El Royale Cafe — Restaurant in Birmingham

When I first read about this place I was STOKED. Whenever I'm West of the Mississippi I seek out Mexican food, or Southwestern food, at least. Arizona and Utah are my favorites with chile-centric dishes, most featuring falling apart seasoned meats and great tortillas. So the promise of 'home cooking' /Authentic etc made me very happy. My wife secured a reservation recently and I looked forward to it. I had liked the last two iterations of the old building, and the redo is well done. They nailed the concept of casual Southwest chic, without cacti, sombreros or pinatas strewn everywhere. But....it is LOUD. It is REALLY LOUD, as in scream at the person across the table loud. Some of this is the clientele which looked like they had originally planned to go to Big Whisky or Perrys (location near you). Service was fine, except I was served someone else's hamburger meat/cheddar cheese enchiladas first. I had chicken tinga enchiladas, but Cheese was the prevailing flavor in a commercial appearing tortilla. Rice and beans accompanying. Wow, who saw THAT coming? The menu though....Huh? Ground beef and Cheddar cheese? No Mole, no chocolate, no....Autentico. Fridas skews more authentic, and that is faint praise indeed. A number of fajitas selections and some sorta adventurous sauces on entrees were the upper limit. Ho Hum food at best. I NEARLY ordered Steak Au Poivre because its a favorite, now I'm just wondering why it was on the menu.... The difference between what El Royale serves and the real deal is roughly approximate to a nice place like Bottega and Chef Boyardee in a can. This is NOT a slam on this place in particular, but there are very few local places serving anything NEAR a real Mexican menu. Green Chile, Chilliquiles, Chicken Mole that's a sticky, falling apart mess, Cheese stuffed poblanos, Chocolate enchiladas...anything adobo or colorado.... Sigh. I usually don't comment on a place after one visit, but short of a whole new menu and some serious sound attenuation this is a one and done. It should be a gold mine for investors. If the NEXT shiny new place is being hatched- how about some actual Mexican food? THAT would be a gold mine and it really could be billed as near fine-dining in Bham. It's not an easy menu, but no more complicated than what Bright Star or Nikis turn out like clockwork. Tom Homan doesn't seem to be making a dent in the number of folks that can supply the expertise and recipes needed. I gotta say it- a truck stop in west Texas makes better grub than this place turns out. A nice, well-staffed kitchen is on view....I didn't see the giant pots of meat stewing with peppers and onions, not the first Abuela standing on a stool to look in on a bubbling pot...dang, my stomach is growling now. Intersection of Green Springs and Valley Ave has a handful of fairly legit places but my wife won't visit with me... JUST A THOUGHT- maybe the owners decided Bham wasn't ready for real Autentico? Is El Barrio the limit? I wish these folks well- but they don't need it. If you are old enough, this is basically El Chico, but todays self-acknowledged celebrities have replaced polite, quiet folks. If you like drinks that need a paragraph to describe, or you take pictures of your meal,...

I don’t even know where to begin. I was super excited to dine at this restaurant. I’m not from the area and really wanted some good Texmex. However, it was very apparent from the moment my friend and I entered the restaurant, that we were not welcome. The only friendly greeting we received was from the valet. My friend went inside first and made a reservation. She was told that we would be seated at 5 PM. She came back outside as we were going to wait for our reservation outside. But I decided to go back inside and see if we could sit at the bar in the meantime. This was not offered to my friend when she made the reservation with the hostess. It SHOULD HAVE BEEN. Despite the less than friendly greeting from the hostesses, I brushed it off and decided to stay and give them a full chance to redeem themselves. But it only got worse. One of the bartenders (I wish I remember his name) was pleasant. So we decided to sit at the bar. We were told that they were not serving food at the bar, which was fine. 5 PM rolls around and I go back to the hostess and she very nastily and sarcastically tells me that my friend must have misheard or misunderstood because she never said the reservation was 5 PM. So I called my friend over and she said she was absolutely told that our reservation was for 5 PM. Not 5:30. My friend asked for a manager because at this point we had been sitting there for over an hour. Mind you, the restaurant was 50% empty. On a Saturday evening BTW. The manager approached my friend and made it very obvious that he didn’t want to be bothered. Now, I say this in the most tactful way possible… he gave every bit of backwoods ‘I don’t want you Black people in my establishment.’ Did he say that? No. He didn’t have to. But from the behavior of the hostess, the fact that 99% of the people in the restaurant were white, and the manager’s nasty disposition, it was clear as day that Black people are not the target audience. Unless they are working in the kitchen from what I noticed. We sat for a few moments after that interaction to decide whether or not we were going to continue to endure this prejudice. Usually I’d leave right away but we were hungry and knew there would be a wait no matter where we went. We opted not to stay and proceeded to ask for the ticket for our drinks. Only to be told that cash is not accepted. I’ve been to much nicer restaurants than this. Michelin Star restaurants at that. And they even accept cash. I can only assume that this is for liability reasons because it’s a new restaurant. But it’s honestly ridiculous. There should be a SIGN posted OR it should be on the website. Anyway, we paid our tab at the bar and took our business elsewhere. I Usually like to give restaurants a second chance. But I won’t be back. I will take my Black dollars where they are more...

Been twice to El Royale, both times on Sundays for lunch. First time just two of us, second time with 4 adults and 3 youngsters. First of all...reservations are highly recommended. Both times I visited I had not made reservations; first time seated quickly, second time took 45 minutes of wait. Food is outstanding, properly spiced and seasoned, served at the right temperature and very inviting. Presentation is quite good. Have not decided that the food is worth the wait and the experience, so I'll have to go again to see if there has been improvement. Entire dining experience from arrival to departure was nearly 2 hours...on a Sunday afternoon. The restaurant itself is beautiful; very bright and comfortable. Bright light in the daytime and not too noisy at all. The largest complaint is the attitude and slowness of the wait staff. Pretty sure the restaurant is understaffed, because all servers and workers are moving constantly between multiple tables and stations, and there are many empty tables with long wait times. I fully understand this predicament, but...what I don't understand is the attitudes of the ones who are on the floor in direct contact with diners. We were not greeted appropriately, not even a welcome or a hello, just a "how many?" While we waited for 45 minutes for a table one of our party went to the bar for water, and was told that the bar was not an "open tab," that she would have to stand "between people." Our particular server today (Amanda C) seemed attentive at first, but only went downhill. Took nearly 15 minutes to return water to the table, never brought requested silverware, and checked on us only once during our hour and half of waiting and dining. When the $204 check finally arrived after requesting, my entire party had departed and only I was left at a table for 7 piled high with our lunch dishes. She took my credit card and continued to wait other tables, leave, and return to the table next to me with my credit card uncharged, and leave again...took 20 minutes from check to signing the receipt. Bottom line...I will come again with hope that the service will have improved. Highly recommended to anyone wants really good food with inappropriate service at New York prices. Step it up, El Royale! If you're going to charge steeply, serve impeccably. Hire servers and workers that will promote a culture of a fine dining experience, since the prices...