Wilder’s

Wilder’s is Samy Eid’s love letter to the American supper club — the Chickpea Hospitality restaurateur behind Phoenicia and Forest built it from the ground up in downtown Birmingham as an Art Deco throwback to when dinner was the whole event. Think burled wood, polished brass, a custom chandelier over an intimate room, suited servers, and a menu of three-martini-dinner classics: dry gin martinis, caviar, filet mignon, Ora King salmon. It opened in early 2025 and quickly became one of the harder reservations in town.

This is unabashed occasion dining — dressy, a little theatrical, priced for a night that matters. We have it high on our list as the metro’s most convincing revival of old-school glamour, the kind of place you book for an anniversary and talk about afterward. Come for a special-occasion dinner, order a martini before you even open the menu, and lean into the whole bygone-era bit.