Taste testing 5 of Waitr’s weirdest eats delivered from local restaurants in Birmingham. Use code “BHAMNOW” for free delivery!

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We take ~spooky season~ seriously over here at Bham Now. But is it really Halloween if you’re not trying ~spooky foods~?! The answer is no, okay.

We’ve also got a thing for Waitr (if you couldn’t tell by now), and with their help, we convinced our team to try foods they’ve never tried—and honestly were a little scared of—from local Birmingham restaurants. Bone appétit. ☠️

Taste Testing Waitr’s Weirdest Eats

1. Fried Gizzard Plate | Green Acres | $3.50

Their dish: Fried Gizzards from Green Acres. If you’ve been in Birmingham for more than a minute, you’ve probably heard of Green Acres—the soulful southern staple that’s been established for more than two decades in the Magic City. They are known for their fried chicken wings, livers and gizzards. 

The gizzard is an organ found in the chicken. They are small, usually fried and much chewier than expected. But if you can just get past the word gizzard itself, you’ll probably enjoy the dish. Our team did:

• First impressions: Looks like fried chicken and smells good.
• The taste test: It’s tough. Chew with caution.
• Final scores: Nathan — 9/10, Gabi — 7/10.

Use Waitr (and code “BHAMNOW”) next time you order Green Acres, and if you’re feeling adventurous, add an order of gizzards. We approve.

2. Seaweed Salad | Surin West | $5.50

If you like Asian-style cuisine, you’ll probably be a fan of seaweed salad. But don’t get confused. It’s not like the salad you might be used to with leafy greens and croutons. This is most commonly made with a dark, leafy dark green seaweed called Wakame. It’s typically dressed in sesame seeds, sesame oil, and soy sauce—flavors you’d expect to taste.

What’s not expected is the texture—a little slimy, but crunchy? noodle-like bite that you’ll probably be chewing for a hot second. Chaise and Jacob made the rookie mistake of taking the largest bite possible, so it was a bit of a shock. But overall, not that scary. 

• First impressions: Hesitant but here for it.
• The taste test: No words. They both got a mouthful of seaweed salad, aka they’ll be chewing for a bit.
• Last words: “It tastes really good… It would be good if it had like some chicken in it” -Chaise

They didn’t finish the seaweed salad, so the team helped them out a bit. It’s called teamwork.

3. Chopped Liver Toast | Mile End Deli | $5.75 

This one was… interesting. Don’t get us wrong, Mile End is one of our absolute favorite restaurants in Birmingham. Don’t believe us? We’ve written enough stories to prove it. But wow, trying the chopped liver toast was a wild ride for our team.

Although this traditional Jewish dish might not sound appealing, it’s popular enough that the first few articles on a simple Google search include Bon Appetit, NYT Cooking and Food & Wine Mag. In my amateur opinion, I think that warrants a try.

• First impressions: Looks like avocado toast.. “But like if it rotted a little bit.” -Chaise
• The taste test: Gabi is a yes, Chaise is a, erm, no.
• Last words: “You either love it or you don’t mind it.” -Chaise 

Our takeaways are that if you’re looking for a more savory toast than avocado, you might enjoy the chopped liver at Mile End. And if not, their menu boasts plenty of back-up options we know you’ll love.

4. Crispy Squid | Surin West | $11

Our second Surin dish (and my personal favorite) calamari! This isn’t that rare or scary of a menu item, but most of our team had never tried it. And spoiler alert: we all liked it. Surin’s batch was lightly battered and served with a homemade sweet & sour sauce. (!!!)

• First impressions: Looks like sweet and sour chicken. And tastes like it too!
• The taste test: “It kind of tastes like an onion ring a little bit. If you really wanna make it feel like an onion ring, dip it in some ranch.” -Hannah (me, I said it’s okay, I’m sorry.)
• Last words: 10/10 would order again.

A great shareable and something new? Check and check. Add it to your next Waitr order if you’re not too squiddish. (That was a bad joke. I’ll see myself out.)

5. Ika (Raw Squid) | Surin West | $5.50

We’re still on squid. This time, it’s just raw. Ika Sashimi from Surin was a big winner during our tasting trials, but sadly there was only two to an order. So, we’ll just have to trust these boys’ taste buds. 

• First impressions: Squishy, sushi-like, etc.
• The taste test: “Dude, it tastes like a Gusher.” -Matthew 
• Last words: “If you like sushi, you’d like that. Seriously it’s so good.”

Don’t just take Wade and Matthew’s word on it. You can order it right NOW. Okay, that was a bit aggressive. But seriously, Waitr can deliver raw squid right to your doorstep. Obviously we are taking less of a “why” and more of a “why not” philosophy here, so just roll with it. 

In the mood for ~spooky~ food yet?! Make sure you use code “BHAMNOW” for free delivery when you order from Waitr. Oh, and tell your friends too. 

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