown Birmingham’s best dog. I have been unknowingly preparing for this role my entire life.😋

📅 See y’all next Saturday for a day packed with fierce competition, great beer & plenty of glorious glizzys! 🌭🍻

Confession time!: I’d never tried the famous Smoked Wings at Saw's Soul Kitchen & apparently they heard about it! They invited me out to see what I’ve been missing. While there, I tried a few other of their most popular menu items & I’m excited to share the delicious details!..& since sharing good food is what I do, Saw’s Soul Kitchen is giving my readers 15% off their next meal. Just mention this review & tell them Eating With Amy sent you!

🪽As soon as I bit into my first taste of Saw’s Smoked Chicken Wings with red sauce & white sauce, it was love at first bite! Saw’s doesn’t just toss these in a fryer & call it a day. They put extra care & attention into smoking them low & slow to ensure that every bite melts in your mouth. These meaty wings have a beautifully crisp exterior & a nice glaze of the red sauce which cranks the flavor ALL the way up. They’re smoky, slightly sweet & savory all the way to the bone.

🥬🐖If you asked 10 locals what their favorite dish is at Saw’s, 9 would say it’s the Pork n’ Greens featuring greens over mcewen & sons cheese grits…& I would be 1 of those 9! This is the ultimate perfectly composed dish. What I love about Saw’s pork is that it’s slow smoked over indirect heat which makes all of the meat extra tender.

🔥🍽️The Smoked Sampler Platter with pulled pork, smoked sausage, chicken thighs & white bread with sides of mac & cheese, potato salad & baked beans is a taste of Saw’s highlight reel! I particularly loved the savory sausage. The sides were super fresh. So fresh, in fact, that Saw’s Soul Kitchen doesn’t even have a freezer!

🍌🍨The Banana Pudding tastes like somebody’s grandma is in back of the kitchen whipping it up. It’s loaded with fresh bananas & wafers soaked in the thick, luscious pudding.

🌆❤️Saw’s Soul Kitchen is truly special. In a city crowded with bbq legends, they continue to shine bright! The atmosphere is fun & happening & you can get down with live music every Friday & Saturday night. 🎶 They also offer a Mon-Fri happy hour. If it’s been a while, go fall back in love with the Soul Kitchen. If you’ve never been, now’s the time! Remember to tell em I sent ya for 15% off. Thank you so much for having me, SSK!

Locals, who remembers Nabeel’s Cafe? This is where my love & appreciation for Birmingham’s food scene really blossomed. If you dined here sometime between 2005-2013, chances are I could have served you! I really enjoyed my time as a server/assistant manager here. I hope to see something great become of this location. Nabeel’s forever.❤️

📸Enjoy this shot of 28 year old server me!…before I was writing about food, I was bringing it to your table.