SAW’s Soul Kitchen — Restaurant in Birmingham

A lot of pluses, a minus, and something to think about. We came in from out of town in Ga and arrived at about 4pm on a Saturday. The area is super cool with multiple restaurants around in close proximity in a walk around hangout type of vibe area. The restaurant looks tiny from outside with a six person picnic table out front but plenty of seating once you go in. Probably twelve'ish tables or so varying in size from two tops to large circle booths, also about eight to ten seats at the bar. Great unique vibe inside. You place your order at the front then sit at a table. The minus hit us right at the beginning. We were informed while ordering that they were out of onion rings and deviled eggs. This was disappointing because we love to try the a lot of sides when we go to a new place and not many places have deviled eggs so it was a bummer. After we placed our order and sat down we were also informed they were out of mac and cheese which two of three in our party ordered and it is their fave side item. This was starting to get a bit ridiculous at this point, its 4pm, not 10pm and at the end of a long shift when items might typically run low at a restaurant. With that being said our food did come out. Great presentation and perfect amounts of each item. I had the Chicken thigh plate and the thighs were AMAZING!! I could have eaten ten of them. PERFECT!! I had the potato salad and cole slaw. Another order was the loaded potato that had pork and other items in it and it was also a good portion and cooked great. The other person in our party had a pulled pork sandwich. It was also good. The French fries were AMAZING also!! So the "something to think about" part of the story is that this is a vinegar based BBQ joint. This is not a thick red saucy BBQ joint, as the pulled pork sando was served with vinegar based sauce, the sauce on the table was vinegar based, and the cole slaw was vinegar based and it is noted on the menu as such. To me personally this is not an issue, I love vinegar based BBQ and dont have a problem. To the other two in my party this was def not their thing and they were turned off by it. This would maybe be something to think about with smaller children also bc vinegar based is a diff world than reg saucy type BBQ. I am rating this a 4 star visit because the food quality was top notch and deserving of a 5 star ALL DAY. The fact that they were out of three side items esp mac and cheese at 4pm was a let down honestly. I will be going back at some point for some more thighs and hopefully they...

Our experience at Saw’s was a good one. I’ll definitely be going back the next time I’m in town. The cook happened to come up front for a minute and I asked him some questions about the menus items. He was very helpful and went out of his way to ensure we understood what all the menu items were and a little bit about them. He’s a great asset to their company! I ordered the sweet heat chicken sandwich and let me tell you it was the best chicken sandwich ever! The other chicken restaurant chains don’t stand a chance against Saw’s. Their chicken sandwich had a very thick cut of chicken that was breaded and seasoned to perfection. Very juicy inside but yet the breading on the outside of the meat still had crunch to it. Plus a hint of heat that wasn’t overpowering so you could actually taste the slaw and pickle. By the way, the slaw was tasty by itself. It also had a little bit of heat added to it. I ordered fries. For sure all fries aren’t created equal. Theirs stood out from any other I’ve ever had They were a decent size and had the subtle crunch when biting into them. The only negative part of my review was the “baked beans”. I ordered a side of them and within the first bite I realized they were actually pork-and-beans. Although they were the best pork-and-beans I’ve ever had, I really hate when a restaurant tries to substitute pork-and-beans for the actual baked beans (especially when the menu name “baked beans” clearly says what your ordering/expecting)… Ugh! Last but not least we had to try their banana pudding. Surprisingly it was really just ok to me. Definitely not a stand out menu item as most other items are. In my opinion it it’s really hard to mess up banana pudding but the consistency of theirs was kind of like eating some banana mousse instead of banana pudding. No doubt it had a good flavor, just the texture or something was off a little bit. All in all we had a great first experience at Saw’s. Our food plus tip was about $53. this was quite expensive compared to lunch at a restaurant of this kind in north AL. where we’re from. We definitely were full and happy when we left. This small restaurant has big surprises for first timers like us. I definitely recommend you give Saw’s a try, you...

this spring break i visited birmingham with my family. i was very skeptical—i wasn’t sure if birmingham was gonna be fun… but i was totally surprised by the things to do, the people, and most importantly—the food! today was our last day in birmingham, and my dad wanted to have some soul food for our last dinner here.

truthfully, i’ve never been one for soul food, but SAW’s totally blew me away. i was expecting something totally mediocre but when i walked out, i had to untuck my shirt, loosen my belt, and unbutton the top button of my jeans because i ate so much. it is truly AMAZING food! even my extremely picky brother was a fan of SAW’s (he got the pickle juice and sweet tea marinated chicken fingers)!

not only that, but the staff and environment of the restaurant is impeccable. great tunes, decor, and chill vibe. our server—i forgot her name, but she was the woman with two red strips of hair and a septum piercing—was so amazing! she was incredibly attentive and gave us some great food recommendations. when she recommended us the pork rinds with chili sauce and pimento cheese i was very suspicious, but even that blew me out of the water. she was truly the best server i’ve had at a restaurant… ever! give her a raise!!

SAW’s is incredibly versatile and i can see anyone, from any background, enjoying their food. the seasoned expert, soul food opponent, and picky eater were all blown away by the quality of food and service offered at SAW’s. by any means necessary, come to SAW’s and let them...