Magic City Grille

First time in downtown Birmingham and van full of hungry teens. Extremely lucky to find such a tasty buffet. We all loved the food and service was friendly and very attentive.
Truly enjoyed the experience and ate way to much. Did I say how yummy the food is?
You won’t regret stopping.

One fine Sunday afternoon, we stopped here for the lunch buffet. We had to wait on seating, as the place is fairly small and crowded. The soul food was decent. At least what I had a choice of. They were out of both fried and baked chicken and fish, so I opted for the beef stew stuff. It was decent. Nothing to write home about, but not too shabby either. The veggies were yummy and seasoned well.
Overall, the food is good. The price is very reasonable. It’s one of the only soul food buffets that I can recall in the city. Why only 3 stars you may ask? This place is uncomfortably small. I felt like I was either in the way of the people getting to-​go meals at the buffet, or someone was bumping into me or vice versa. Granted it was a Sunday afternoon after the end of church services. My fellow customers were very courteous though, with frequent «Excuse me» or «I’m sorry». They knew. We were all in the same boat, which was too tight. The air didn’t seem to work too well either on this warm spring day in the south. Sigh.

Stopped in here for lunch driving down on a Sunday, which apparently is a day when all of Burmingham shuts down. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Magic City offers a magically soul food buffet for ONLY $ 9.99! The food was some of the best soul food I’ve ever had, especially the corn bread, the sweet potatoes, and the fried fish. The staff was also very pleasant. Would definitely come back if I ever find myself in Birmingham again.

Without a doubt the best home cooking buffet and ala carte restaurant in Birmingham! For under $ 12.00 you get some of the most delicious fried chicken (crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside), meat loaf, mac and cheese, yams, vegetables, corn bread muffins, salads, desserts and iced tea!!! I have never had a bad meal there. I’m glad the place is 80 miles from my house, because I would be as big as a house if I could eat there every day. Clientele is as varied as they come; government workers; law enforcement; hoodies; and lawyers alike. Everyone comes here because of the food. The physical environment doesn’t look like much but who cares the food is wonderful. Enjoy.

Just ate here a few hours ago and let me tell you… this is some of the best soul food I’ve had in a long time. I will admit that the fried okra and chicken were a little salty, but I’d rather have food that’s over seasoned instead of bland. The yams were delicious, the Mac and cheese was creamy and cheesy, the greens were tender and flavorful. This is my first time in Birmingham but, as long as this place is here, it definitely won’t be my last.

Solid country cooking buffet. I don’t even know why I fill up on something other than the fried chicken and I always stray only to return for the chicken. The trick is to wait until you see them bring out a new bucket of fried to dump on the steam table. Others have said the fried is too dry and on occasion I have found a piece to be this way, but it’s a buffet so just move on to the next piece! Different size pieces do not cook uniformly.
Sure the mashed potatoes taste like potato pearls or other instant but they’re fine with gravy as is the rice and the green beans or cabbage.
And I agree that the mac and cheese is an abomination but some love MnC in all forms. I need real cheese.
Yesterday I was not paying enough attention and tried what I thought was hamburger steak only to taste liver and onions. Blechhh!
Sometimes they have interesting options like the chicken broccoli casserole which is pretty good.
The chicken livers are great when right out of the fryer.
Note Pepsi products are sold, not Coke and in my experience the refills can be a little slow in coming but hey I’m there for the fried bird and lots of it!
Someone mentioned the salad bar which is just a waste of space in my opinion when I’m coming there for meat and three.
The bead pudding dessert will rot your teeth and face off if has so much sugar.
I need to try the breakfast sometime too.
Edit — tough call between 3 and 4 stars but AYCE fried chicken is near and dear to my heart, arteries, belly, etc.

Good broad selection on the lunch buffet, but not exactly wonderful soul food. The yams were great. The fried chicken was well battered and seasoned, but very dry and overlooked inside. The lettuce on the salad bar was wilted and browning, which I understand is difficult to control. The pickled okra made up for that! The black eyed peas cooked with green beans were not soft enough and way too salty. The Mac and cheese was made with velveeta — a sad, but common mistake. But my biggest issue and reason for writing the review was the liver and onions. The onions were very flavorful and tender-​crisp instead of cooked to death. However, somebody forgot to take a mallet to the liver before cooking it. Now if there is one meat you cannot skip tenderizing it is calf’s liver. I couldn’t even cut it with a knife and fork to get it in my mouth except for a few bites near the middle. The flavor was good, but you really got to trust somebody with liver and onions. And all the love was lost there. They had chicken livers that day as well, which I tasted and did not like, but admittedly they are not usually my favorite anyway. I hate that this place was just average because I wanted so badly to love it just around the corner from my office. I’ll give it another go since it was my first time in there in years, but stay away from the liver! — update: tried it again a few weeks later on a Friday and the fried fish was absolutely wonderful. Some of the same problems were lurking around as mentioned above, but that fish tho! so moved from two stars to three and will try it again on a Friday eventually.

Ate far more than I was prepared to do for lunch. The restaurant had an impressive array of home-​cooked soul food, ranging from mashed potatoes, to black eyed peas, to the most mouth-​watering pieces of fried chicken I had ever had. The fried chicken is seriously that good. Also, unlike other hot bars, the food at the bar is kept piping hot, meaning that every bite from every dish is phenomenal. The food is incredibly cheap, and served buffet style. Finally, the staff was friendly and rightfully proud of their delicious food!

Excellent Sunday destination after church. Chicken and waffles are great but also the buffet is small but well-​maintained.

I wish I could be there now,
This joint is my jam when I’m in a jam. In need of a killer Sunday soul food meal? This is the answer.
Also, their weekday buffets are insanely good. I miss the turkey necks and the fried fish. It’s all your can eat and I always leave satisfied. I wish NYC had a place that could match Magic City Grille’s offerings.

Had the chicken and waffles. Didn’t care for much else on the menu. We went on a Sunday morning and restaurant was fairly empty. The service was ok. The young lady was friendly. They really should think about an interior upgrade. Good food. Authentic Birmingham.

Went there with my hubbs, Rod L. His first time. Food was great as usual. The buffet at 11am is great soul food. The inside is nothing special but that’s not why I go there.

Had chicken and waffles… must agree chicken has great old school flavor. Took a pic of the menu should’ve took one of the plate. No big deal I’ll just take one next time since I will be going back
Place is very local and has round-​the-​way feel so if you are expecting fancy it’s not the place.
You go for the food and that I enjoyed.

This place came highly recommended so I was really looking forward to my first visit, I won’t be back again. Upon entering, I was greeted with a «What you want» from a waitress sitting in the back booth who couldn’t be bothered to stand when she asked. When she finally decided to visit me and my party she literally threw down our napkins and straws because she had to answer her cell phone (which interrupted our service two more times during the visit). The food arrived and was great, all three in our party enjoyed their meals. What we did not enjoy was the deplorable service. We figure between the three of us, a minimum of 6 – 8 thank you’s were offered to our waitress, all of them replied to with an «Uh– huh». Needless to say, none of us will be returning or recommending this restaurant.

Im sold, i ate here last year on my visit to AL. and i went to a couple places in town during my week visit, i just wish i made this my first stop becuase i would have by passed all the other places. The Food was amazing and flavorful! not much of a selection but what was available was outstanding. I even ordered a side of waffels to try the famous combo (chicken and waffels). I’m returning to AL in 2 weeks and MAgic city grill will be my first choice of down home cooking…

When i get home sick and need my mama’s food i go here. I get my plate to go and and large cup of Kool-​Aid.

Soul food, and lots of it. The lunch buffet is a deal at $ 7.99, and lets you choose from a selection of (my favorites): roasted/​fried chicken, candied yams, collard greens, cornbread stuffing, black-​eyed peas, and must-​get sweet potato pie. There’s a salad bar, too, but it didn’t look particularly appetizing.
The buffet serving station does’t look too big but it’ll fill you up for sure. Don’t expect anything fancy, just down-​home goodness. Magic City Grille seems a popular place for locals, and –bonus– it’s open on Sundays (unlike many other restaurants in Birmingham).

Not a bad little joint. I came here with some coworkers for their lunch buffet. When I say buffet you’re probably thinking of large rows of food, but this buffet is on a much smaller scale an it would probably fit in an average sized work cube. What it lacks in variety it makes up in flavor.
This is Southern style food: Fried chicken, collared greens, cornbread muffins, etc. If tastes good and is probably gonna kill you then they’ll have it on the menu. The staff is friendly and VERY on top of things. They’re refilling cups before you even realize you need one and clearing out plates in the blink of an eye. It’s an efficient little team.
Side note: you pay the moment you enter the place which is interesting. It seems they had some problems with people coming in to eat and leaving without paying.
If you’re in the mood for some Soul Food and want a heaping handful of atmosphere then check this place out.