Imperial Taco Bar

This photo of Imperial is courtesy of their Facebook page.

Last May, The Woodward Imperial, or simply Imperial, quietly opened its doors in the former Post Bar in Ferndale.  Well, maybe it was more of a raucous for Ferndale, but for those of us in Birmingham, we were still busy exploring The Social Kitchen and Bar and Hyde Park Steakhouse.  But good news travels fast, and after repeated raving reviews, Scottie and I finally found a quiet weekend to explore Imperial and its promise of unique California-style tacos!  It was anything but quiet though in Imperial on this past Friday night making Scottie and I wonder if the tacos were really that good, or maybe the drinks were that much better.

According to their Facebook site, Imperial describes themselves as "a joint, roadhouse, honky-tonk or tavern.... Imperial is somewhere you'll always find a cold can of beer, enjoy a great whisky or tequila and if you're in the mood... LA working class tacos."  Remodeling the former bar with care, Imperial brightened up the former drab with wall-sized black and white photographs with a chrome color for the walls.  With a loud buzz in the restaurant, you hardly notice that televisions are lacking, but it sounds like that was done on purpose by secluding them to a back room to keep the atmosphere social.  Nicely done.  We also notice that garage doors and what appears to be a nice patio that will transform this place in the Summer to maybe something reminiscent of "California Dreamin'" (while drinking and eating).

After waiting for about 20 minutes, we were seated at a long wooden bench by what I now presume was one of the owners based on the photo in this article.  It felt as if I was back in Elementary School finding a seat in the cafeteria.  You give a nod to the folks sitting next to you and start diving into the menu.  It's pretty amusing that the tequila list is longer than the taco list, so you could say they have their priorities down.  Scottie and I were certainly taken aback that drinks would cost more than a taco at the rate of $2.50, but we certainly weren't complaining.

We started off with some chips and guac, which was again, more expensive than our tacos, but they were not skimping on the guac nor the chips.  For Tacos, I ordered the Vegetarian (spiced seitan, roasted potatoes, green mole, queso fresco, and pumpkin seeds), Papas Con Rajas (chorizo, roasted potatoes, and queso fresco), and Adobada De Pollo (chili lime grilled chicken and salsa verde) while Scottie ordered the Adobada De Pollo, Al Pastor (marinated pork, grilled pineapple, and jalapeño onion pickle), and Carne Asada (marinated steak and red pepper salsa).  The tacos were about the size of the smaller corn tortillas, and came with two tortillas stacked with the filling on top garnished with cilantro and onions.  There was no denying how appetizing and fresh these little tacos could be not to mention the lingering spicy pleasantness.  But what really surprised us was how decently full we were after 3 tacos and a whole lot of guac!

With a brunch option, taco specials, and cheap prices, there's no doubt that this place is going to see a lot of us, especially once it gets warmer!