Demetri’s BBQ

Real Southern breakfast. This is not a hipster joint with broccoli salad. I say this because I have found that most Unilocal reviews in Birmingham tend to rate hipster joints high while rating top not notch southern red neck joints lower.
If you like southern breakfast or Bbq, this is 5 stars.

Been coming here for years for breakfast. It’s what you expect of a good quality «greasy spoon». Good basic breakfast food, with great service and always a smile. You can’t talk about Demetris breakfast without shouting out about their biscuits. Big, crispy outside, pillowy cotton buttery inside. Delicious. The pancakes are just Cakey enough without going to the bready side. Bacon is thick and cooked to order. Eggs are always cooked exactly as you may want them. Just tell them and they will get it done.
Service is always quick, efficient and on top of it. And usually served with some good old southern charm. Yup when you want a solid breakfast with great service this is your place.

Ate lunch here today, very disappointed. Had BBQ pork plate, slaw was so salty I couldn’t eat it, BBQ sauce was also very very salty. I’m usually the one who adds salt but not today. Wait staff was good but this was the second or third meal I’ve had there lately that was diappointing.

Excellent BBQ! I had the pulled pork sandwich and fried okra. It was out of this world. A crazy mix of Greek and southern BBQ in one place.

Smoked chicken wings, chicken breasts, Angel-​hair slaw with Greek dressing, homemade Ranch dressing … these are a few of my favorite things at this family-​owned BBQ resty and BHM institution. Dont’ miss the French Toast for breakfast. Buy a bottle of the house-​made Greek dressing on the way out.

Well, the breakfast is great. But the bbq is super disappointing. Stick with the wings if you wind up here after breakfast.

Awesome place. This restaurant has been around for a long time. They are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I had a BBQ omelette and was blown away by the delicious flavor, and savored every bite.
The service is spectacular as well. The servers even when the place is busy, they know how to make sure no cup is empty or nothing else is needed at your table. It is a must try.

As one not from Birmingham or Alabama, I’m not an expert on the art of BBQ. But I like Demitri’s sauce because it is one of the few sauces that does not include high fructose corn syrup. So many other BBQ sauces that residents consider the best And have won many awards, include the high fructose. In my personal opinion, when you add high fructose, it cheapens the quality and also commercializes it. What do I mean? Think about ketchup and other mainstream BBQ sauce such as Bull’s Eye.

I cannot possibly say how impressed with Demetri’s when I stayed a week on business in August. Wow! I got a full rack of ribs (absolutely divine)! the grilled Greek seasoned veggies (to die for seriously), and a fried pie to go – I have celiac but I just couldn’t say no. It was worth the pain. The service was incredible and our waitress was such a cool lady and was truly a dedicated fan of the food herself. I saved half my rack for the hotel the next day! I also went for breakfast and ordered the Greek omelet with feta that was to die for. The hash browns were perfect as well. Damn, I wish I could enjoy this regularly!!!

I love this place, not for the pork, but for the chicken, wings, and turkey. The BBQ chicken is not to be believed, the best I’ve ever had. Good variety on the menu, and all the sides are excellent, especially the fried okra spears. And save room for desert, their pies are outstanding, try the coconut cream and remember me in your Will. Just stay away from the pork.

Very average BBQ. The ribs and wings were dry and seemed like they had been cooked a long time before serving. I will not go back for the BBQ

I personally like the ribs here. I also love the chocolate pie. The service is friendly too!

Some of the best breakfast you will eat in town!

I love eating here when I’m in the area. The BBQ and the wings are great and the breakfast is even better.

This review is based on a breakfast, early lunch, and late lunch, over three separate visits.
Go! Not pretentious. Not hipster. Just friendly staff, generous soda refills, and basic, stick to your ribs home cooking and BBQ.
The highlight: the El Rancho Brisket Sandwich. melty cheese, jalapeño and onion on tender brisket and a buttered roll.
Breakfast is true greasy spoon. Eggs, biscuits, sausage. Good basic diner cooking.
Friday is Mom’s Pot Roast special. Two of us split it for an early lunch. Fell apart delicious. But the mashed potatoes were the real highlight. Wish I could have eaten a pile of the carrots, but they only gave me one big carrot.
White chili is creamy from beans and has just the right about of heat.
Fried okra is well worth it dunked in a little buttermilk ranch.
Saturday Mac and cheese is a meal unto itself.

Ugh…
I love BBQ, and living in the SOHO area, I was extremely excited to have a BBQ joint within a few block radius where I could feed the cravings… Getting excited for this place was the wrong decision…
I got a half slab of ribs (because are there any bad ribs in Alabama?) and some Brisket, which is normally harder to find at BBQ places around town. Well Congratulations Demitri’s for having the first batch of bad ribs I have had since living here! The ribs were extra salty, dry, and just disappointing. The Brisket was in a puddle of grease, and was also over salted and just terrible. I actually threw away the food and had to get dinner elsewhere.
Maybe you like over-​salted gross BBQ… if so, definitely check this place out… As for me, it is Saws or Dreamland going forward!
So why 2 stars and not 1… The staff was pretty nice, so they get a bonus star, and honestly, who really reads one star reviews?
Sorry if you are as disappointed reading this review as I was with the food.

Demitri’s has become extremely busy and ownership has been smart and brought on more wait staff and is on top of service. Food was great. Will be back. :)

Ive been coming here for well over a decade and today I saw the ultimate gross. The runner brought food to our table and placed it in front of us and walked away before realizing it was at the wrong table. He then came back, picked up the plates and served it to other patrons. Uh, no way.

Good BBQ joint but nothing quite pushes it to 5 stars for me.
First thing that does stand out imo however, is the chicken used for the chicken sandwich that I ordered. Typical BBQ that I’m used to has that finely chopped meat (which is cool) but here, the meat slabs reminded me of Thanksgiving leftovers. You know how you carve all the rest of the turkey from the bones and eat it for days later on sandwiches, pot pies etc. Yeah… like that… real and large pieces of meat.
The standard sauce that was on the side was good but nothing amazing! Hard to stand out with a BBQ sauce in the south, but it’s possible. Sweet tea was actually really good (actually sweet) and the service was outstanding! I’d definitely return here, but not sure it’d be a definite go-​to or fav.
You my friends at Demetri’s have earned a solid 4 star rating!

Popped in on my own for an inexpensive dinner. I was a little bummed that they don’t have a beer license — barbecue is SO much better with a beer to wash it down. But without the beer, my check was much lighter.
I opted for a double turkey sandwich and asked for «add slaw.» What arrived was a good sized pile of turkey on a bun with a side of barbecue sauce — see the picture. The turkey was good and moist but not especially flavorful on its own (it’s turkey — no surprise) but the tangyness (is that a word? it is now.) brought it out and certainly a pour of the sauce kicked it up.
Comfortable. Filling. Decent service. No beer. Four stars.