satterfield's

well done!. first time at satterfield's for birmingham restaurant week. i had the amberjack and my husband had the pork. the amberjack dish was perfect - a smallish portion, but plenty. grits were wonderful and creamy. hisporkdish was more of a hearty stew - it was delicious but not exactly what we expected. beignets were wonderful! the meal took close to 2 hours - it was a pleasant, slow meal with the courses spaced out. if we were in a hurry at all it would've been frustrating, but the service was great - we were well attended to. we will definitely be back.

one of the best. can't believe i didn't write a review for this place. it's great. rabbit liver was excellent. one of the best things i've ever eaten. foie gras was incredible. wife loved theporkbelly. loved it. i still think the best is at highlands. wife thinks i'm nuts. says it's here.

she had the coffee duck. loved it. i had the grouper. it was perfect. desserts were good. best vanilla ice cream.

one downside. did not know how to make a french 75, so it wasn't that good. making up for it was the best manhattan on the planet and it's not close.

sat at the chef counter. wouldn't sit anywhere else.

worth every penny.

just my luck, my pig was on a diet. this is my 60th review on urban spoon. in the first 59 reviews i never mentioned anything said by another reviewer. i figure everyone goes to a restaurant with their own expectations and while they're there they have their own experiences--who am i to judge their opinion of those experiences? this is the one and only time i will break the hungry hungry hippo prime directive. whenever i select a restaurant i check their website. i'm looking for their current menu (hopefully with prices, which not all restaurants include) and a link to make reservations. if they have one, i use it. if they don't have one, i figure none are needed. so i'm surprised to read a review of an upscale joint like satterfield's in which the diner is surprised that a lack of reservations is met with dismay (but their party was seated anyway), they were surprised at the amount of the bill (did they not check out the place at all?) and my favorite part: the rabbit was delicious, but it looked too much like a rabbit so the reviewer couldn't eat it and therefore was hungry when she left the restaurant. what did she think it would look like--a rutabaga?

anyway, i went to satterfields (after making reservations) last friday night with 4 other folks. i ordered the appetizer i always order at any restaurant that serves it: theporkbelly. in this case it was braised and served with greens and butternut squash. the greens and squash were both good. in fact it was the first time i've ever had butternut squash if you can believe it. i am tempted to add that it was delicious, but it looked too much like a butternut squash and therefore i couldn't eat it, but the truth is i ate every bite. i am now a fan of the stuff and can't wait to try some soup made of it. alas, theporkbelly, one of my favorite dishes in the world, was only so-so. i know i shouldn't eatporkbelly at all--it's bad for my heart, it clogs my arteries, it's got too much fat (one of my regular dining companions is grossed out by the amount of fat onporkbelly but it's my favorite part) but darn it, when something tastes this good how can you not order it?

my anti-pork belly pal would be able to eat this with no problem. jack sprat could eat this thing with no problem. it tasted okay i guess, but where was that delicious, deadly fat? it was a nice tasting piece of pork, but i have to take their word for it that it came from the pig's belly.

the rest of my party ordered salads, soup and and fried oysters. i think it was oysters. it was something fishy so i gave it only a cursory glance. whatever it was, he ate it all and made mmmm mmmm noises while he did it so i'm guessing he liked it. likewise the soups and salads got high marks. i was the only one less than satisfied with the first course.

we all gave a thumbs up to the entrees. two of us got the filet. i have to say it was one of the best i've ever had. lots of places describe their steaks as "hickory grilled" but this really did taste like it was grilled over a hickory wood flame instead of cooked in a skillet or under a broiler. the blue cheese mashed potatoes were killer. two folks got the snapper and loved it and one of us got the venison osso bucco. he said it was very good, but a little dry.

everyone but me got a dessert. the almond butter cake was hands down the big winner but the beignets also got high praise. instead of dessert i ordered a dessert wine. i have never ordered any kind of wine with dinner in my life. this was the fonseca bin no. 27 finest reserve port. it came in a cute little glass well before everyone else's desserts came out. i took baby sips so that i'd still have something left when the rest got their sweets. i'm not a big fan of wine but this was some good stuff. as small as the glass was, i had to push it away after drinking only half of it as i was halfway to feeling loopy. i don't know if it was really that strong or if it was just because it's been so long since i've had anything alcoholic to drink or what. i wrote down the name of it and i'm gonna keep an eye out for it whenever i'm any place where wine is sold by the bottle. i'm allowed to get loopy when i'm at home, after all.

the dinner was good. but that no-fatporkbelly was a disappointment. i hope it was just a fluke. one final note, our server tabitha was very good. i freely admit that i'm a high maintenance diner on occasion and friday night i was worse than usual--changing my drink from tea to soda, making her do too much work when i placed my order--and she was friendly and helpful throughout. i wouldn't blame her for calling me names when she was in the kitchen but when she was in the dining room she was a pro.

i never do this type of thing, and it honestly takes a lot for me to comment negatively to the waitress or the manager, but our meal tonight was not acceptable. we wanted to get several apps since the entire menu sounded great, and i always want to try as much as possible- especially when i am trying a place for the first time. the first one we got was the braisedporkbelly. i love pork- all kinds, and i orderporkbelly a good bit. i should have known not to eat it when we had a lot of difficulty cutting it. once i took a bite, it really only got worse. it was so under cooked, and poorly cooked, that it would not break apart in my mouth. i have never done this before, but after 3 solid minutes trying to chew with no success, i had to spit it in my napkin. next, the fritto misto was a bust. this dish is typically known for how light it feels, though it is fried. this was like a bad fish fry, and there was no salt and no flavor. the butternut squash ravioli sounded promising, especially since it had a sage brown butter sauce, but there was way too much butter. it was drowning in butter, but not in a good way. it was just too oily in your mouth. the cheese plate was so-so, but cheese is a hard thing to judge and is always a toss up! i hate to be so down on this, and the waitstaff and management were very apologetic, but the bottom line was that the food just was not good. the chef never should have sent theporkbelly out that way, and the chefs on the line need a refresher in why seasoning food is essential. i am so thankful that i had a living social deal, because having to fork out real money would have been even harder to swallow that the rubbery pork. i know there are a lot of great reviews, and i think they have even won awards, but after ordering the majority of the app section with nothing to show for it, it makes me wonder how they have gotten good ratings and recognition. i do love food, and eating is my hobby. i am by now means a food snob, nor am i a hard-to-please customer, but i do think that my experience here was enough of a bust to share with others so that people can have a better expectation. i rely on urbanspoon reviews a lot, so i hope that this is helpful to others wanting to give satterfield's a try!

love satterfields. we love going to satterfields for cocktails, which usually turns into eating dinner. the drinks and bartenders are great! i love that they make my orange martini perfect every time! the food is so hard to resist. when they have theporkchop on the menu, you must get it. haller has made it just melt in your mouth. this is coming from someone that never orders pork. a great night to just try it out is wed. when they have the tapas.

great food!. satterfields's is one of my favorite places in the birmingham metro area. my biggest problem with this restaurant is that everything on the menu is so great that i have trouble choosing! i don't know what my favorite is... last fall they had a great durocporkchop with a sweet potato relleno... it was heavenly. but then again there is a fresh pasta dish that is to die for. and i love the seafood... everything from fresh tuna to fried oysters. see my problem? too much good food to choose from!!!

the bottom line is that i love satterfields' because they consistently serve up food that is stellar.

fine dining at its best.... wonderful experience at satterfields...sat at the chefs table, which added an element of show to the xperience. wastching all the great dishes being prepared made it difficult to chosse an entree..appetizer ofporkshoulder over sweet potato gnochis were a highlight.
among the entrees, the grouper was outstanding, as were the bacon wrapped scallops...

nice , well priced wine list ...outstanding desserts as well..the ginger snap ice cream sandwish is addictive..

very good restaurant, id rank it among bhm's top 3...