Streetside Seafood — Restaurant in Birmingham

The Seaside Grill is a very small restaurant.  The design is simple.  For the place, you think it would have standing room only but it was only that busy once. One of the biggest downsides of the place is openness to the outside and no overhead fans.  It was hot in the place.   It limited some aspects of the night. The service was split.    The bartender service was wonderful.  The kitchen staff service was slow.  At the beginning, I ordered oysters. A few minutes later,  I ordered the main dish.    The main dish actually beat the oysters out.  The Bartender was apologetic. I ordered an old fashioned.  They had no speciality drinks but a huge wine list.   The drink was decently made.  It was nothing special but decent size.  I only drank One because of the heat.   I was lucky because the pricing was a little high.   The bartender did get some bread for me.  It was cooked well. I ordered three Raspberry Point raw oysters.   They were small.  Normal raspberry point oysters  are about 3 to 3 1.2 inches .  These were babies.  They were only about 2 inches at the most.    The meat of the oysters was smaller than that.    They were definitely not worth the prices they were listed at. My main dish  was the shrimp bowl.  It was a restaurant version of a Japanese rice  bowl, I think. It was gritts, spinach, chorizo, and corn with shrimp. I say that because shrimp felt like an additive more than anything else.  You had to detail the shrimp so it was harder to  eat together. In the end,  I was happy that I kept the sauces from the oysters to use with the shrimp.    Grits, spinach, chorizo and corn side were  good. I expected more of the chorizo flavoring and oils to be seen. I know this place is a fan favorite for some people.   I have been there before years ago with others.   Between the back end service, quality of the food and pricing,  It is a decent place for seafood but nothing to remember as an amazing night.  I would...

AWESOME EXPERIENCE; Took my wife and her best friend here for Valentines day and her best friends birthday, we ordered the Greek Calamari, Shrimp Cocktail and Oysters on a half shell for appetizers. 4 different kinds of Oysters came on the plate and were shucked to perfection very fresh and tasty. The shrimp cocktail was amazing the size of the shrimp are huge (prawns) and cooked perfectly (not rubbery). Now the calamari was actually amazing have never been to a restaurant that did not overcook the calamari until now it was so tender and tasty I have a new respect for it. main courses I got the surf and turf it was about a 7 oz fillet cooked medium rare that cut with a fook and melted in you mouth the lobster tail was the exact same size as the lobster tail that came with the ladies lobster dinner which I found amazing (most are always smaller) the lobster was cooked perfect if anything just a tad overdone but not like most places. The vegetables as sides where cooked perfect and seasoned brilliantly. Temperature of food was perfect top notch. To end we of course had to have something sweet we ordered the dark chocolate creme brulee a generous portion with 3 spoons just topped off the best seafood meal the 3 of us had ever had. The server Carla topped it all off though with her going above and beyond such as putting money in the parking meter her expert knowledge of the menu and her adorable sense of humor, she even came out to the car to thank us for the wonderful time. I would recommend going between 3 and 5 as they do not serve dinner until 4 lunch menu is just that a small menu which would have been a shame to have missed out on the dinner menu as we go there a 3:30 and had the place to ourselves. It is small but very nicely decorated, so if you do not like crowded places I do not think this where I would go...

When I entered this fine establishment, little did I know that it would become a divine intervention. We were seated outside on a 75 degree evening, in Michigan, in November, which is nothing short of a miracle itself. It was there where we were greeted by our server, who moved with the grace of the feather in the wind from Forrest Gump. She made our drinks strong, and nobody at our table went thirsty. The garlic sticks were a stellar compliment to my Titos and Red Bull. But then came the real treat... our actual meal. The West Coast oysters were good, I must say, but nothing spectacular. What I want to talk about is the wonderment of the blackened fish tacos! The flaky tortillas had the consistency of something that must have been prepared on a cloud, by sweet toddler Jesus himself. As I took a bite into this masterfully crafted taco, my obviously overmatched palate attempted to process what was going on within these wonderful creations. Is that salsa verde? Why yes it is... is that lime juice? I'm not so sure.. And then it hits you... the cheese crumbles!!! The way they compliment the slightly crisp outer edges of the fish followed by the stellar flakey goodness that lies within, is nothing short of spectacular. I plan on dining at this fine establishment again. Until then... I will spread the good word of the oysters, the garlic bread, and the...