The American South Meets the Italian Countryside

Bottega features flavors inspired by the wine bars and trattorias of Italy–from Venice to Palermo. The best apéritifs, wines, beers, cocktails, savory bites and sublime desserts are offered in a warm and sophisticated atmosphere. Italy inspires the cuisine, carefully crafted by linking ingredients from the American South with artisanal producers from the Italian countryside. The formal dining room first welcomed guests in 1988 in the historic Beaux-Arts building. Two years later, the Café opened in the adjoining space, with a menu built around pizzas and dishes cooked in a wood-burning oven.

Gifts

Gift Certificates

Cookbooks

Stitt opened the Italian-influenced Bottega six years after founding his flagship restaurant, Highlands Bar & Grill. Both have profoundly affected Birmingham. Many local restaurant owners today trained at one or both.

Birmingham Magazine
Stitt’s cooking is characterized by restraint. It’s not that he’s not improving the quality of a fresh gulf fish. It’s that he does not appear to be. This makes him a great chef (flourish is easy, restraint is hard), and leads people to eat at his restaurant regularly a few nights a week. That makes him a great restaurateur.

The New York Times - Sweet Home Cooking Alabama
The Godfather of Southern Cuisine...

Garden & Gun
While devoted regulars may have trouble steering themselves away from Stitt’s classic dishes at Café Bottega like the seared beef carpaccio, Niçoise salad, and chicken scaloppini, they’ll find themselves particularly rewarded by any of the eight pizzas on the menu.

The Daily Meal

Reservations

The Dining Room
accepts reservations up to 2 weeks in advance, online and by phone.

The Café
is walk-in only. Drop in anytime!