Birmingham Restaurant Week cometh! And with it, your chance to try out those restaurants everybody always raves about.

If the week of August 11th through 20th is not on your epicurean radar, you need to recalibrate. Because, this is the one time of year when you can check out the incredible cuisine of Birmingham – especially those restaurants you’re always hearing about.

This year, more than 70 restaurants will be participating in the festivities. Deals range from ten-dollar lunches to forty-dollar dinners. If you want to learn more about how it works and where the deals are, you’ll want to check out  the website.

Every year, we particularly look forward to Birmingham Restaurant Week for one really big reason. You see, this is the time of year when we get to try out some of Birmingham’s incredibly nice eateries for super reasonable prices. Here are just a few you definitely might want to consider.

Ovenbird

Renowned James Beard Award-winning chef, Chris Hastings, envisioned Ovenbird as a place where everything in the restaurant –right down to the dessert pastries – is cooked on a wood-fired oven. And that’s exactly what you’ll experience. For $30 per person (not including tax, tip, and beverage) you’ll enjoy  Street Corn Seasoned with Lime, a Beef Fat Aioli, and Generously Dusted with Manchego Cheese, for your appetizer, the ever-decadent OvenBurger, featuring sofrito in place of your usual ketchup and mustard, and garnished with pickled onions for your main course, and a dessert of Churros with Dulce de Leche. If you’re with friends, we recommend asking for a porron filled with something nice to pass around after dinner. You’ll not regret the fun that ensues.

Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega, and Chez FonFon

No Restaurant Week experience is complete without visiting at least one of the restaurants owned and operated by the patriarch of Birmingham’s culinary renaissance, Frank Stitt. Fortunately for all of us, all three of his restaurants will be participating.

At Highlands Bar & Grill, $40 per person (not including tax, tip, or beverage) gets you: an appetizer (your choice of : Chilled Corn Soup, Smoked & Roasted Peppers or Lettuces with Roquefort, Local Beets, Radishes, Walnuts) an entree (your choice of Roast Joyce Farm Chicken Breast, Truffle Butter, and Summer Vegetables or Grilled Gulf Shrimp & Scallop Brochette served with Carolina Gold Rice Pilaf and Pistou), and of course dessert (your choice of Raspberries & Vanilla Panna Cotta or Sweet & Salty Cake). If you’re the sort of person who can appreciate a great martini, we highly recommend having the bartender whip one up for you; they’re definitely some of the best in town.

At Bottega, for $40 per person during this most delicious week (again, no tax, tip, or beverage included), guests will enjoy their choice of Summer Minestrone or Calamari Fritti for their appetizer, Grilled Sun Burst Trout with Capers and Brown Butter or Rigatoni Bolognese for their entree, and Cherry Semifreddo with Pistachios and Graham Cracker Crust for their dessert. Oh my!

Chez Fon Fon will be offering up lunch. For $15 (not including tax, tip or beverage), you can enjoy Pork Schnitzel with Pommerey Mustard Sauce and Frisée Salad followed by a Valrhona Chocolate Mousse.

Galley & Garden

Chef James Boyce comes to Birmingham by way of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He and his wife and parter, Susan, have created an exquisite restaurant in what was once the historic Merritt House on Highland Avenue. Consider having lunch with this James Beard nominated chef. After all, $15, not including tax, tip, and beverage, offers you: a choice of Heirloom Tomato Salad with pan seared Sturgeon Bank Salmon, Basil Whipped Goat Cheese, Arugula, Toasted Baguette, dressed in a Red Wine Vinaigrette or a Slow Braised Certified Angus Short Rib Sandwich with Arugula, Tomato Horseradish Cream, Braising Jus Reduction, and Parmesan Fries for your entree, and a choice of Upside Down Key Lime Pie – Vanilla-Butter Graham Crumb, Whipped Cream, Lime Zest or Beignets, Berries & Cream – Macerated Berries, Sweetened Mascarpone, Gently Drizzled with a Balsamic Reduction for dessert.

Satterfield’s

If you find yourself over in Cahaba Heights, you’ll want to dine with pastry chef and owner Becky Satterfield. At $40 per person for dinner, not including tax, tip, or beverage, you can enjoy: a choice of appetizers – either Butter Lettuce Salad – Muscadine Grapes, Apples, Pecans, Blue Cheese, and a Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette, or Avocado and Corn Salad with Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, Cilantro, Peppers, and a Lime Vinaigrette, a choice of entrees – either Grilled Wild Caught Nova Scotia Salmon served wth Potato-Conecuh Sausage Hash, Scallions, and Spiced Peach Sauce, or Roasted Joyce Farms Chicken served with  Corn, Farro, Poblano Chili, and Romesco Sauce. And, of course, no Satterfield’s dinner should go without dessert – in this case: Satterfield’s Beignets with Sauteed Apples and House-Made Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Avo

Over in Mountain Brook Village, Avo will be offering a $30 dinner menu that features a choice of four appetizers, four entrees, and three deserts. And they each and every one sound unbelievably good. Rather than list them all, we’ll just tease you with the thought of a Watermelon Salad topped with Feta Cheese, Mint Pesto, and Mustard Seeds, followed by Shrimp Marsala featuring mild East Indian Spices and Coconut Rice, and finished off with Peach Fried Pie, which boasts Local Peaches, Cinnamon, cardamom, and Devonshire Cream.

We wish we could cover the specials from every participating restaurant, but you’re better off just dropping in on the site, where you can purchase tickets and dial in your restaurant experience right down to how much money you want to spend. Until then, bon appétit!