SLIDE Cafe — Restaurant in Birmingham

I recently visited SLIDE for Sunday brunch with my sisters and a friend. This restaurant had been on my list for months, and I was excited to finally try it. While the food exceeded my expectations, the overall experience was disappointing due to poor customer service.

Let’s start with the positive—the food was amazing! I ordered the catfish & grits, and for the first time in a while, I left with a clean plate and no leftovers. The flavors were spot on, and I can confidently say the kitchen knows what they’re doing.

However, the service left much to be desired. Our friend arrived earlier than us and waited over 20 minutes for seating, as it is a self-seating establishment and her first time visiting. She was approached by a staff member (who we initially thought was the owner) and asked how long her party would be since others were waiting. This came off as dismissive, especially since she had already been waiting. There were no clear signs explaining the seating process, which led to unnecessary confusion.

During our visit, it took 30+ minutes to receive our food, and while we noticed other tables receiving exceptional service, we felt overlooked. The same host who spoke to our friend earlier was actively engaging with other tables, mentioning complimentary mimosas, yet she never approached ours. We had to ask another staff member about them, and only then did someone come to take our drink order.

The most shocking part of the experience was at the end of our meal. The same host, who had not checked on us since speaking to our friend earlier, suddenly returned to ask how everything was. When we responded with positive feedback on the food, she aggressively confronted our friend about a 1-star review she had left, calling it distasteful and tactless. When our friend tried to explain her perspective, the host rudely cut her off, saying she didn’t care about her opinion and dismissively ended the conversation. This was completely unprofessional and made the entire interaction uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the owner later stepped in, and her approach was the saving grace of our experience. She was calm, listened to our concerns, and acknowledged that they are still working through operational kinks. She apologized, which we appreciated. However, the host continued to be dismissive and deny our account of events, despite all four of us witnessing the same interaction. Overall, the food was excellent, but the customer service experience was disappointing. I would love to return for the food, but unless the staff dynamic changes-especially in terms of professionalism-I'm not sure l would. One recommendation for management: clearly communicate the seating process with signage or instructions to avoid confusion for...

After a long day of two friends grocery shopping and realizing neither one of us had eaten any breakfast or lunch we decided to eat a late lunch which ended up being my breakfast, lunch, and dinner lol. So yeah we were hungry and since this was on my list of new places to try and was in route of us heading home we stopped by SLIDE Cafe.

Side story here this was on a Saturday and when we Googled to get the address and it said they were closed. I called the restaurant and they said they were open. I let them know of the issue and they fixed it and also confirmed to us that they are open till midnight.

SLIDE Cafe is black owned by a LGBTQ couple with head chef Raquel Ervin who appeared on Food Network show Chopped. Got to meet her and her wife once we got there and both were very nice and we shared a good laugh about Google saying they were closed.

The inside and out side of this place was beautiful and they definitely make sure you don't miss them. The menu is huge but not overwhelming with everything cooked to order.

First up was the Smokehouse: burger slider with white American cheese, smoked bacon, lettuce, and white bbq sauce. This was so good and had so much flavor had this had some grilled onions it would have blown me to the moon. But still a great burger! 8.5/10

Next up the Chicken Pesto: this is what Caitlyn Sebastian ordered and I had the chance to try a bit of it and when I say that bite was all I needed to know that I wanted to order this again from now on! It had seasoned juicy grilled chicken, white American cheese, smoked bacon, house made pesto aioli, and lettuce and tomato. My only gripe with this sandwich was it had a but too much aioli on it for me but I can always go back and say light sauce. 9.5/10

And finally the Buffalo chicken sandwich: simple really hand breaded seasoned chicken breast deep fried with their house made sweet Buffalo sauce, pickles, blue cheese, and house mad Sriracha aioli. It was pretty good you'd think with all those sauces it would be to much but actually balanced well but the blue cheese does get lost a little. 8/10

The fries were really freaking good with the perfect crisp and fluffy inside and was seasoned perfectly as well. I was legit addicted to them! 10/10

All in all this was a great experience and I can't wait to go back. Everything all together gets a perfect score from me and I suggest you guys get to this place asap! 10/10

Completely forgot to mention the Lemondae. It's also made in house and it was very good. I didn't leave a single sip it's a...

I can not say enough great things about Raquel and her team. Let me start out by saying I am not a planner at all but I was "trying", emphasis on trying, to plan my own wedding. I made plans to buy and do all the decorating myself and just hire a caterer for the food, boy was I wrong. Looking and shopping for decor was overwhelming so I decided to put it on pause and start searching for a caterer. I googled "caterer in Birmingham" and of course I received thousands of returns. I stuck to the ones that were small business because I wanted to deal with someone local. I called and emailed a few places but my search came to an end when I discovered Raquel, she was just what I needed in more ways than one. Due to my lack of planning skills the only information I could give her was how many people would be in attendance, lol, but that is all she needed. With just the limited information I gave her she was able to put a menu together that was very pleasing, elegant , and budget friendly. I am not sure how we got on the conversation about decor but when she discovered I was doing it myself , that all changed. She asked me what my colors would be and she took it from there . When it was all said and done, she provided not only the food, but also the decor and connected me other locals for other services that I didn't even think of, such as make-up and music, and the best part about all of it was that everyone was local and small business owner. Needless to say, she is definitely a miracle worker, and a joy to work with . The food and everything was perfect and I would definitely use her again and reccomend her to everyone who I know. Raquel: if I didn't say it enough times that day, thank you for everything and I am 100% positive the day would have not been as great if you would have not been involved. Signed The...