The highly anticipated Mountain Brook location of Abhi Eatery + Bar is finally ready for the public. Helmed by veteran Birmingham chef Abhishek “Abhi” Sainju, the second location of his concept featuring sushi and Nepalese-inspired dishes opens this evening (Dec. 5). Long credited as ushering in Birmingham’s culinary renaissance by pushing the boundaries of the city’s palate with introductions to more rice and noodle-forward Asian concepts and expanded sushi programs, this is Sainju’s third restaurant.

In 2017, he opened the first location Abhi Eatery + Bar at The Summit, where he serves as executive chef. That year, Sainju also opened up the mo:mo food stall in the Pizitz downtown, which is his spin on banh mi and dumplings.

Chef Abhishek "Abhi" Sainju (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

This new iteration of Abhi Eatery + Bar opens in the former AVO Restaurant space. AVO and Dram Whiskey bar shuttered in January after nearly a decade in Mountain Brook. In November, the second location of Carrigan’s Public House opened downstairs in the former Dram space.

The Interior

The stairwell to Abhi Eatery+ Bar in Mountain Brook pays homage to the Swayambhunath Stupa temple in Nepal (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

The stairwell to Abhi Eatery+ Bar pays homage to the Nepalese-born chef’s heritage. Sainju’s team tapped muralist Andy Jordan to replicate the images of the Swayambhunath Stupa temple in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley leading to the entrance of the restaurant.

Birmingham muralist Andy Jordan replicated images of the Swayambhunath Stupa temple in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley for the Abhi stairwell design (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

Inside is the result of 11 months of renovation. Sainju’s team redesigned the entire bar and closed off the formerly open kitchen design. With an interior awash in black, red, and gold, booths now line part of the former upstairs lounge. The patio has also been redesigned.

The dining room at Abhi Eatery + Bar in Mountain Brook (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

Abhi bar manager and beverage director Steven Bradford says reintroducing the nighttime social scene to Mountain Brook was the central goal of the redesign.

“That’s one of our main focuses. It’s going to be sushi and cocktails. Bringing some kind of nightlife back to Mountain Brook after the unfortunate closing of AVO and Dram,” said Bradford. “This corner of the building was a very hot spot. We kind of want to bring that back and embrace it.”

The Food

Abhi in Mountain Brook will open with a full sushi menu (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

This iteration of Abhi Eatery + Bar will open with a full sushi menu. Until recently, the sushi offerings at the Summit location of Abhi were restricted due to a non-compete with the neighboring restaurant Cowfish (Abhi at The Summit now offers an entire sushi menu).

“We kind of squashed it,” said Bradford. “I think they realized that we were different restaurants and we weren’t really in competition with each other. There’s a whole difference from what they are to what we are.”

Abhi’s Mountain Brook menu boasts 27 sushi rolls, from Abhi’s Beer Battered Roll (tuna, cream cheese, and smoked salmon, beer battered and served with aioli, sriracha and eel sauce) to the Yuca Roll (yuca, avocado, cucumber and carrots in a soy wrap).

Tuna Tataki (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

“We wanted to bring back all of the (old) dishes that we originally had when it was taken away,” said Bradford. “We wanted to bring up as much sushi as possible.”

For the selections, Abhi recruited sushi chefs from all over the state. In addition to a rotating menu, there are more nigiri and sashimi options.

“We have a lot of excellent talent,” said Braford. “We’re going to push that and we’ve always been in the top five sushi in Alabama. We want to do that more.”

(Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

The Abhi menu is divided into sushi, shared plates, salads, sekuwa (grilled skewers), no-share features, bowls, noodle bowls and desserts.

While the team originally wanted to create a completely different menu from Abhi’s Summit location, patrons still wanted signature dishes from the original restaurant. The result: a combination of favorites and offerings exclusive to Mountain Brook.

This location of Abhi boasts the Khao Soi noodle bowl (egg noodles, curry sauce, fried noodles, and pickled mustard greens). For an additional charge, patrons can add chicken, pork, beef, pork belly, shrimp or tofu.

Momos (house made Nepalese dumplings) (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

Tumeric marinated lamb chops (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

Nepalese Lamb Curry (Shauna Stuart at AL.com)

Under the shared plates, Sainju introduced two udon noodle dishes -- one with a replication of ginger scallion sauce. The other with a peanut sauce -- a recipe of peanuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese.

The new sesame Caesar salad is Sainju’s twist on a classic Caesar side salad with house made sesame seed dressing.

One of the biggest Mountain Brook exclusives is the Waygu burger, which patrons can order with a side of tempura green beans or as a bun-less burger bowl.

The drinks

Thai Curious, a blend of rum, Thai Tea, Banane du Brazil, Angostrua bitters, and cream (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

Helmed by Bradford, who reclaimed his title as this year’s Alabama Hospitality Association Bartender of the Year after winning the competition in 2017, the cocktail program at the Mountain Brook iteration of Ahhi mirrors the Summit location. Bradford and Sanju (who had been a bartender for 12 years) were the first to introduce a specially crafted cocktail menu to The Summit, creating a beverage program reflective of the blooming cocktail scene in downtown Birmingham. Bradford said his goal two years ago was to start off with friendly, approachable cocktails while gradually phasing in more creative drinks. Now, only two of the drinks on the Summit menu are traditional classics. He plans have the same approach with this new location.

Steven Stafford, beverage director for Abhi Eatery + Bar (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

“I always try to pay homage to Birmingham in some way with my cocktail menu,” said Bradford.

Patrons at the Mountain Brook Abhi will find a familiar drink: The Famous Warrior -- a twist on a classic Margarita with Dulce Via Lime, Tequila, Triple Sec, Grand Mariner, orange bitters and champagne.

“One of our regular customers-- her name is Louise and she and the girls get margaritas from me all the time. They only get margaritas. So we put a margarita variation on the menu.”

The Famous Warrior (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)

Also on the beverage menu: Campesino Rum from Birmingham’s Hatton Smith. Abhi’s Mountain Brook location will also be one of the first bars to carry Dread River gin outside of its Southside tasting room.

“It’s not only the food that I’m bringing. I’m bringing the best drinks,” said Sainju. “I just wanted to bring the best to Birmingham.”

Details:

Abhi Eatery + Bar | 2400 Montevallo Road Mountain Brook, AL 35223

Opening hours: 7 days a 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.