Toast — Restaurant in Birmingham

This is my first time coming in to this establishment. Upon walking in people were very friendly and courteous and shown me to my table. I was in the mood for waffles or pancakes and I had to ask the lady who initially sat me down if they had anything non-dairy that they could make as far as the pancakes and waffles. She went to ask. Unfortunately the chef said they were unable to do it because they use a certain pancake mix to make the pancakes and waffles. Furthermore they were unable to accommodate me. I have a deathly allergic to dairy and I explained this to her. So I continued looking at the menu while she went back to rolling silverware and setting up placemats. The other waitress I had whose name was Leslie was very upbeat and positive. We spoke about life and entertainment. She loved my t-shirt as a few customers in the establishment did. I love the 80s music serenading in the background it added a nice touch. The only thing that was frustrating to me was when I was going over the menu, I thought the lady was coming back whom initially sat me down.. I quickly found out that was not the case as Leslie was my waitress and she was just helping her. I had put money in the parking meter and it was about to expire and they were about to close.. I was about to go out there and put money in the M but I didn't have any change on me. Leslie offered money out of her own pocket to take care of my parking meter a couple blocks up. She went above and beyond normal duties as a waitress. The bathrooms were incredibly clean and immaculate. The reason I'm giving a 3 for this establishment is I feel they could have made the pancakes or waffles with eggs. I wish I didn't have this allergy but I do. Furthermore, there was a service charge on top of my price for my food as well as a tip. I'm thinking technically I didn't want to leave a tip because they included it in the service charge. But Leslie was such a great waitress and just an all-around nice person, that I wasn't going to leave her hanging. I probably wouldn't come back unless they were able to tweak their menu a little bit. I hate being that person that's allergic to dairy. But it's quite serious. Maybe a tip would be for them to be more accommodating and offer non dairy alternatives especially if they're a...

Very fun atmosphere, love the attire of the staff, and the decor is very upscale bohemian. What could be better - being a foodie who is also a trained chef, I love inspired dishes. What I don't like is taking something so good on it's own and adding superfluous ingredients to make it interior and masking it's original integrity. I wanted their hash, but I would've had them leave out 5 or 6 ingredients. So I asked about a simple, breakfast standard, sausage gravy and biscuits, you'd think I spilled red wine on the Queens new rug. Seriously I was quite put off by our server's attitude. It's one thing to ask for your USDA Prime dry aged bone in Filet mignon to be cooked well and served with A-1, but if I'm asking for a simple hash or sausage gravy and biscuits instead of with all the frivolous and detracting extra ingredients please don't act like I'm ruining the dish. At least have some traditional fare aside from just two eggs and a choice of meat, out at the minimum don't act like you're the arbitrator of everyone's tastes. Sorry sister, but you're not. Because of that attitude as much as if not more so than the actual menu I was very put off, not to mention a breakfast for 4 people being $130, for that much on breakfast you should (at the minimum) not act so offended when I simply asked if it's possible to get a dumbed down version.i guess that's my own error as well - believeth that using quality in gradients and using good technique in their preparation should be more than enough for anyone from the most basic to the most advanced palate.... But then again it goes to show that simply because you spend more money that doesn't mean...

We decided to give Birmingham Toast another try for Father's Day after a lackluster experience the last time we dined there.

We attempted to call before coming in and it took 6 attempts to get through. When my partner did reach someone, she just said hello and hung up. Apparently, they were having some issues with their phone system. Unfortunately, when we arrived they had a paper sign on the door stating that they were closing at 3 pm. They didn't bother to update their Google My Business, which would take 5 minutes. You can't assume they will be open even if their Google hours show that they are. I'd recommend calling beforehand, but good luck getting through.

The previous time we dined there, we had several issues. When we received our French press / banana coffee the server pressed it down and it began bubbling up over the top. Instead of saying anything she just left the table. We had to stop another server to get some napkins. We didn't have any help cleaning it up or any apology. Furthermore, the wall in the booth next to us was dirty. The Cholula hot sauce in our booth was crusty and dirty all over.

With this poor attention to detail and cleaning in the visible areas of the dining portion of the restaurant, how can you be confident that anything is clean or sanitary in the kitchen? What are the food preparation standards?

Of course, no one comes around to check how your meal is. I considered asking to talk to a manager, but it felt like no one cared and it was better to just pay the bill and leave.

They were the "best brunch in Michigan," a few years ago, but I don't think this is the case...