Avenue Pub - Downtown Tuscaloosa — Restaurant in Tuscaloosa

I'll probably catch a lot of heat over this, but...I'm not sure if I get the hype?

I do this thing where I get really, really excited for restaurants with a TON of great reviews, go to them, and wind up a little disappointed. I rarely have a bad experience, but rarely does the restaurant meet my expectations, either. I probably need to quit hyping myself up over this stuff.

Anyway. The Avenue Pub is a cute, surprisingly tiny place off of downtown T-town. Their menu is limited but they do upscale bar food, mostly. Their happy hour deals during the week seem legit. Atmosphere is cozy and dark, like any good pub; unfortunately, some of the smoke from next door gets in the ventilation system and the place smells faintly smoky, despite being a non-smoking establishment.

I imagine it's very hard to get a seat during peak hours (I'd wager no more than 100 people can comfortably be served at a time), but we went very late on Saturday and had no problem getting a spot. Service was friendly and our food came out quickly.

We had the chicken bites to start. Basically fancy chicken nuggets with two sauces, a honey mustard type sauce and a Korean barbecue-y sauce. I liked the honey mustard more. However, while the chicken was tender and juicy, I didn't much like the flavor of the breading, and I personally think they may have been a bit over-fried.

My boyfriend and I both got the bacon burger as our meal. He had the grilled asparagus, which was apparently great - so great he ate it all before I could sample it! The fries were solid, nicely seasoned. Unfortunately, I think the problem is I'd read multiple articles claiming this was one of the best burgers in the state of Alabama and I just...was underwhelmed.

Was it a good burger? Absolutely. Would I rather go to 5 Guys? Well, for the price...I'm sorry...but yes. My main let down came in the fact that it was supremely juicy, obviously high quality beef...that just didn't have a ton of flavor. I didn't feel the provolone cheese added a ton, and the bun disintegrated before too long. I will say the bacon was GREAT.

Overall, would I come again for a $5 happy hour burger? If I could get in, you bet. But would I come for a $15 burger otherwise? Not so much. I'm sorry if y'all disagree; take my opinion with a...

We ate dinner at this location last night. It had been a while since we’d eaten here bc we try to go during the summer when it’s less crowded. We were really disappointed the Jalapeño Dip is no longer on the menu. That was our favorite menu item. Kids ordered burgers and they were happy with their food. I got the shrimp n grits with a side salad. The waitress didn’t ask if I wanted the salad before my entree. If she’d come back to our table even one time before the food came out I would have asked her for the salad but would have been nice if she’d asked. Food took way too long to come out considering restaurant was basically empty. But while we waited for food we had plenty of time to take notice of what was going on in the kitchen. One guy in there was constantly wiping his nose. I have no idea if he was cooking food was it was kinda gross. If you have an open kitchen be aware that your patrons are watching. My shrimp n grits were way too salty. That’s all I tasted was salt. Caesar salad was really good. My husband got a margarita on the rocks and it was not good. My spicy cucumber margarita was good. Long story short the food was hit and miss as well as the drinks. Service was ok. Remind any employees in the kitchen to be aware of good hygiene bc people are watching. Lastly, bring back the...

For our first time dining here I'd say it was only partially a poor experience. I gave 4 stars due to the food being excellent. I ordered the Salmon brunch which the menu stated was served with a poached egg and asparagus on a bed of spinach, however the kitchen forgot the egg. My boyfriend ordered the grilled pork served with a sunny side up egg and diced potatoes. Both meals were delicious. Our server Kristie was very pleasant even with being short staffed. I would have given more stars, however the only other server Ashley was a complete disaster. She was hardly serving the table next to us, who asked for more water 3 times and failed to deliver it or a to go box until after they had paid the bill. When I asked her in passing to see a menu she replied with a nasty attitude "well you cant order anymore food we're closed so..". I asked again because I wanted to make sure I had not read the menu wrong thinking I was supposed to have a poached egg with my meal. I waited an unknown amount of time before she returned with a menu only to stop at the door and toss the menu to my table instead of taking the few steps to walk it over from the doorway. Ashley was so rude not only to myself but also to her table next to mine. If I return to this establishment I will be sure to make sure I avoid having her...