La Fête — Restaurant in Birmingham

The first time we went to La Fête, we had both an exceptional dining and food experience (10/3/25). I don't remember our server's name, but he paced the meal perfectly (he has shampoo commercial-worthy great hair, if that helps with ID, lol). We also had wine recommended by the staff. Sooooo good.

We returned last night (10/29/25) with different friends to celebrate a birthday. Again, I didn't get the server's name, but it's because he didn't tell us. He has light brown hair and a "Ron Burgundy" mustache (which is great, btw).

He didn't offer a separate wine list until requested (at a restaurant with a wonderful selection!), seemed uninterested/distracted while waiting on us (unlike the rest of the staff, which is truly engaged), and kitchen pace was way off. It took about 30-40 minutes after ordering before we got food besides bread (which I ordered immediately upon sitting), and it was the salad course despite us ordering charcuterie to begin. Then everything came at once, completely different from our curated experience the first visit. For entrees, 3/4 of us got the steak, one the fish. The fish was exceptional, but one steak was completely forgotten, and the two first steaks (both ordered medium rare) came out medium and medium well. The third steak came 15 minutes or so after the rest of us received our entrees, which was awkward. It was cooked properly and tender/flavorful. We didn't complain, but my friend whose steak came out medium well, ate half of mine and boxed her entire steak to take to her teenager, rather than eat it or complain.

The Birmingham food scene is definitely enhanced with this lovely restaurant, with its intimate atmosphere and hand-crafted dishes (even the bratwurst seems made fresh, in-house), but I'd really hyped it up to our friends after the first visit, and felt the whole experience last night was lackluster. The bill was $300 for two, including wine, which is something of a splurge, but for the quality is a good value.

I hope they receive the culinary recognition they deserve (hear that, Michelin?), and will return at a future date in hopes last night was a one-off mediocre-ish meal. Actually, perhaps I should gate keep so it won't be too busy for us to visit in the future. It's that good. ;) We...

It was our first time here and immediately when we walked in the tiny restaurant we realized how exceptionally loud it was. There were very few tables and they were tiny. We were also placed next to another table which was about a foot away from us. So much for privacy. Not that anyone could hear our conversation anyway based on the decibel level. We ordered drinks and waited for what seemed an inordinate amount of time. They didn't seem to be understaffed but the staff they had seemed extremely unorganized. Based on the delay of the drinks, we decided we had better go ahead and order our appetizers. My husband ordered the escargot which (when they finally arrived) were oily. I ordered the cheese plate which was nothing more than a tiny block of cheese the size of a crouton with honey drizzled over it. Not a cracker or piece of bread in sight, all for $8!! It was not good and I even enjoy strong cheeses. We promptly ordered our entrees because we knew there would be a delay. I also ordered another drink which after 20 minutes still hadn't arrived. I asked the waiter about it and magically it showed up after that. That seemed to be the theme of the night. So we waited and waited for our entrees as we watched plates and plates of bread go out as well as food for guests who I know for certain arrived after we did. At this point, with no more that a couple bites of crappy cheese in my belly, I was absolutely starving. I ended up getting up to track down our server to ask why the delay. Once again, like magic, he tells me my steak is ready and now it appears. I ordered the steak au poivre which was drowning in a plate of brown sauce that was so incredibly salty, it was almost inedible. By this point we were fed up and just ready to leave. I would absolutely avoid this place unless you want extremely long wait times, mediocre at best slow service, extremely salty food and obnoxious ambience. Suffice to say we were utterly disappointed and wont...

Well this was not a good start to my time in Birmingham. Stopped in here for dinner after driving from Atlanta excited for a good meal and some carrot cake.

While I arrived towards the end of the night as soon as I walked in I asked “can I still order food? And if so can I eat at the bar”

It was an absolute yes to both not even a maybe.

I sit down and order a burger medium and carrot cake.

After about 15 mins the only food that went out was a few desserts. A carrot cake and 2 other items.

After a total of about 23 mins my burger came out. I ordered medium and the burger was well done. I ordered extra crispy fries and those weren’t even hot.

I tell the bartender and he sends it back. Confirms it’s over cooked. I asked if they could send a few fries out while I wait and the carrot cake. He informs me now they don’t have carrot cake almost 25-30 mins later!!!!

He brings out the fries which had zero salt and I had to ask for some. And it was maybe 1/3 what they sent out on the original plate so I’m assuming the burger will come with the rest. Right? Wrong.

After a total of 45 mins I finally received the burger. Just a single burger on a side plate. So I’m thinking ok he’s going to do something on the bill because this is absurd considering they had no other tickets to make.

Welp wrong again. So 45 mins for a burger that was originally cooked wrong with cold fries, then a fraction sized portion, and failed to enter the dessert resulting in not getting what I actually went for.

I guess the shots they were taking in the mean time had them off their game but this was absolutely a horrible experience and not...