The Bird & The Bread

The bird and the bread specializes in European type food. I had their signature dish, ½ a chicken. It was cooked perfectly served in a bowl with some bouillon type sauce at the bottom. It came with a choice of 1 side. I choose the steamed broccoli. Cooked al dente. My wife had the blackened snapper which was also very good.
What I loved most were the flights of craft beer. It is only restaurant I have been to where they had recommended flights. I had an IPA flight. I would have given 4 stars if it wasn’t for the poor service.

What I love about this place is the location and the atmosphere. The patio is elevated above Old Woodward, so views are nice and people watching is fun. The décor is modern and pleasant.
The food is fine– nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either. I like that there are some decent vegetarian options. You won’t be stuck eating pasta or a salad.
The service (in my 3 – 4 times here) isn’t great. Staff is friendly enough, but really slow. I’ve been left with an empty plate in front of me for 10 mins before I had to flag down help. My credit card sitting on the table was not a clear enough hint. Had his happened only once, I might not mention it, but don’t eat here if you’re in a hurry!

Been here multiple times since I work in Bham. I want to like this place, I really do, but every time I go the food is mediocre at best. Love ambiance, the servers are usually on top of things and pleasant, the food is just lacking. Sandwiches need some love. Had a turkey burger it was ok, I wouldn’t recommend. Ive had the portobello wrap it was meh, again wouldn’t recommend. I haven’t been back recently, but hopefully some things have changed in the kitchen a bit. Not to crush this place with a scathing review I will say, the cocktails are great and the falafel crusted chicken salad is damn delicious. That I would definitely recommend. I just wish the other food I’ve had there was on par with that salad.

Terrible service from the top down. Slow waitress who forgot things, wrote down the order wrong and didn’t check with us. Slow kitchen, slow bartending… ridiculous. Mediocre food and boring atmosphere. This place should step up its game considering its location, I don’t get it. Would not EVER come back, don’t waste your time or money.

It was our first time coming to the place. Nicely decorated and server was helpful and nice. Our dinner was cooked pretty well but we didn’t feel the taste, presentation or anything was special enough for the $ 30 price tag. We prb won’t return.

Came during late afternoon with an old friend and her 2 kids. The bartender Jennifer served us at a table. She was great! She had tons of energy and didn’t seem annoyed at a 3 year old and a baby like most restaurants are in bham. we had a couple of cocktails that were amazing– something with strawberry and balsamic and then a gin/​lavender one. Shared the quinoa and the beet salad which were both on point. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake, kind of crazy at $ 10 but totally worth the two bites
Overall EXCELLENT hospitality and a great lunch! Thanks Jennifer!

Came here with a friend looking for a wedding venue, so she ordered several appetizers to try and I ordered a pizza. The food was very hit-​or-​miss. She enjoyed the tacos and the crispy smoked tofu, but was disappointed with the chicken satay (this version was a very loose interpretation of satay, it was deep fried). The service was very good.
I was pretty disappointed with the pizza I ordered because it had so much potential but some bizarre choices were made in the execution. I ordered a ramp and morel pizza, and was excited to have my first taste of these ingredients of the season. Unfortunately, I was unable to taste these ingredients because they were buried in the cheese and bechemel that completely overpowered the pizza. I would say the cheese to dough/​topping ratio was 2 to 1. There is absolutely a time and a place for aggressively cheesy pizza, but not when the pizza features morels and ramps! Those are ingredients that should be highlighted by a light layer of cheese, not subsumed by it. The cheese/​bechemel was also very rich without having much flavor; some lemon or herbs would have really helped. It was unfortunate because the crust was good, so if they just eased up on the cheese it could have been an amazing dish.

Food and drinks were good. Food service was slow. Took half an hour to get our order of happy hour items when the place was not busy. The street corn was delicious and a great idea. The smoked chicken tacos also stood out.

We came here for Easter brunch and WOW, amazing food. 2 course 5 star meal. I had salmon mousse, a Scottish egg and a salad for the first course. (I ate a little of everyone’s food) for the main course I had the salmon and lobster Benedict, it was fantastic. No bread though… the waiter stevie was awesome!

Great experience.
Beautiful place with delicious food and super friendly service.
My son, my boyfriend and myself checked this place out last week and were happy we did. Our server (whose name escapes me –she mentioned she was the bartender, blonde, petite) was amazing! Super friendly and was able to help with drink recommendations.
I had the spicy greens salad which I enjoyed. It’s pretty big… and I enjoyed all of it.
For our entrees, I had the asiago gnocchi which I saw mentioned in another review. It is amazing. Different than anything I have had elsewhere as well so that made it a plus. My boyfriend had the burger which was indeed a very tasty burger. It had a flavor I could not put my finger on that I really liked which our server mentioned was the «bacon jam». Damn, it was a great topping! My son was able to order the cheeseburgers off the kids menu and he liked them as well (he wanted me to taste one and indeed it was actually tasty like a burger should be — not just the little crappy burgers given on kids menus). My server was able to catch an error with our sides before we even did (my son wanted fruit instead of fries) — bravo!
All in all I think the price points were appropriate for the menu, flavor, décor, location, and service. My son is pretty well behaved (if you’ve read any of my reviews you’ll note he’s been dining out with me for a while) when it comes to dining out but just because I’m a mother doesn’t mean I’m not conscious of other diners experiences and at first I thought the place looked too «fancy» for a kid even though there was a menu –but the partitions allow for various types of dining experiences and where we were seated (in a booth) was perfect.
We already plan to return.

Stopped here during happy hour and grabbed a drink and appetizer. The meat tray was a little pricey at $ 25 but it was full of great meat. The cheese was unfortunately not my favorite and very strong. I would return, but wouldn’t get the meat tray unless the cheeses were changed.

I’d love to see a reality show focused on Birmingham— one could witness first-​hand the acquisition of sub-​prime exotic car loans, shotgun-​launches of multiple restaurants with erratic service, or see how big of a drywall box can be erected on a diminutive residential lot. It would be fascinating. Or not. I love Birmingham, but I also hate it.
From my love/​hate perspective, I proclaim The Bird and the Bread as one of the best restaurants in Birmingham. It’s consistent, honest, friendly and tasty. While the menu certainly can’t be described as daring, their snacks and apps do try to add diversity to the dumbed down, socialized menus printed North of 14 mile. They do have pâté, they do not have spinach dip.
The space is large and has smart separation front to back that can obscure and concentrate [potentially] noisy children – a benefit for both parents and non-​parents. The room size is also helpful at controlling the wait, which these days hasn’t really existed – even on the weekends. None the less, they do take reservations. They also have a weekday happy hour and Sunday nights you can bring your little monsters in to eat for free. On the weekends you can order brunch and lunch simultaneously. Breakfast-​lunch, lunch.
There is a large central bar staffed with friendly folks that are quick to serve. It’s an equally good spot to guzzle a bottle of wine from their generous list as it is to sit for meal service. Their entire staff has always been friendly and attentive.
The Bird and the Bread will not change your foodie life, but it will certainly help you deal with Birmingham if you deal in Birmingham.

A place worth checking out for sure. I’ve come here several times with friends and here’s what I’ve found:
Ambiance: Lovely in my opinion. The bar has something interesting going on, but I don’t dislike it. Not sure why, but the space really appeals to me.
Service: On the vast majority of occasions I’ve been here, it has been fantastic. We did have one waiter the last time I was here for happy hour who was a bit of a basket-​case, very nice, but not up to speed on the drink menu (maybe he was new?) — these things don’t bother me though.
Food: this is a hit or miss. The menu changes seasonally, which I can appreciate, but it also means that some of the really good things can be exchanged for so-​so things. They had delicious risotto — I mean KILLER risotto which I don’t know if it’s on the menu anymore but I would recommend. A handful of apps were really good (squid/​octopus that was really tasty), but some stuff is meh. Ordered pizza one time and it was so salty — as in inedible salty to myself and one other of our party. I think for being a relatively more pricey place than your average casual dinner, they could be more consistent on the food.
Drinks: hit or miss, but mostly hit, especially on the cocktails. I’m more of a beer/​wine person, but on most occasions I’ve really enjoyed the cocktails here. The red wine sangria was really fantastic one night and not good the next time I came (after I talked it up to friends, a little disappointing), and I don’t know what that’s about.
Hope this helps Unilocalers! Enjoy!

This place is nice and I appreciated the fact that when we brought our baby with us they put us in the back with other children. It made me feel more comfortable that children are welcomed here on a Friday evening.
We had a party of 4 people and we decided to order a a bunch of appetizers for dinner. The fired cauliflower is really good and has a nice kick to it. The chicken liver mouse was also tasty and the olives were good as well.
The cheese plate was a let down for us. The salami was super fatty and greasy. I just felt like for the price you paid for the plate you hardly had much on the plate.
Our waitress was nice and did not rush us. She was super friendly and we felt comfortable with her.
It’s just a tad over priced here for the amount of food you get. I know quality is a big thing, but the food was not that good of a quality.
I will be back though, I just know it’s kind of pricey here — after all, it’s Birmingham.

Went for a late Monday evening dinner to celebrate my birthday. (I forgot I had added it to my list of new restaurants to visit, so I was pleasantly surprised by the SO).
Because it was Monday evening, we had the beautiful interior to ourselves and a few tables. Modern, with warm touches of dark wood, open central bar and splashes of color from featured artwork.
The beer and cocktail recommendations were spot on. I had their «Can’t Beet It» beet infused vodka cocktail (refreshing and smooth) and he had the Arbor Violin Monster from Ann Arbor, a dark wheat spiced ale. Both were so good, I l went back to their website to get the names right for this review.
We didn’t have huge appetites that night and shared the short rib with porcini purée and a caesar salad. We thought the salad was lovely — any salad that serves real anchovies with their caesar serves good eaters. The short rib was a little on the dry side (our fancy pants we were at the Town Tavern earlier in the week for a company event and their short rib killed it). That aside, there are some amazing things on their menu I hope to try.
We’re definitely coming back, and hopefully we find another quiet night so I don’t have to talk over everyone and really enjoy our meal:)

Really good cocktails. I had the best beet cocktail here called «can’t beet it» and I’d highly recommend trying it! I’d never had a beet flavored cocktail before seeing it on the menu here. It was recommended by the server so I tried it and I am so glad I did. I came back here on another business trip just for that drink!
I had the scallops for dinner and they were very good. Cooked perfectly and seasoned well. The portion is big enough to fill you up with the polenta and veggie mixture it comes with.

Absolutely LOVED this restaurant! It was delicious, plated beautifully and perfectly cooked. LOVED the short ribs!!! And the Ribeye was delicious!
Our waitress was Jenn, who also bartends, she was an absolute delight, full of energy and had great recommendations and wonderful service!
We will absolutely be going again!

I went to the B&B for dinner. The weather was perfect to sit out in the patio.
I wanted a smaller meal so I could save room for dessert. I went with the octopus and calamari that’s an appetizer for my meal. It was really tasty with a green sauce. It’s small portion which is great as an appetizer for one person. Then I had the chocolate lava cake which was divine!!! The cake had caramel on the inside, a side of vanilla, raspberries and nuts. It was a perfect blend of tastes and textures. I would give this place a four but I think the menu is a little overpriced.
Hostess Ariana was very friendly and gave me good suggestions. I would recommend this place to anyone who would like to celebrate an event or wants to enjoy dinner on a patio.

The Story Began…
TB&TB is quite an establishment in Birmingham. In fact, I first heard about the bistro from my previous supervisor in Grand Rapids. He read such high reviews about the Bird and the Bread that when the occasion called for it, he drove across the state to visit! I was intrigued. I had to check this place out!
Hooray for Happy Hour!!! ($ 5 wine by the glass, $ 3 beer and $ 6 appetizers)
Most of the locals frequent for a quick lunch, dinner with friends or find themselves relaxing at open patio to avoid rush hour traffic. And it’s with GREAT REASON. The food is savory and freshly prepared. My girlfriend and I came here to celebrate a milestone and we indulged in TB&TB’s happy hour. We ordered everything from the happy hour appetizers (shameless) and a charcuterie (available after 6pm/​when kitchen opens for service).
If you’re looking for a plate to pass around, go for their pizza of the day. It’s a large portion for $ 6. The truffle fries were finger lickin good! I could eat those all day if I could… haha. Overall, I had a lovely time. I will come back. If not for another happy hour than for an event. Ask about their Elm room. It’s very romantic. You can have a wedding here. I know right? The restaurant is a lot bigger than you would expect. Just ask about it. You may want to host a private event here! ;)

While the large and relatively empty patio was oh-​so inviting, the simmering heat made dining inside imperative. Indoors, a huge bar dominates the space and wine racks line up on one side of the room. Cute knick knacks sit atop the rack for a nostalgic touch.
With bread as part of the restaurant name, I was anticipating a lovely selection on the brunch menu, which there was. For an indulgence, we went with the pastry basket which was filled with an assortment of mini croissants (butter and almond), scones (chocolate) and muffins (carrot). Homemade marmalade and raspberry jam was available, as well as an abundance of fresh berries and melons.
I had the delicious Primavera omelette, served with multigrain toast and fingerling potatoes. The omelette featured a medley of thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, and summer squash and flavored with sun-​dried tomato-​based tapenade.
Service was lovely. Our food and drinks appeared quickly and the entire staff was friendly and attentive.