After a couple false starts the last week or so I finally was able to go out with Matt, Kari, and Lana to 220 in Birmingham last night. I hadn’t been there before but I heard and expected it to be a pretty cool spot. Luckily, I didn’t let myself down.

The area itself is of course very nice; downtown Birmingham (while a bit snooty at times) is always nice to visit, especially in the warmer months. I think one of the greatest things about 220 is that it’s in the old Edison building and in fact has a club downstairs called Edison’s (also a pretty cool spot). The building’s decor is full of rich dark woods but with a slightly worn feeling that makes it feel a bit more comfortable (something definitely welcome in my opinion in a city that can sometimes take itself a little too seriously). One of my favorite things were the old fashioned lightbulbs with the heavy filaments that glowed a deep orange hanging over the bars, as well as the marker caricature sketches of famous actors on the walls.

Dinner itself was fairly outstanding. I had the lake perch, with one of the best risottos that I’ve had in a restaurant. Good selection of beers as well. I’ve eaten at numerous fantastic restaurants, and while this one isn’t in the top 10, it was a surprisingly good value for the quality of food and service. I’d definitely recommend the place to others and go back myself sometime.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Food and tagged with . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.