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Welcome to The Alabama Foodist!

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professional, uncompensated Restaurant Reviews, Recent Recipes and Food Fun
WITHOUT all the "Blah Blah Blah! 

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Welcome to The Alabama Foodist

HI! I am Leslie, The Alabama Foodist - a former restaurant Front Of House evaluation pro who has developed a love for all things local. See my story on the "About" section below, if you want to know my story! 

I do, still, occasionally professionally do evaluations, but mostly I seek out and find those local gems that are, unfortunately not YET, on the radar as a restaurant star! 

I also like to help anyone who would like to try some different world cuisines but need a little information and first-timer suggestions for what to order and what it will be like!

I am a lover of food, recipes, travel and antique cookbooks. I love local cooking and restaurant history. I am a former co-host, and now, frequent guest of a local food show call "Breaking Bread with AJ, Leslie and the Chubbfather" on Talk 99.5 from 6:00-7:00pm. 

So there is no telling what I might post about here but the most important and, I hope, helpful content will be my restaurant/food reviews. I love to share the great places I've been and the stellar dishes I've had. I also learn of new places to try and love sharing that too! do my reviews a bit differently from the typical foodie so I thought I would share how it works!

My Restaurant Rating Criteria

When I evaluate/review a restaurant I have the following rules.

  1. I only publish reviews of the places I think are great places. I often speak of the “trifecta” of great food (including the menu), service, and atmosphere. If a place has great food and at least one of the other two factors, I will write a review. IF YOU SEE MY REVIEW ON A PLACE, I THINK IT IS WORTH A TRY!  Look, I prefer to share the great spots! I figure the bad places will either improve or go away on their own. Besides, I encourage you to use ANY reviews or ratings as a way to decide whether to go a second time! I don’t want to share a poor experience, on the chance that I was there on a bad night!I If I DO have a bad experience, I always give the place another try!

  2. I am not compensated for any reviews I post. I do not share my presence with the restaurant while I am dining. I pay for all of my meals. Many reviews you see these days are paid for by the establishment, tainting the objectivity of the review.

  3. I have a set of criteria that I use to judge the varied aspects of a good restaurant. These are useful for everything from a Mom and Pop diner to fine dining. I try to review a wide variety of places in all categories.

  4. I want to know what YOU think! If my review doesn’t match your experience, please let me know! I also would like to know of any hidden gems around the state that you have found! I love suggestions for places to try and share! I can’t go everywhere but I try to hit as many locally owned spots as I can! Talk to me!

“We can disagree on politics, religion, and even our favorite football team. But food is the great common ground where friendships can start, unless you put sugar in cornbread. Some things just can't be overlooked!”🤣

Want to help??

As a restaurant review professional, I strive to maintain objectivity in my reviews and recipes. I do not  typically receive any compensation for my work but when I am provided with a meal, you will see this in my review. As dining costs have gone up, I am having a harder time, as I am sure you are! HOWEVER, if you enjoy my content and would like to support me, please consider clicking on one of the links below. These are some of my favorite Amazon products that I personally use and recommend. Thank you for your support!

Classy restaurant table with a notebook

Birmingham, Alabama

205-730-6236

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How It Began...
and why I do it

Connecting with Foodies since 2000

My name is Leslie and my love of restaurants that “get it right” started during the several years that I worked for a company called Restaurant Rating Service. This was not a mystery diner type position. Restaurant owners hired the company to come in and secretly evaluate every aspect of the restaurant and dining experience. These guys knew that successful restaurants didn't succeed on food alone. These owners I understood that, for a restaurant to be truly stellar, every component of the business had to work. That position made me look at restaurants entirely differently. Of course, if the food is not good, it doesn’t matter what else you do right. But many restauranteurs believe that, if the food is right, nothing else matters. That is a recipe for what I call a "shooting star" restaurant - they are great for a short while and then they fizzle out. I love food and I love seeing restaurants that get it right! I especially love to see local restaurants succeed. At first, I used Twitter to share great food of course, but also to share what I had learned,  and to discuss small issues within establishments that could be changed for big results. Then Covid hit. I soon realized you could do everything right, and a Pandemic could STILL completely destroy you. I developed an even deeper passion for our local restaurants. We have some of the best establishments anywhere and even the little guys deserve a chance!
That is when the focus of my Twitter adventure changed. I still like to share restaurant experiences, new places to eat in Alabama cities across the state, history of restaurants (particularly in Birmingham, because I live here) and fun discussions about food in general. However, I have become more interested in promoting and encouraging local restaurants and businesses. I like to encourage my followers and friends to patronize the new and the old but mostly the local!

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