10 new restaurants that opened in Birmingham in 2024

From Asian to Mexican, steaks to seafood, fast-casual to fine dining, new restaurants popped up all over Birmingham in 2024.

While this is by no means a complete list of all the restaurants that opened in the Magic City this year, here are 10 new places that we would visit again — and, in some cases, already have.

The mural outside Luca Lagotto and Luca Mercato restaurant and market in Homewood was designed by Birmingham artist Marcus Fetch.(Photo by Angie Mosier; used with permission)

Luca Lagotto and Luca Mercato

Luca Lagotto and Luca Mercato, the Italian restaurant and market that longtime Birmingham restaurateur Nick Pihakis and his Pihakis Restaurant Group opened in downtown Homewood in February, is a concept inspired by a trip the Pihakis restaurant family took to the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy about two years ago.

A few of our favorite things on the menu are the meatballs with polenta, pecorino and basil; rigatoni with arrabbiata, fennel sausage, basil and Parmigiano Reggiano; pepperoni pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella (either the thick square crust or thin round crust); and for a sweet finish, the waffle cone cannoli with vanilla ricotta, pistachios and chocolate pearls.

Luca Lagotto and Luca Mercato are at 1722 28th Ave. South in Homewood. For more information, go here.

The Mayor

Seven years after opening his Asian-fusion restaurant EastWest downtown, Birmingham restaurateur Colby Conklin launched his latest concept, The Mayor, a combination Asian food hall and American sports bar, in the city’s Lakeview District this February.

Whether you’re on your way to a show or dropping in after work, it’s a fun place to grab a quick bite and a cold beverage.

The fast-casual and budget-friendly menu includes fried egg rolls, Thai chicken lettuce wraps, hot lemon pepper wings, spicy garlic noodles and a Korean beef banh mi with wonton chips.

On the bar side, signature cocktails include Mr. West (with tequila, lemongrass, lime and jalapeno) and the Saigon Sling (with gin, passionfruit and pomegranate).

Before or after your meal, visit the Luca Mercato market to shop for imported wines, olive oils and cheeses, as well as house-made pastas and sauces.

The Mayor is at 2808 Seventh Ave. South in Birmingham. For more information, go here.

Miracle Pizza in Birmingham, Ala. — Miracle Pizza Co. moved into the former Post Office Pies location in Avondale this spring. (Bob Carlton/[email protected])

Miracle Pizza Co.

While we were sad to see one of our favorite Birmingham pizzerias, Post Office Pies, close its original location in the old Avondale post office, we were gladdened by the news that Miracle Pizza Co. was moving in to fill the void.

Ben McPherson, an Alabama native who cooked in restaurants from Atlanta to Houston, answered the call to come home and open Miracle Pizza this past spring.

The airy, light, crispy Roman-style pizzas are available by the slice or the whole pie and include basics like cheese and pepperoni, as well as such house specialties as the Spicy Soppressata (with spicy salami and hot honey), the Meat & Greet (with Italian sausage, pepperoni, meatballs and bacon) and the Magic Mushroom (with black truffle and herb ricotta, mushrooms and mozzarella).

While pizza is the name of the game, don’t sleep on the sandwich options, which include a Meatball Parmigiana (with hand-rolled meatballs, tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan on a hoagie roll), and our new favorite, the Windy City-worthy Italian Beef (with house-roasted beef in garlic jus and Chicago-style giardiniera relish on a hoagie roll).

Miracle Pizza Co. is at 209 41st St. South in Birmingham. For more information, go here.

Current Charcoal Grill

Five years after opening his game-changing Automatic Seafood and Oysters, James Beard Award-winning chef Adam Evans partnered with his brunch chef at Automatic, New Zealand-born chef Luke Joseph, and Birmingham businessman Raymond J. Harbert to open Current Charcoal Grill, an Asian-American restaurant inspired by a centuries-old Japanese grilling tradition using slow-burning Binchotan charcoal.

The stunning new addition to Birmingham’s Parkside District was designed by Evans’ wife, Suzanne Humphries Evans, and features 22-foot, cathedral-like ceilings; deep-blue ceramic tile along and above the twin bars that front and flank the restaurant’s open kitchen; and copper elements throughout, including the raw bar countertop, the mini table lamps and the serving pitchers.

The menu, which changes frequently, has so much going on – including shrimp and chicken wontons, sticky lamb ribs, banana-leaf-grilled red snapper and Korean-style fried chicken — that our advice is to step outside your comfort zone and try something new each time you visit.

One appetizer we can’t get enough of, though, is the pork-and-shiitake dumplings with peanut chili crisp. It’s one of our favorite new Birmingham dishes.

Current Charcoal Grill is at 1625 Second Ave. South in Birmingham. For more information, go here.

Magnolia Point

With its mounted taxidermy, old family photos and assorted beach town knickknacks, Magnolia Point conjures up memories of the old 1960s-era fish camps that dotted the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coasts back in the day.

And that’s just the look and feel that developer Michael Mouron wanted to evoke when he bought the vacant, 90-something-year-old Magnolia Point building on Birmingham’s Southside more than three years ago.

“I’ve done a number of historical buildings, and as I like to tell people, I think a historical building has a patina, just like an old antique piece of furniture,” Mouron said prior to the opening of Magnolia Point this summer. “And I think if you redo a historical building — and do it well — there’s a certain charm and a patina that you can’t get with new construction.”

The Magnolia Point menu, developed by chef Paul Yeck from the Pihakis Restaurant Group, is a throwback, too, with fried crab claws, a catfish po’ boy, peel ‘n’ eat shrimp, seafood gumbo and a smoked tuna dip that’s as tasty and addictive as any you’ll find at the beach.

Save room for a slice of that creamy, tart key lime pie, too.

Magnolia Point is at 2234 Magnolia Ave. South in Birmingham. For more information, go here.

Joyland

Nashville chef Sean Brock has had a long-distance love affair with Birmingham – its food, its music, its people – for quite a while, so when the opportunity came along to open a location of his retro-fast-food concept Joyland here, Brock jumped all over it.

“Selfishly, for me, I want to put (Joyland restaurants) in cities that I love hanging out in and want to spend time in and want to learn more about and want to contribute to,” Brock said before Joyland opened in Avondale in August. “Birmingham is a region and a city that I haven’t had a chance to contribute to.”

The fast food-inspired menu features Brock’s twists on cheeseburgers, buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken, hand pies, milkshakes and soft-serve ice cream, and it showcases his commitment to sourcing his meats and dairy products from small, family-owned farms that raise their animals responsibly and humanely.

“It’s fast food through the lens of an obsessive Southern chef,” Brock said.

Menu favorites include the fried-chicken-on-a-stick “Joystick” and “Dipstick,” but the star, in our humble opinion, is Brock’s signature “CrustBurger,” a griddled Bear Creek Farm beef patty served with melted American cheese on a crispy potato bun pressed flat as a pancake. For maximum pleasure, we suggest you make it a double.

Joyland is at 3719 Third Ave. South in Birmingham. For more information, go here.

Surf Hound

Self-taught chef Abhi Sainju, a native of Nepal, has developed quite a following around Birmingham since he launched his Everest Sushi pop-up concept more than a decade ago.

His latest restaurant, Surf Hound – which is downstairs from his flagship Asian-inspired restaurant Abhi Eatery + Bar and around the corner from his fast-casual Asian-fusion concept Maro – opened this fall in the former Carrigan’s Public House space in the heart of Mountain Brook Village.

The fun, casual menu is inspired by both the Asian beach cuisine Sainju remembers from his youth and the American coastal food he has experienced as an adult.

“The beach is a happy place for many of us, including myself,” Sainju said before the restaurant’s opening. “With Surf Hound, I wanted to celebrate those nostalgic memories and emulate that same environment, but with an elevated take on the coastal food that we all know and love.”

True to that spirit, the Surf Hound menu includes birria chicken nachos, Thai lemongrass wings, bison sliders, roasted duck tacos, a pork bánh mì, and a soft-shell crab sandwich, along with a selection of Wagyu beef, bison and turkey burgers.

Surf Hound is at 2721 Cahaba Road in Mountain Brook. For more information, go here.

Salud Taqueria

Jesús Méndez and José Medina Camacho – the creative duo behind downtown Birmingham’s award-winning cocktail bar Adiõs – teamed up again to open Salud Taqueria, a modern, fast-casual Mexican restaurant and bar in one of downtown’s oldest buildings.

“To be in such an iconic building and have the opportunity to make it be alive again means a lot to me and comes with a lot of responsibility,” Méndez said before Salud’s October opening.

The Salud menu includes handmade corn and flour tacos, burritos, quesadillas and tortas served with a choice of four proteins – carne asada (beef), pollo asada (chicken), suadero (brisket), al pastor (pork) – as well as one vegetarian option, nopal (cactus).

The beverage program, curated by Camacho, features a rotating selection of eight house cocktails that not only include the signature Salud Margarita, but also vodka, gin, bourbon, rum and Scotch craft cocktails.

Salud Taqueria is at 1931 Second Avenue North in Birmingham. For more information, go to saludbham.com.

Armour House

Armour House — a neighborhood brasserie and raw bar from chef Jeffrey Compton, formerly of Acre in Auburn and The Battery in Homewood — opened in early November in downtown Birmingham’s 113-year-old Armour & Co. building.

The restaurant’s interiors blend the building’s history with modern touches, including original tiled brick flooring, floor-to-ceiling windows and tables hewn out of repurposed wood from the building.

As handsome and inviting as the space is, though, Compton’s thoughtfully curated menu is the main attraction.

Highlights include tuna crudo with huckleberry yuzu aguachile, Fresno pepper, aged fish sauce, fennel, and herbs; roasted beet toast with grilled sourdough, whipped goat cheese, pickled ramp, Eastaboga honey, herbs, and chili flakes; wood-fired oysters with nduja butter, Hinkel breadcrumbs, pecorino Romano, chive and lemon; bone-in pork schnitzel with crispy brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, apple, prosciutto vinaigrette, ramp aioli and 25-year balsamic; and a Black Angus beef tenderloin with pomme puree, charred broccolini, lamb shank jus and bone marrow butter.

For an intimate and immersive experience, pull up a chair at the five-seat raw bar, which offers guests an up-close view of the Armour House culinary team in action.

And for a before- or after-dinner drink, venture downstairs to the restaurant’s subterranean cocktail lounge Pogo.

Armour House is at 2309 First Ave. North in Birmingham. For more information, go to armour-house.com.

Lag’s Eatery

What’s old is new again.

Lag’s Eatery, which the late Anthony “Lag” Gagliano opened on Broadway Street in Homewood in the 1970s, reopened in late November in Birmingham’s Avondale-Crestwood area, about 15 years after the original Lag’s closed.

Justin Shubert and Eric Wallace, who worked for previous owner Gerard DeFrank at the old Homewood Lag’s, partnered to bring it back to life in a community they say is near and dear to them.

Standouts on the diner-inspired menu include the Bird Burger (a fried chicken breast with pickles, lettuce, tomato and Duke’s mayo on a Martin’s potato roll), the Pastrami Reuben (house-cured brisket, pastrami, Swiss cheese, kraut and special sauce on rye) and Lag’s signature Gerard Attack (three beef patties, bacon, Swiss cheese, griddled onions and special sauce on Texas toast.)

Lag’s Eatery is at 4350 Third Court South in Birmingham. For more information, go here.