Bright Star Restaurant - Greek restaurant in Bessemer - 304 19th St N, USA

There is a reason this restaurant has been around for so many years. Good quality food and outstanding service makes this place worth the drive to visit. Bring a big appetite and a big credit card and be prepared to experience an Alabama at its best. You will not be disappointed.

This restaurant has been on my places to try for quite some time. I'd heard good things about it. So, when my sister suggested we go after church, I was all in. We reached the restaurant and I loved the decor. It reminded me of the movies during the roaring 20s or something. The wait wasn't that long, either. So, once seated, it took quite some time before receiving service. But this has become the norm these days. So, we entertained ourselves. We placed our order and received our drinks. We began to get a bit hungry after waiting for more than half an hour and asked if we could have some bread or something. No, the bread is only served with the meal. So we waited a bit longer. We finally got our food, and it was lukewarm. I had beef tips over rice with yams and turnip greens. I had practically no rice, the greens tasted as if it was canned, but the yams were delicious. My son had blackened fish with fries. He loved it! One of my sisters had turkey and dressing with greens. Her meal was cold, so she took it to go. My niece had spaghetti and a huge meatball, and she loved her meal.So. Overall, it was a hit and miss kind of meal. Since this was my first visit.

We had a fun evening a week before Christmas at the Bright Star. We had reservations (recommended, esp at night!) & we seated right on time. We were not pleased that they crammed 5 people (3 on large side) in a small booth. However, our food was exceptional! We all had versions of snapper & ate every bite. My dessert to-go - bread Pudding- was yummy as well. We will be back!

I was visiting Alabama for the first time and asked a friend who used to live in the area where I should eat. He said, "Bright Star, try the Fried Snapper Throat," so I did. My first bite of revealed there were bones in it. I was more delicate on my next bite. Excellent food and attentive service by everyone, not just our waiter. I also had a baked potato, slaw and snapper gumbo. All was delicious. It was pricey for me $36 before tip but I'd go again. Next time I'll try the steak, it's apparently award winning.

Bright Star Restaurant Alabamas Oldest Restaurant. It was opened in 1907 and moved to this location in 1915. It has original wall handpainted murals on the walls and marble-tiled floor. Really nice restaurant, friendly staff, food was fresh and delicious. They have tasty choices of healthy dishes. Bright Star Restaurant has fresh seafood delivered daily from Gulf Coast and processed in-house. Nice atmosphere overall. Prices are not very expensive. I recommend visiting this restaurant.

The BEST restaurant in Alabama. Period. We go once or twice a month to enjoy fried shrimp, fresh fish, tenderloin steak, the world’s best gumbo, the baked bread, lemon ice box and coconut pie, and most of all the service. Nowhere in the world will you get the ambience and experience you will get from this 100++ year old jewel of a restaurant. We have been visiting Brenda (B.J.) there and receiving her Southern hospitality for over 30 years. It’s truly the place to go to soak up history and culture and old-fashioned hospitality. 500 Stars!

Five Star food, two star service. My wife and I were finally kid free for a few days and were able to make a trip to The Bright Star from Tuscaloosa. We came 12/27/2023. We’ve wanted to come here for years but rarely have a sitter. We didn’t have a reservation and waited about 15 minutes. No problem at all. We were seated about 730 and then waited about 7 or 8 minutes before our server came. Seemed excessive especially since neither she nor another server told us they’d be with us shortly or even acknowledged us just sitting there. When our server finally came she was greeting us before she even got to the table kind of under her breath and we only heard her ask what we wanted to drink. We each got waters. She came back and asked if we were ready to order. She never asked if we wanted an appetizer or salad or had any questions. She didn’t tell us anything about any specials until I asked if one of the items on the menu insert was available and she then said no and walked away. Five or so minutes later she came back and my wife ordered a cup of gumbo and then she then asked if we were ready. We told her we had some questions as it was our first time there and then she then told us about one of the entrees that was kind of a sampler with steak, snapper, and the lobster and crab au gratin. It was the Texas special. My wife had that with baked potato and was able to sub the gumbo for the salad. I had the hamburger steak with baked potato and salad. Our food came and it was all wonderful. My wife enjoyed the gumbo even though she prefers a thicker gumbo. I had the French dressing with my salad and it was probably the best dressing I’ve ever tasted. Our entrees were perfect. My wife ordered her steak medium well and it was barely medium. She ordered up expecting it to be undercooked to her temp and was happy with the steak. She said it was so tender and the best of the three although she really enjoyed both the snapper and the au gratin. My hamburger steak was perfect. The onions and gravy had the best taste and it was all juicy and perfectly seasoned. I’m glad that we didn’t need anything because our server didn’t come back to check on us after the food was delivered until we were done and she asked if we wanted dessert. We both passed on dessert because we were so full. We paid and left and barely got a thanks from our server. Only found out our servers name by the check. Our server was Staci. On our way out we had hoped to take a picture with the sign outside but it was after they had closed. I asked a man in the lobby if he could turn the sign on for us for a moment for us to take a picture since we very rarely get date nights and he was glad to do so. Very kind of him and refreshing after our server was so unpleasant. We got our picture and headed home. We hope to come back on a Friday or Saturday when they have the full menu available but overall the food saved the day.

This was the fourth time eating here. Once before with my wife. Once before with my son. And once before with my wife and son. Brought my wife and son back along with my daughter and seven others who had never eaten here before. I promised them all that they would not be disappointed. Thanks to a wonderful waitress, Linda, and the chef, they did not make me a liar. All eleven of us left praising The Bright Star. A must eat for lunch or dinner.