Saw’s BBQ – Southside — Restaurant in Birmingham

(Addendum): In response to the owner's response- My review was not intended to receive any "reparations" for my experience. I didn't write this review for the owner or staff, I wrote it for the consumer. I do the same thing for my positive experiences. It is honorable the you (the owner) read these and respond but your response did seem a little defensive. It is just not my style to give blunt feedback and honest opinion to staff in the moment. It is awkward and rude. The type of people who do that are typically the types of people who want a complimentary meal and complain with that purpose, often after consuming the whole meal before complaining. When I said almost inedible, I meant exactly that. I took 2 bites of the reuben and ate the pork out of the other dish. The rest I took in a 2 go box. It sat in my fridge for 2 days before I just trashed it. Some reviews are lies, actually most. But mine are my honest opinion and i hope it helps someone as word of Mouth should. Even if the employee was able to ask what I thought, I'm not the type of person to go full send on them. I believe that's rude but mostly because staff are usually not wanting an actual answer. Managers and owners less so. I would likely say it was good and thank you much.

Original review: Very hesitant to post this but it's my honest opinion. Not my first Alabama BBQ visit (Moe's Original BBQ in Decatur AL was my first and second visit and they get 5 stars from me). However, Moe's was convenient being next to my hotel where as SAWs was a planned and researched visit. I was just overall disappointed and that was 100% the food. I got the Pastrami Reuben and the Pork and Greens dish because I couldn't decide between the two. Both were almost inedible. $35 total and a $2 tip. Best parts of the meal were the vinegar BBQ sauce surrounding the Grits on the Pork and Greens and the Sauerkraut on the Reuben. Pastrami didn't look like Pastrami to me but just regular Brisket and not even close to the best Brisket I have ever had. The Crispy onions on the Pork and Greens were disturbing as they could not be chewed through and had to be torn and also seemed to all connect to each other in a tumbleweed of no thank you. The amount of Pork on that dish was half of what you would need to make a Pork and bread sandwich and the Grits were unremarkable. I regretted the cost immediately. Service was wonderful and the lady who helped me was also. It is because of her I feel bad posting this review but an honest review about my experience is nothing to feel bad about. Hope it helps potential customers as well as the restaurant in increasing their quality...

Beware - if you place a pick-up order from here they will charge you a “pick-up gratuity” fee, and then expect a tip on top of that as well. I ordered a Pastrami Reuben, a side of fries, and a drink for pick-up. Supposedly getting the side and the drink together is cheaper, from what I was told. The sandwich is listed on the menu for $13.50, but I actually ended up paying $28 and some change (for one sandwich, an order of fries, and a 20oz sweet tea). Apparently the fries, drink, and pick-up fee comes out to around the same price as the sandwich. It was a good sandwich, but gosh dang. You got me once Saw’s, never again…

Edited to reply to the response from owner: Maybe "expect" was not the right word to use for the tip, but there was certainly a screen on the point of sale system that popped up and asked me to select a tip amount. "Clearly presented" is pretty subjective - the takeout gratuity is a small line item that pops up right before you run the credit card. It was definitely not clear to me that I shouldn't tip based on that, considering that the tip screen popped up right after the gratuity charge was shown - and I did not know anything about the gratuity charge until I was being rung up. I know now.

All that aside, I wasn't really worried about the $3 additional tip - it was more so the fact that the "cheaper option" for fries and a drink costs somewhere around $7 or $8. Don't get me wrong I love Saw's, and I worked in the service industry for over 20 years - I have no problem tipping well. I also understand that product prices have been higher recently. I was just shocked when I walked out after paying nearly $30 for a sandwich, fries, and a drink. I was expecting somewhere around $20 - but I was not expecting $30 for lunch after I ordered a $13.50 sandwich and added fries...

Zero complaints or cons. This place is amazing. Amazing staff, amazing cook, and amazing food. We went just to get something to try as we were out of town and ordering random things from around. The gentleman taking order said they had best burgers and known for pork and greens. He let us try dip pickle dip with fresh chips and it was amazing. We ordered a patty melt which was fresh and perfectly cooked and juicy and definitely best patty melt ever. The pork and greens was a base of great grits with some sort of bbq sauce topped with turnips and collards, pulled pork, and then covered with onion straws. Absolutely the best thing ever and so flavorful. Then we got a sample of banana pudding which I’m don’t care for but it was amazing. Before we left I thought I need to try the stuffed sausage hush puppies with pimento cheese and pepper jelly. The hush puppies were perfect and then the pimento cheese and pepper jelly were top notch. I get the feeling there’s nothing bad...