The Essential

The Essential has quickly become one of my favorite brunch spots, as I have yet to have anything there that has been less than spectacular. Service is fantastic, food is always scrumptious, and the setting on Morris is just the icing on the cake.

Really adorable spot for breakfast or lunch! I came in and tried an egg sandwich and a delicious Nutella pop tart. The sandwich has an extremely rich mayo/aioli sauce so I would probably try something different next time, but the pop tart was WORTH THE HYPE. Plus they have cute decor and outdoor seating!

Small little place missed brunch so we stuck around for lunch service. Had the mushroom and Rigatoni pasta plate, excellent dish, with a side of fish. Carrot cake was superb

Interesting lunch experience. Will return to try breakfast.

I was really looking forward to trying The Essential after following their social media. If only their food tasted as great as it looked--definitely nothing to write home (or blog) about. I got the arancini, kale caesar, and an overcooked pasta. Meh.Service was also very lacking on a week night. Doubt I'll visit again.

Glad to have them in B'ham. Charming bar area with an old world feel, very welcoming staff, and an modern-rustic interior. Service is fast, observant, warm but also unobtrusive and professional. Menu is small, changes with the seasons and offers several uncommon dishes. I was happy but not deeply impressed. Take this with a grain of salt because whenever I am in Italy, I am surprised how lightly herbed and seasoned the dishes are. I found the menu descriptions a bit pretentious. Most casual eaters are not familiar with Paccheri or SarVecchio and an explinatory sentence or two would be more helpful than the listing of ingredients, as long as they sound good. I was missing those little icons that guide the diner with dietary preferences. I identified myself as ovo- lacto vegetarian and was still asked if butter would be acceptable, which did not install any confidence in my choices. Portions are sized for office workers.

Everything is delicious, fresh, and surprisingly cheap for what you get. Always great

Latte was good and cappuccino was ok. Nice staff!

The Essential was great. The pastries looked amazing although we didn't try one. I had one of their specials which was an eggs Benedict with a croissant and tomato and feta. It was wonderful... everything was homemade and perfectly paired. The coffee was good just a great nice breakfast spot!

Awesome and fresh food, I love the character this spot has, and the cashiers were kind. I will definitely visit here again.

One of our favorite brunch spots in bham. We didn’t love the dinner we had here, but we’ve been back many many times for brunch. We’ve tried just about everything on the menu- the pancakes and salmon Benedict are worth trying. The drinks are good and we’ve always had great service. I would just love if they had more brunch hours- it’s weekend only

Enjoyed a late morning date at this spot. Wish they had a larger of variety of pastries. At the time they only had two types of pop tarts. But they were huge and delicious! I also had them make a honey cinnamon vanilla latte and it was on point. Would love to go back when they had a large selection.

A friend and I stopped in for cocktails one afternoon following work. The bar is right by huge windows so you can see the beautiful cobblestone street outside. Blake, our bartender, was AMAZING. He was courteous and obviously, knew his cocktails. The Essential is something special.

The atmosphere was really cute! They did a great job with the look and feel of the restaurant but I was not too impressed with the food for the price at all! We started off ordering the peppers and there was nothing special about them. They did not come with any kind of sauce and tasted as if they were rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper and thrown on the grill. Something I could do at home easily. I had the fish sandwich with fries and the fish was very fishy tasting and the french fries were bland. I ordered a glass of chardonnay and after receiving the check noticed it was $14 for a glass! That's very steep considering I basically asked for the house chardonnay. This place may be a better option for brunch but overall I was disappointed and do not plan on going back.

Fantastic brunch, great atmosphere, and although I didn't partake, the pastries looked amazing (homemade poptarts!).