Another year has flown by so fast that we could hardly keep up.

Before we close the curtain on the old year and ring in the new one, though, let us take a few minutes to whet your appetite with 12 of our favorite dishes we ate in the Birmingham metro area in 2023.

This year, more than any in recent memory, what was old was new again, as, in addition to checking out a few new places, we found ourselves revisiting some of our tried-and-true restaurant gems and rediscovering what we love about them.

Our favorite dishes list includes everything from smoked quail to roasted trout, an heirloom tomato BLT to a Greek yogurt cheesecake — along with dishes from Asia to Africa, Pinson to Pelham.

We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did researching it.

Smoked quail with pimento cheese grits at SoHo Standard

The kitchen crew at SoHo Standard in Homewood continues to raise the bar with their shareable appetizers, including this smoked quail dish, which offers an explosion of flavors and textures. Each order comes with two pieces of meat from the breastbone of the quail, which are seasoned with a barbecue dry rub and wrapped with jalapeno bacon before they’re smoked, flash-fried in duck fat and tossed in that same dry rub to create what SoHo Standard co-owner Taylor Hughes calls “a quail lollipop of sorts.” The accompanying pimento cheese grits feature McEwen & Sons stoneground yellow grits blended with a pimento cheese that’s made using a recipe from SoHo Standard co-owner Dave Horn’s aunt Claire Miller. Crispy and creamy, spicy and smoky, this dish is every bit as appetizing as it looks.

SoHo Standard is at 1830 29th Ave. South in Homewood, Ala. The phone is 205-423-8080. For more information, go here.

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Brisket sandwich at Creekside BBQ

Chef and pitmaster Eric Pippert has been rocking and rolling since he opened his Creekside BBQ two years ago in a former Waffle House location near the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham. Last year, Pippert’s smoked wings made our “12 favorite things” list, and this year, we’re giving a well-earned shout-out to his brisket sandwich, a two-fisted whopper stacked with melt-in-your-mouth smoked brisket, drizzled with an Alabama white sauce and dressed with Wickles Pickles and fried onion straws.

Creekside BBQ is at 1020 Oak Mountain State Park Road in Pelham, Ala. The phone is 205-358-7103. For more information, go here.

VIP Snapper at The Fish Market Southside

Some places have been around so long that we take their greatness and consistency for granted. Such is the case for The Fish Market Southside, where the gregarious George Sarris has been serving his fresh seafood with a Greek accent to loyal customers for more than 40 years. One of our latest favorite dishes at The Fish Market is the VIP Snapper, a generous medley of Gulf snapper, red onions, potatoes and tomatoes seasoned with lemon, olive oil and various spices and baked in a cast-iron skillet. It is a gentle reminder that we need to go back to The Fish Market Southside more often.

The Fish Market Southside is at 612 22nd St. South in Birmingham, Ala. The phone is 205-322-3330. For more information, go here.

Heirloom tomato BLT at Urban Cookhouse

At Urban Cookhouse, the farmer-friendly fast-casual concept founded by Andrea and David Snyder, their credo is “Buy Local, Eat Urban,” and there’s no finer example of that philosophy than the Heirloom tomato BLT. A summertime special that was available for a limited time only at Urban Cookhouse, this next-level BLT featured applewood smoked bacon, local romaine lettuce and thick slices of luscious heirloom tomatoes from Cullman County farmer Trent Boyd’s Harvest Farm. Here’s wishing that it becomes an annual special on the Urban Cookhouse menu.

Urban Cookhouse has four locations in the Birmingham metro area. For locations and more information, go here.

RELATED: Meet the Cullman farmer who supplies Alabama’s top restaurants

Nyama choma at Sahani Kitchen

Kenyan-born brothers David Kimani and Collins Ngure cranked up their Sahani food truck in 2020 and opened their brick-and-mortar Sahani Kitchen two years later. The Sahani menu includes goat pepper soup, roasted whole fish and matumbo (or beef tripe), among other dishes, but our choice was the nyama choma, a barbecued lamb dish that we ordered with sukuma wiki (collard greens) and ugali, a cornmeal porridge with the consistency of a grit cake. It was our first trip to Sahani Kitchen, but it won’t be our last.

Sahani Kitchen is at 2520 Fourth Ave. South in Birmingham, Ala. The phone is 205-521-2317. For more information, go here.

Peach dessert special at Pizzeria GM

One of our favorite things about summer — and the main reason we’re sad when it comes to an end — is the Chilton County peach pizza with Conecuh Sausage, bacon, buffalo mozzarella, basil and honey balsamic at Pizzeria GM. This past summer, we discovered another pleasant peach surprise at the Homewood pizzeria — a sweet, cold, creamy and crunchy combo of peach sherbet, caramel, waffle wafers and peach and strawberry slices. It was simply billed as “Gio’s Dessert Special” on the menu, and special it was. We can’t wait for next summer to get here so we can go back for another serving of peach perfection.

Pizzeria GM is at 600 Oak Grove Road in Homewood, Ala. The phone is 205-905-3266. For more information, go here.

Fried chicken at Magic City Grille

Those of us who work downtown were bummed when the news broke that the Magic City Grille — one of our go-to spots for crispy, golden fried chicken — was moving out of the city after a quarter-century. But we were relieved to hear that the beloved soul food café was reopening in downtown Bessemer, just down the street from a Marvel City classic, the Bright Star. (Magic City Grille also has a second location in Fairfield.) So, we happily made the trek to Bessemer to check it out the new digs in Bessemer’s historic Berney Bank building and thrilled to report that the fried chicken (which we ordered with mac and cheese and collard greens) is every bit as satisfying as we remember it. We’ll be making that trip to Bessemer again soon.

Magic City Grille is at 1901 Second Ave. North in Bessemer, Ala. The phone is 205-434-3788. Magic City Grille II is at 4610 Gary Ave. in Fairfield, Ala. The phone is 205-783-9392. For more information, go here.

Masa roasted trout with succotash at El Barrio

Chef Neville Baay says the masa roasted South Carolina trout with hominy-bacon succotash dish that is available during the summer months at El Barrio in downtown Birmingham was inspired by a succotash recipe he found in a cookbook that he picked up at a yard sale. “When you’re in summer,” Baay says, “a good succotash goes with anything.” Baay gave the dish a “Mexican-ish” twist, he says, incorporating a guajillo-citrus salsa and crispy plantains. “I really like it,” he says. “It’s light, but it’s got a good heartiness to it.”

El Barrio is at 2211 Second Ave. North in Birmingham, Ala. The phone is 205-868-3737. For more information, go here.

General Tso’s chicken sandwich at Rickshaw

Chris Joe, whose great-grandfather opened Birmingham’s beloved Joy Young Restaurant more than a century ago, is bringing his own style of Asian-inspired cuisine to the streets of Birmingham at his Rickshaw food truck, where the ever-evolving menu includes fried potstickers, dandan noodles and pork belly banh mi. One of his occasional specials is the General Tso’s chicken sandwich, a four-star sammie that features a boneless fried chicken breast coated with a sweet-and-fiery General Tso sauce and dressed with Napa cabbage slaw, pickled jalapenos and ginger aioli and served on a Martin’s potato roll. It’s enough to make you want to stand up and salute the chef.

To follow the Rickshaw food trailer, go here.

RELATED: This food truck’s connection to Birmingham’s beloved Joy Young Restaurant

Pork tenderloin biscuit at Ken’s Hickory Pit BBQ

A staple in the Pinson area for more than 50 years, Ken’s BBQ is as popular for its eye-opening breakfasts as it is its belt-loosening barbecue, and the star of the morning menu, in our opinion, is this heavenly biscuit served with grilled pork tenderloin. It is simplicity as its finest.

Ken’s Hickory Pit BBQ is at 4437 Pinson Valley Parkway in Pinson, Ala. The phone is 205-853-6488. For more information, go here.

Lunch sandwich at Le Fresca

While downtown Birmingham’s Le Fresca restaurant is best known for its wood-fired pizzas, scratch-made pastas and other dishes from chef and co-owner Marco Butturini’s native Northern Italy, one of the lunchtime favorites is simply known as the “lunch sandwich.” Salami, tomatoes, arugula and mozzarella cheese are stuffed inside a pita-like pouch that is baked to order using Le Fresca’s pizza dough. At just 10 bucks, it is the best lunch deal in town.

Le Fresca is at 2218 Second Ave. North in Birmingham, Ala. The phone is 205-593-4241. For more information, go here.

Greek yogurt cheesecake at Johnny’s Restaurant

At Johnny’s Restaurant in Homewood, chef Timothy Hontzas puts a Greek spin on the traditional Southern meat-and-three with a menu that features chicken souvlaki, Greek meatballs, spinach and chickpeas, fasolakia (stewed green beans) and Hontzas’ signature parmesan grit cake. But as satisfying as his entrees and sides are, don’t leave without ordering one of his desserts – specifically his Greek yogurt cheesecake with a koulourakia butter cookie crust and baklava citrus syrup. The cheesecake is complemented with a root beer and fig compote and with pickled grapes flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.

Johnny’s Restaurant is at 2902 18th St. South in Homewood, Ala. The phone is 205-802-2711. For more information, go here.

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