Sky Castle Gastro Lounge

Our service from Tony was awesome! The red neck Rockerfella was a great way starter. The pimento fritters were absolutely delicious. Seared scallops are a must as well. Tony was a great guide, letting us know what to try. I will definitely return!

I’ve been here quite a few times since they opened. Tonight I ordered the tagliatelle carbonara to go. Chef Haller knows what he’s doing down there in that damn kitchen. I hate to say it but I’m not eating this pasta, I am wolfing it down my gullet. I’ve yet to be disappointed by the fare at Sky Castle. The other day I had the pleasure of dining on the oyster sandwich which included bacon on it. This is no ordinary bacon, it’s Duroc pork. It puts all other bacon to shame no other bacon matters not to me now. That lovely bacon is in my pasta dish that I consumed in no time. I will be ordering that bacon for my fridge, yes I looked it up on the Internet the other day and now know where to order Duroc pork products. Anyway everything that I’ve eaten at Sky Castle has been quite tasty, that’s why I continue to dine there. By the way the staff is quite awesome and helpful, especially Ben, Aubrey and Lisa. Ellen picked some good ones.

One of the best brunches I’ve had in a long time! Our server, Eva, was delightful and her recommendations were on point. Get the radish toast; sounds weird but it’s sublime. This will be my new Birmingham go-​to.

I stopped here with a friend on a Saturday night to grab a drink and catch up at the bar. The selections were impressive but the price wasn’t. This restaurant is a bit pricey for an area like Lakeview, and I would probably not go back unless my friends suggested it.
I didn’t have any food, but I imagine it is a little more expensive as well.

I went to lunch today with a friend and my one year old. We didn’t wait at all for a table and had a great waitress. I LOVED all the food that we got and can’t wait to go back to try more. We had the Pimento Cheese Fritters, which were amazing, and I had the Mixed Greens and a side of fries. Everything was seasoned so well and had a great mix of flavors. Everything on the menu sounded delicious but I wanted just a little something for lunch today.

Our food was great. The service on the other hand, was not good. We waited at least 10 minutes to even be approached by a waiter and even then I had to wave one down to even get their attention. The server I waved down was apologetic and took our drink orders and eventually found our actual server. Throughout the course of the meal he was rather slow. As far as the food goes, I was impressed. I had the chicken and waffle and it was amazing. The cocktails were yummy too!

Poor service and mediocre food sums up my experience with Sky Castel.
Several coworkers and I decided to give this place a try. We made reservations and arrived on time. Our table was ridiculously small for our party and did not have enough seats for our group. We asked repeatedly for 2 additional seats and were told both times that «we’ll have to see what we can do» Finally the people who had been left standing for more than 10 minutes decided to leave without eating.
Those of us who stayed ordered drinks and appetizers. It took 25 minutes for our drinks to come and a whopping 45 minutes for the charcuterie board appetizer to come. This was about 10 minutes before our entrees arrived. Our entire (tiny) table agreed that the food was subpar. The best thing any of us got was the burger. With all the great burger options available in Birmingham without having to put up with bad service, I can’t think of a single reason I would ever return to this restaurant.

I was really excited about this place until I ate the food. I ordered the cheese fritters and sausage both were undercooked with a cool core in the middle. I then ordered the burger (medium) when I bit into the burger it was so undercooked it was like flash cooked tartar. It was just a bad experience. When I complained the manager told me the medium they cook is more rare than most places. Which he should have apologized and instead of taking up for a mistake. They are a very new place so I’ll give them some time to fix some shit and try it again later.

First impression is great outdoor space & very cool sign. You kind of lose it though when you enter the restaurant itself, more like a diner feel rather than a cool, euro vibe. Bring in some more tube neon lighting and turn down those bright lights over the bar, now we’re talking ambience!
The menu has some interesting choices, but not so off the charts that you are afraid to order based on the unknown of what might show up on your plate. I am a small plate junkie, so we had the oysters with pork belly and the steak tartare. Presentation was quite nice & good sized portion for a small plate. Oysters were delicious! Steak tartare was served with all the right accompaniments.
This place is a nice addition to the Lakeview scene.

I stopped in for drinks only. Its a well dressed crowd. I liked that. Plenty of beer selections on draft. I had good bar service even on a crowded Thursday night.

I had high hopes. I knew Sky Castle had just opened a couple weeks ago, so I figured things might not be perfect. I asked the wifey if she wanted to check the place out and, right away, she said, «I don’t like the word ‘gastro’ in their name.» I don’t either, nor does another one of our friends, we mentioned it to. It just doesn’t sound good — like paying to get gas. Ick.
Anyway, we showed up around 6:15 or so. The place was pretty packed. There were a couple lone seats at the bar, but we didn’t find two together, so we got on the list to wait for a table. We were told one hour. OK, sure. Is what it is. The wait began.
So, here’s the thing. If you’re going to make people wait — and you are — you need to have an area set aside for people to wait. We, and several others, lined up against the Sky Castle wall, where we, essentially, blocked access to the waitstaff’s POS machine. Oh, sorry. Oh, excuse me. Sorry. Urgh!
As we shuffled around the wall, lurking over diners, we noticed that none of the couches were being used. Were they waiting on parties? Can we go sit there? We couldn’t figure it out and the girl at the front wasn’t telling. Why have 25% of your floor space taken up by couches that nobody’s using? Sit some folks down and serve them or put proper tables there, right?
We decided to ask about the lone table outside that was unused, but before we could, I joked, «well, assuming someone will wait on us out there.» No sooner did I say that and a man came to the front and told the girl, «we left money for the beers we had. We’ve been sitting there a long time and nobody ever came to take our order. Later.» hmmmm
We got seated out there and we did get served. We got our waters and placed our orders to the seemingly uninterested waiter. Then we waited. We waited some more. Around the 35 minute mark, I noticed just how long we were waiting. Gee, that seems like a long time. Our food eventually showed up after about 40 – 45 minutes. I got the chicken and waffles and she got the quail. We both laughed and said, «oh, that’s why the quail was on the «small plate» heading on the menu. It was tiny! I guess we’ve never had quail before, so we had no idea what to expect. She said it didn’t taste all that great and was hardly a meal for the $ 15 it cost.
Me, I had the chicken and waffles for $ 16. Dollar for dollar, I won big-​time. Thankfully, there was enough for her to eat some. The waffles themselves were about perfect and the chicken was wonderful. The Foie Gras Butter and syrup were nice additions. The raw jalapeño was too hot and just didn’t make sense to me, but she liked it. The chicken was tender and juicy, but could have used a little more zip — some black pepper or something like that, maybe.
Anyway, our waiter brings the check, I hand him my card, he comes back, and we realize that, while the check was right, he managed to somehow charge us for another table. We got it fixed and that was that. Maybe someone bumped him while he was scrumming to get to the POS machine and he hit the wrong table. Who knows.
Overall, the place might be good once they get it together. Right now, they are hardly ready for prime time. I get that it’s a new place and they’ll likely make some changes. I think they need to look hard at the place as a customer and realize the shortcomings. The quail, needs to either go bye bye or they need to, at least, add a reasonably portioned side to make it worth the price. Nobody likes like to leave a restaurant hungry.
And, for cryin’ out loud, ditch «gastro» from your name.

We had a delicious lunch today at Sky Castle. Our favorite starters were the radish toast and the fried pimento cheese with andouille sausage. I had the grilled Caesar salad and it was excellent with anchovies and capers.

I’ve been several times now and I love it more every time I go!
The food is amazing! Honestly, the flavors and the way that the food is prepared is fantastic!
I love that it’s a place you can go for any occasion — after work to grab a few apps/​small plates and a glass of wine; or go to watch a game and get real food instead of bar food; dress up and go for date night; or just go with a group of friends!
Love this place!

First of all: Duck. Confit. Poutine.
Let that sink in for a moment.
The space is nice, sleek with lots of TVs. The restaurant is divided between lounge chairs, tables and a very long bar so there’s something for everyone. The beer list is more extensive than I thought it would be and I love the look of the bar.
I’ve been twice (both times for lunch) and had prompt, friendly service each time. The first time I had the quail and it was pretty good. The second time I finally got to have the duck confit poutine and was glad I wasn’t headed back to work afterward because a nap was definitely in order.
Two thumbs up, I’m glad I live nearby and will definitely work my way through the menu.

This place was packed the first time we came; next day showed up just after 5 and easily scored a table. There’s something for everyone: cozy couches if you just want a drink and to hang, a beautifully lit bar with plenty of TVs for watching the game and a varied menu for dining. The entrees range from oyster poboys to beef tenderloin. There are also small plate choices. I had the grouper — really nice crust and beautifully moist flaky fish. Creative cocktails.

We went to dinner at Sky Castle on a Saturday evening with friends. This was on their opening weekend. We arrived at 7:30 and were quoted a wait of an hour and a half, which we expected it to be long with it being new. The restaurant is sectioned off into three different areas: lounge (couches), tables, and bar. There’s not really any place for you to stand as you wait for a table, let alone stand for over an hour. We were constantly in the way of the servers. The bar area was so full there was no way of inching into there. We asked the hostess if the couch area was first come first serve, and it was not. It is just like waiting for a table. I’m not sure I’d ever really want to eat dinner on a couch, but it looked like a great place to sit and order an appetizer/​drinks. They should rethink this and offer at least half of that area to people waiting for tables.
Now, let’s get on to the food. It was after 9:00 before we sat down, and we were all hungry. We decided to order a few appetizers for the table. We had the roasted cauliflower, which everyone thought was pretty good, the roasted beet salad which was more arugula than anything, and the pimento cheese fritters. We all agreed the cauliflower and fritters were only lukewarm and should have been served a little hotter. On the menu it said the fritters came with Andouille sausage, but it appeared to be served with pork belly that night. This could be due to opening week, so I’ll give them that.
They were out of some of the entrée items, so everyone at our table ended up ordering the burger. I thought the burger was good, perhaps a tad overcooked for «medium», but definitely not the best burger I’ve ever had, or within the top 5 for Birmingham. It was served with some awesome pickles though. The bun on the burger was a tad burnt, as you can see in the photos.
Overall, the atmosphere and décor are really hip and modern. We thought the food was good and agreed they needed a few weeks to work out the kinks, but we would all come back and try it again.

We’ll have to give this place another try after the newness wears off. I loved all of the tv’s throughout the restaurant & the lounge chairs area had a nice setup. It looks like the place to be in Birmingham as you walk through the doors and view the setup! There are some tasty & unique items on the menu, we enjoyed the fried pimento cheese balls! Yum so delicioso! My coworkers enjoyed the juicy burger they serve & even the salad had some unique seasonal veggies! Unfortunately, I’m a fan of chicken & waffles, so I had to try it when I saw it on the menu. Unfortunately it wasn’t like Glady’s Knight’s chicken & waffles, it wasn’t bad it was just my tastes buds weren’t prepared for the unique mixture of citrus & other fruit flavors. The waitress warned me, but I had to try it. If you want a unique spin on chicken & waffles give it a try & share it with someone else, because it’s a mouthful! Enough for 2! I’ll try the specialty burger or the braised beef, since my coworkers enjoyed their meals!

Great atmosphere. The layout was well thought out. After waiting an hour to get seated we had a waitress that seemed overwhelmed and inattentive. I guess it lived up to its «upscale bar food» billing but the only thing I was impressed with was the pork belly/​fried oysters. Wings were average, chicken and waffles were decent, filet was above average. Off the top of my head I can think of 10 restaurants in Birmingham I’d rather spend my money at.

It’s only been open 3 days and I usually like to give a new restaurant time to work out the kinks but I have so been looking forward to this opening I jumped right in. From the moment you walk in you feel bar sports pub. One whole wall of about 8 TVs and another 4 or 5 running down the side wall. The bar area is bright. Wife thought a little too bright which I sort of agree but it is a bar sports pub. The front of the place is more loungy with couches and coffee tables and low lighting. Interesting concept.
The menu is upscale pub. Lots of things I’d love to try. They so have a drink menu with some interesting drinks but to be honest weak in execution. Not sure if they are not putting enough liquor in or what but the two drinks I sampled, one a play on an old fashion and one a grapefruit and vodka play, tasted almost watered down. They do have a great selection of beer on tap going for the craft beer craze.
Now the food. We only sampled two dishes which essentially were apps. The roasted cauliflower was perfect. With lemon and fried capers they had a great bite. Then the wings. A nice Asian influence with a little white bbq. They were very flavorful although a couple were a little tough.
I am excited by this new addition to Lakeview. Has great potential. Will be back to push into the entrees. Great potential and feeding into the gastropub craze such as Paramont and Carrigans but right now I give those guys the edge. But I expect that’s only due to needing time to work out the kinks.

Meh. It’s above average. But nothing life changing. Between the misses and I we ordered four of the same beer (boulevard calling IPA) 1^st round it came out in 16 oz shaker pints, the 2^nd round it came out in 10 oz snifters. I guess I should be happy with the extra 6 oz we got poured, but consistency is what I’m looking for.
Decent enough bourbon selection, but again nothing to amaze someone with a finer palate.
It’s a good restaurant for the old Birmingham, but definitely doesn’t elevate or push anything forward.
Also, when I asked about the Jolly Pumpkin beer they responded with «eh, it’s a sour»
Jolly Pumpkin is a world class brewery out of Dexter, Michigan that only produces sour ales. I expect the bartenders to have a little more knowledge than that, at least even the name of the beer. (It was fuego del atono)