Automatic Seafood and Oysters — Restaurant in Birmingham

I’m just getting around to reviewing this restaurant but my experience has stuck with me for a few months now so I think I should write a review. I am a chef and I work with many chefs and am friends with many chefs so I really love and appreciate good food and a good dining experience. I came here a few months ago to celebrate a friend who had just graduated. My boyfriend and I are are vegetarian and the four others with us all eat meat and seafood. Three of us are chefs and/or veteran restaurant owners. The atmosphere was very nice and the wines we choose were good. bread rolls were good. Our vegetarian dish was the only choice for us on the menu, a tomato, pepper-y mush thing that wasn’t disgusting but was completely negligible. I only ate it because I was hungry and the people we were with were buying us dinner, generously, so I didn’t want to be rude. It was like being punished for being vegetarian lol, which -I know- a seafood restaurant is probably not the ideal place for us to go, but I have been to steakhouses that have much better choices and accommodations for vegetarians. A good restaurant will accommodate for diet restrictions. The rest of our party ordered seafood dishes which they seemed to mostly enjoy though mostly we were not crazy impressed. It was a nice dinner, but not award-winning. THE MAIN PROBLEM however, was with our service. Our waiter was so incredibly rude, especially to the woman who’s graduation we were celebrating, that it felt like we were at Dick’s Last Resort. I wasn’t even personally offended because it was almost comical. He was just so brazen and ridiculous: my jaw was literally ajar and I laughed in his face at how absurd he was being! He was very resistant to answering questions about the menu and had a snobbish, judgmental tone when speaking to the graduate simply because she asked if an ingredient in the dish she was interested in ordering was overwhelming. He tried to make her feel stupid and embarrassed for asking about peas. He was rude when we were asking about wine pairings and price points and he complained about how tired he was and how ready to get off work he was the entire time we were dining: as though he was trying to get us to hurry up and finish so he could get out of there. He’s extremely lucky our group is all very lax and go-with-the-flow people, because anyone else might have gotten up and simply left or chewed him out. Honestly, if I hadn’t been there with a group to celebrate a friend, I think my boyfriend and I would have left. The only reason we had an enjoyable time was because our company/group are such dear friends and our conversation was lovely. The food was not super impressive for the price and for having been awarded a James Beard award and the service was literally the worst and most ridiculous I have ever experienced in a sit-down dining room in my entire life. Our server was very knowledgeable but very rude, snobby and an a**hole. Excuse my French. But really, I don’t say that lightly. I cannot fathom how he still has a job there or anywhere. When people I know talk about Automatic, the first thing out of my mouth is a scoff, and then I tell them how they employ the nastiest server I have ever encountered. I wouldn’t pay $2 for a meal to be treated that way. Actually, I didn’t even pay for my dinner that night, our friends did, and I still...

$$$$ Open for dinner 2824 5th Ave South (Valet and Enter from 29th st side)

A fabulous experience at Automatic Seafood and Oysters! We had reservations on the opening night. I know, trust me, often opening nights are not always the best of times. I have to admit though that the staff and management are on top of it here. Food was a little slow arriving but very much worth the wait.

We had a party of four and frankly I had no idea what to expect. There was an expose in one of the local newspapers that day which I had only heard about. We did not plan on going but at the last minute some of our very best friends called and had reservations for four. We were in!

We arrived on time and were promptly seated by one of the three hostesses. In a few minutes we were greeted by Justin our server who was GREAT! Very friendly, discreet and knowledgeable. Overall they seem staffed well and all were friendly and courteous.

For appetizers we ordered a dozen assorted oysters and they were small but very tasty. The cocktail sauce and mignonette was hand made and delicious.

Drinks were also a little slow but were none the less as good as the entrees. Do not pass up the yeast rolls. Buttery and quite tasty but not your typical puffy full of air rolls. A nice texture, a little chew but not too dense.

Our entrees were shared. The crispy b-liner was the absolute STAR of dinner. I could have consumed the entire thing but it was large enough to share. The sautéed vegetables served with the fish were fabulously seasoned and perfectly prepared. The blackened amberjack was delicious as well as the crushed cucumber salad and pea salad all having that crispy cold plate yummy umami flavor.

Desserts. We had one of each. A brownie cake served with a frozen meringue and a pineapple crunch cake that was a riff on famous upside down cake. Both were outstanding with the brownie cake edging the other out with the combination of crispy and chewy textures.

Facility and atmosphere was amazing. Very laid back. It was spotlessly clean and well organized. Decorations were perfect with cuttings from a live, blooming dogwood gracing the center of the room. Tables had plenty of room and were not crowded. Restrooms were not gender specific, very clean and roomy.

I do not give five stars very often and would have probably given them 4.5 for the slightly slow service, but it was opening night and we had plenty of time. We hope this place will be here forever, truly a great addition to the Birmingham foodie scene. The oyster bar will be our next seating.

Make your plans accordingly and get reservations, they will likely be jammed after word gets out.

Urban...

We have heard about this restaurant from multiple friends talking about how excellent the food is and how everything is good. I will say this- the flavors were VERY good. But the execution was not there.

We ordered the yeast rolls as our appetizer- FANTASTIC. Loved them. I then ordered the melon salad- loved the flavors, but the melon itself was watery and not flavorful- needed to find a more ripe watermelon and cantaloupe. But I loved the feta and basil combination. With better tasting melon, this would have been a slam dunk.

I ordered the scallop dish with peaches. Scallops are my favorite kind of seafood ever, and I rarely order them at a restaurant because scallops are very difficult to cook properly. But here, I figured this would be the perfect place to order them because this is a fancy seafood place. Well… out of the 5 scallops I received, only 2 were cooked properly. TWO. The other three were smaller scallops that were totally overcooked and rubbery! The chorizo that came with it was cold and chewy. I was so disappointed! I loved the flavor combination of the scallop, chorizo and peach. But the execution was terrible. I didn’t finish the scallops because of how chewy and rubbery it was. The arugula in my peach salad was oddly bitter and the peace slices were mushy.

My husband ordered the fish and chips. The fish was delicious and not greasy! Very good batter and the fish was great quality. The fries were very salty, and we were trying to figure out what other spice was mixed with the salt- was it cloves? It wasn’t awful but kinda weird and didn’t love that either.

Our server did not check in on us during our meal to see if we were liking the food. If he had, I would have told him about the issue with my dish with the chorizo being cold and the scallops being rubbery! But I didn’t get the opportunity. I didn’t feel like his service was anything special, but he did fine. I think I expect a bit more personality from a fancy restaurant. The guy who brought our water to our table first had a better personality than our waiter. Overall service could have been better.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty cool though. I just wish the food was better and the employees didn’t take themselves so seriously.

Ultimately, the flavor combinations were for the most part very innovative and good, but the execution was severely lacking. We had an early reservation so it wasn’t super packed yet so I would assume food and service would have been better but perhaps not. I don’t think we will ever come back, and I don’t think this is something we can...