The National — Restaurant in Cullman

We came from out of town (I did grow up in Cullman wnd have family there) and had heard great things about this restaurant. When we arrived it was crowded, No worries. Having worked in customer service waiting is no big deal. Gave our phone number and told the hostess we would sit outside on their bench until a table was ready. We waited an hour. After the third table of folks (one of which was family members who came after we did and put their name on the waiting list after us) who came in after us were seated I walked in just to make sure they had our number correct. The entire front of the resurant is glass and we made eye contact with the hostess many times. We could clearly be seen sitting outside. A fourth couple comes in the door and was seated straight away. We waited another 10 minutes. By this time we realized that our business was obviously not welcome or needed. I walked in and said "You guys can take us off the wait list, we are going to go elsewhere" politely and with no attitude. I did expect at least an apology for forgetting about us sitting in the 50 degree weather outside for an hour. But instead I got an "Okay" with attitude from what was obviously their manager. We walked right down the road to Moes and had amazing customer service and food like we have many times before. I waited tables for many years though college and fully expect to wait at times. I also know that accidents do happen and folks get overlooked. But what we experienced tonight here has me believing that you have to be a recognized local to get seated here. We won't come back, there are many other great places in Cullman to go where you...

I realize the stars of this review may not make sense but let me explaimperial this review is somewhat based upon the prices and the expectation of this restaurant. I would say that for our area this is a higher end restaurant, not crazy expensive but about $4 to $5 more for a good meal.

2 of our meals were acceptable and I feel like don't have anything that needs to be criticized, however neither dish blew us away.

However, the biscuit and sausage gravy was a joke. I was actually embarrassed this was brought to my table and placed in front of someone eating with me. I have no idea who in the world thinks that dish was a good idea in any way. It was the flattest smallest 2 biscuits I think I have seen in a long time.

I looked down at the poor biscuits and they looked back up at me with those big eyes and said, "No, we're not happy." 😢

They were not light, they were not fluffy. I think the baker may have been huffy . . .

But seriously they were sad. Also, who in the world thinks that the 1970s Omelet Shoppe diner plates are hip or whatever in this restaurant? It is way out of character for this place and makes the dishes look quite frankly like something you'd get from Huddle House. If I wanted to go to Huddle House I would have gone there.

Now having said all the nonsense let me just say this place does have a lot of potential and I certainly hope that they do well because we can use more good restaurants...

I stopped by the National with some friends after they recommended it for brunch. I'm so torn writing this review. I find myself complimenting many aspects but having to give the whole truth takes away from the greatness of this hidden gem.

The atmosphere, seating and staff were all great but they did have a fly problem in the restaurant. They did go away after a while but it took away from the aura and experience. The staff checked up on us multiple times throughout our meal to refill water etc. which was welcomed!

The food was very good! We tried the 8oz. bar steak and eggs, chicken and french toast, and the Nashville chicken. All the plates were cleaned which is good but I do have doubts about the 8 oz steak. Of course there's no way to vibe check the restaurant on the weights, it just seemed a little smaller than 8 oz steaks at other restaurants. Like I said, it's so hard to write this review as I find myself complimenting the restaurant but also taking away from the compliment to give the whole truth.

From reading other reviews it seems like two big complaints are the staff's attitude and taste of the food/ incorrect orders. I am quite happy that we did not encounter either of these issues during our visit!

All in all, I would def come back to The National, I would like to try some of the other...