Seasons 52 — Restaurant in Birmingham

I visited this location for the first time on 10/26 to treat myself to a nice lunch to celebrate my birthday. Also, a visit to the area was a quick getaway for a pick me up after losing one of my closest friends to Covid-19 and her being buried the Saturday before. I was greeted somewhat enthusiastically as I entered the restaurant. Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got. I was seated in the dark bar area. To my left in another area in the restaurant, I watched as other guest dined in a well lit seating area/room where mostly natural light shined through. I was never given any other options. That wasn't that big of a deal. My issue was mostly my waiter. The experience that I had on this day was by far the most cold uninviting customer service I've ever received in my entire life. I wish I had kept my receipt so that I could give his name. Not once did he make me feel welcomed. This was my first time ever visiting here. Not once did he offer any suggestions. Then when I asked him questions about certain items on the menu, he did not care at all to elaborate. He gave short one worded answers. His demeanor was as if I was inconveniencing him by having had the audacity to come into Seasons 52 on that day with the expectation of being waited on. I don't know if he was having a bad day or if he was turned off by the color of my skin. However, this was by far the most unpleasant dining experience I've ever had. On top of that, my food was not even worth the $30 and change that I paid for it. The lobster bisque was mediocre as well as the ceasar salad. Also, the crab cake appetizer was the worst texture of crab cake I've ever tasted. I'm not even sure that it was even cooked thoroughly. I was disgusted. I also watched over in the other dining area as guests were being offered little dainty mini desserts. Not once did my waiter ask me if I was interested in having a dessert. When he did bring my ticket to my table, he was still in walking motion as he placed the ticket on my table mumbling something along the lines of, "this is for you" and kept walking. I had never dined here before. So, as I sat there waiting for him to show up again, I was left to figure out on my own where to pay for my ticket. I walked back up to the greeter to ask her if I could cash out with her, because, at this point, l was ready to get out of there. She told me she wasn't able to cash me out and that she would get my waiter. I sat back down to wait on him to return. He finally showed back up. He took my payment and didn't care at all to ask if I enjoyed my food/experience. I was so excited to NOT leave him a tip. I could NOT leave up out of there fast enough. I was so saddened to have been treated so cold especially being that I was already down and out about losing one of my closest friends. Then, to top it off with the cost of my dining experience and the lack of satisfaction for my food, this was overall a very...

Not a bad restaurant, but just OK. For one thing, almost everything was SO salty. I wish restaurants would understand that adding a pound of salt to a very good piece of meat does not make it better, it ruins it. I had the lamb chops and they would have been great, except for the salt. The mashed potatoes that came with the lamb were cafeteria-level, with big chunks. Definitely underwhelming. The asparagus at least were not salty, but they were also pretty tasteless: they were not very good quality and they tasted like they had only been boiled and thrown on the plate.

We also had hummus (forgot to take a picture), which was good. It came with pretty nice bread, but so little of it that we had to ask for more. Except that they were out, so we got some incredibly salted crackers instead. It also came with very salty artichokes, which would have been really nice it the cook had uses teaspoons instead of buckets.

The desserts were OK, but nothing special. For some reason, instead of a menu they have a demonstration tower with rubber replicas (see picture), which is cute, but not a good way to figure out what we wanted to order. With the noise of the restaurant we had to ask the waitress to repeat the names twice and still I could only get part of them (I don't know who thought this was a good idea, but it isn't, and I hate it when places do not have a menu with prices).

The fact that she was rushing, as she was for the rest of our evening, did not help. In fact, we felt rushed for all the time we were there. It was a busy night, but the waitress coming to take our dessert order before we were done with the entrees did not make us feel welcome and neither did getting our check before being asked if we wanted a single one or separate checks. Hovering over us waiting for credit cards did not help either. We were there on a busy night, but we were not looking for fast food and we expected to have time to enjoy our meal. I will acknowledge that the service was fast, though. But it could have been fast without rushing us!

Incidentally, portions are intentionally small. The menu even declares with pride that all dishes are less than 590 calories (or some similar number). That would be a great thing, except that prices are not lowered in proportion to the size of the dishes. For instance, desserts turned out to be $3.50 each, but you also only get about two tablespoons.

In summary, it wasn't bad, but I would not be interested in going...

Never disappointed when I go here. My friends and I went for dinner. We had reservations even though we went to dinner early enough that we probably didn’t need them. We were immediately seated in the area near the bar. One of my friends got the shrimp and grits and enjoyed every last bite; while I didn’t have any of it, it looked absolutely delicious and sure seemed to enjoy it! One had the filet and lobster tail with asparagus and potatoes. We all had a bite of the lobster, which was perfectly cooked, as usual. I usually get the filet mignon and only once was it a little more dome that I prefer. Most often, it has been a good cut of meat. It must have been this night, as well, as it was eaten up!! I had a the Maui Tuna Crunch (salad). This is another favorite of mine. They tuna is always very fresh and seared just right. I should add we started off with the lemon hummus with artichokes. I’ve started off with it on multiple occasions (that or the stuffed mushrooms). Never fails to meet my expectations. The wine flights are enjoyable, as well. The Cucumber Basil Smash, Peach Riesling Mule, and Rosé Lemonade were all very enjoyable. The Cucumber Basil Smash is very refreshing, but I will say it seemed to be a little more overpowered by the cucumber this particular night. Still wasn’t bad. The Peach Riesling Mule was sweet, but surprisingly enough, I didn’t think it was overly sweet. You can definitely taste the peach with the sweetness of Riesling, but the ginger beer seemed to balance the sweetness out. The Rosé Lemonade wasn’t like “lemonade.” Not really sure what I was expecting, but I did ask if it was overly sweet or tart like lemonade, and in my opinion, it was thankfully neither. A very good balance. While we all enjoyed the cocktails, I still prefer to get a flight of wine with my meal. Depending on the flight, it can really make a difference in the taking your dinner to a whole other level of flavor.

As for the service- it’s always good. Our service was good this night, as well. I think I’m just used to the server being extra-attentive and taking a little more time with explanations when asking questions about various menu items (should we have any).

Overall, we enjoyed our meal and libations, as always. Will definitely...