THE BRIGHT STAR Reviews

Timothy Obenauf 2025.12.11

     

Well I finally made it to the oldest restaurant in Alabama. Food was excellent, atmosphere equally amazing.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.12

Thanks for sharing your experience, Timothy! We love seeing that you enjoyed the food and atmosphere at our historic spot. We love being a part of the community and hope to see you again soon!

Glover Pope 2025.12.10

     

Great food and wonderful service in a beautiful historic building. The architecture and murals are a wonderful reminder of days gone by.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.10

Thank you, Glover! We're thrilled to hear you enjoyed the food and service. Our historic building and its architecture are truly special to us. We look forward to welcoming you back for another memorable experience!

Robert Lentz 2025.12.09

     

The food has always been good and the service impeccable.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.09

Thanks for the fantastic review, Robert! It's wonderful to hear you enjoy our food and service. We can't wait to welcome you back for another great experience!

Ronald Oswalt 2025.12.09

     

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Dan Ferrara 2025.12.07

     

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Oki Petre 2025.12.06

     

This place unironically is in my top three spots in the entire United States. Every single time I eat here it feels like I enjoy the food more. As of writing this I’ll actually be there tomorrow evening and I am beyond excited. The stuff snapper while I don’t know if it’s on the menu year around but, if you can, all my seafood enjoyers need to seriously try that with the veggie of the day as a side. Also there’s not a bad choice for desserts they’re all made fresh and absolutely amazing. Peanut butter pie I’d say is the best choice. Also the original tiling in the floor is absolutely beautiful and well unkept, a true preservation of a past era of both interior design and culinary arts. This place is an absolute 5 stars hands down.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.08

Thank you for sharing your fantastic experience, Oki! It's wonderful to be one of your top spots and appreciate your love for our snapper and desserts. We can’t wait to welcome you back tomorrow evening for another memorable meal! Your support means the world to us!

Greg Boyles 2025.12.05

     

What a great experience!! Food was excellent and the service was absolutely wonderful!!! It’s like you step back in time! If you’re looking for a unique experience this is the place to go! It’s a little of the beating path but worth every moment! Don’t bypass this exceptional place!!

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.05

Thank you for the fantastic review, Greg! We're thrilled you enjoyed the food and service. It's wonderful to hear that you appreciate the unique atmosphere we strive to create. We look forward to welcoming you back for another great experience!

Gaston Green 2025.12.01

     

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David B 2025.11.30

     

We ate her on Thanksgiving afternoon. The food was great! I has a snapper almandine. It was so big, and tasty! Perfect. Suzy had the turkey dinner. Good, but too much for two people. This was a great Thanksgiving meal. A shout- out to Marlon!

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.02

Thank you for the fantastic review, David, and for sharing that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving meal, especially the snapper almandine. We appreciate the shout-out to Marlon and hope to welcome you back for another great dining experience soon!

Trey Henderson 2025.11.30

     

Lunch was absolutely fantastic! Beef tips were amazing and best I have ever had. I love this restaurant!

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.01

Thank you for all of the love, and great comments, Trey! It's wonderful to see that our beef tips were the best and your lunch was truly fantastic. Come see us again.

J Crosby 2025.11.30

     

Excellent!!

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.01

Thank you for your fantastic review, J Crosby! We're thrilled to hear you had an excellent experience with us. We look forward to welcoming you back soon!

Sravan A 2025.11.29

     

Very classic old restaurant setup. I love that there are places like this still. If I live in this town, I would go way more often.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2023.03.07

Thank you for your feedback, Sravan. We hope you'll join us again!

Cherie B. 2025.11.29

     

Verified

My family and I went for Thanksgiving dinner. It was way below the normally great food..which is phenomenal. This was just cafeteria food ( brought it out on a cafeteria tray) and worse than my daughters school Thanksgiving lunch. AND hers was MUCH cheaper! I was disappointed with the food, the service ( took 20+ minutes for a glass of wine to come) and the amount charged for underwhelming food and service. This was WAY below the normal food they prepare and serve. Their food is very good but this was horrible. Someone said they had taken 1300 reservations....it appears they took off more than they could chew! Very disappointed! I still love this place but not this time!! (Love the snapper throats)

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.05

Thank you for sharing such thoughtful feedback, and for being a longtime fan — we really do appreciate that. We’re truly sorry to hear that your Thanksgiving visit didn’t reflect the food and service you normally enjoy from us, Cherie. A holiday meal should feel special, not rushed or underwhelming, and it’s clear we missed the mark for you this time.
Thank you for pointing out the delays and the way the meal was presented. That’s not the experience we aim to deliver, even on high-volume days, and your comments help us see where the day fell short so we can improve how we handle the holiday moving forward.
We’re grateful you still enjoy dining with us — especially the snapper throats — and we hope your next visit feels much more like the quality you’ve come to expect.

Zack Lindstrom 2025.11.28

     

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Heather Hill 2025.11.27

     

Bright Star literally ruined our Thanksgiving!!!!! My family and I arrived and was told it would be 45 mins to an hour wait. No problem, we understood it would be a wait due to Thanksgiving. We were still waiting at 2hrs 20 mins later. We had to go ahead and leave due to I had to be at work in an hour and I had to go take my family back home. We left hungry and I had to go to work hungry. I even called a few weeks ahead to ask if I needed to make reservations and was told no I didn't have to make them. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.05

We understand your frustration, Heather. Wait times are hard to estimate and we dropped the ball giving you an incorrect time.    I am sincerely sorry about the miscommunication about the reservations as well. We will use your feedback to improve our training.   

Tech Serv 2025.11.27

     

This restaurant use to be a family favorite in which the owner who is so sweet would greet you and it truly felt like an old hometown experience. The customer service staff has truly declined in which I will save the restaurant the embarrassment of the audio recorded call by law, but I will post a screen recording of a hold time which was done intentionally due to the fact that my coworkers were getting through speaking to a male operator without an issue while I still was on hold. Keep in mind, there was a greeting when answering the phone and an immediate sigh shouting, "Please HOLD", without any form of speaking with the female operator. This feedback is not to belittle the staff in anyway because over the years they have provided stellar service. However, if a day is not going as aspected, it's okay to step away and gather some restraint when feeling overwhelmed. Best wishes to the staff and hopefully this review impacts change to where "no other breath of life" has to go through witnessing a staff supporting this type of behavior in the restaurant industry. Order cancelled. Happy Holidays everyone🙏

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.05

We apologize for the rudeness and hold time you endured on Thanksgiving. We will take this feedback and use it as a teaching tool to our host staff.   There is no excuse for being rude and cutting off a guest. on the phone. We failed the hospitality test on such a busy day.   We have 4 phone lines at the restaurant, and we can't get to all lines at the same time. I am sorry you were on hold while someone in your office was speaking to a host. The host must have picked up the second call while you were still on hold. We will improve our systems by next year. 

Brad Madsen 2025.11.27

     

It saddens me to leave a review for this restaurant in which the owner and staff have been great over the years. The review is for false advertisement and also To-Go order services for those who need to travel and bring food for others. I received an email for their menu which clearly does not indicate it's for dine-in only in which I totally understand. However, to be told this after being placed on 15 minute hold is a little extreme. Granted, today is a holiday and everyone may be a little overwhelmed, but to be cut off without the opportunity to ask a question which takes 45 seconds to answer is very disappointing. A staff to handle only To-Go orders would be ideal and save time for all parties involved.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.05

Thank you for your feedback, Brad. We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced with your To-Go order and understand how frustrating this can be. We dropped the ball on communicating accurately the difference between the To go menu and Dine In menu in our email and our staff was not trained on how to handle the phone during this unusually busy period. We appreciate the feedback and promise to get better.  

Pastor Bill Bryan 2025.11.26

     

Great

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.01

Thanks for the fantastic review, Pastor Bill! It's terrific to see that you had a great experience. We can’t wait to welcome you back for another visit!

Matt Lowery 2025.11.25

     

Went for the first time. I can absolutely see why the place has been open so long. You should definitely go try it.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2025.12.01

Thanks for joining us, Matt, and for your great comments! We always want to take the best care of our guests and love seeing that we are hitting the mark with you.

Jackson Caldwell 2025.11.22

     

If the opportunity arises don't miss out on dining at this historical, 118 year old, restaurant, the oldest in Alabama. Treat yourself to the seafood gumbo, Greek styled beef tenderloin or fried snapper throats you will not be disappointed. The Bright Star's yeast rolls are delicious and addictive with or without butter. Save room for dessert the homemade lemon pie it is out of this world good! The best I've had. You might want to take an entire pie home with you and you can. Their chocolate pie is also a favorite. The Bright Star is open for lunch and dinner and both menus are astounding.

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Reply from THE BRIGHT STAR 2020.09.30

Hi Jackson,
Thank you very much for taking the time to leave us this marvelous review! We are blown away by all your kind words and support - we are so happy to hear how much you enjoy dining with us. We can't wait to have you back again soon for another terrific 5 star experience!