1836 Steakhouse — Restaurant in Huntsville

I wish we had the same experience as other reviewers. Unfortunately we left very disappointed. Based on other reviews and the prices, we probably set the bar a little high for the 1836 Steakhouse.

We came for our anniversary and drove 35 miles to try this place out. The reason we came here primarily was the unique dining experience of dining in a house built in 1872 and their menu and reviews appeared to be a great place to go for our anniversary.

We ate in the attic bar area upstairs. We liked the atmosphere and it wasn't noisy when we were there.

Our server was nice and did ok. Advice: check on drinks more often. Customers shouldn't have to wait for 5-10 minutes for a refill of tea or to get their bar order.

If you don't want to read the details, I'll just say stay away from the "higher priced" items and stick with the chicken fried steak or a burger etc. The summary for us is that we paid way too much for sub-par food by ordering the "higher end/higher cost" items and expecting to get what we paid for.

Crab Cakes appetizer ($28) For $28, you get three balls of crab cake about 1.3 inch in diameter. The lumps of crab were large, but were nearly flavorless and left a bad fishy aftertaste in our mouth (old crab maybe??). And the Lemon aioli didn't help with the flavor. The "Micro Greens" listed on the menu is some ground green something on top of the aioli.

6oz. Tenderloin Filet ($32) with Oscar topping ($12 says $10 on the online menu) and the Ribeye ($48) with Au Poivre topping ($4)

The tenderloin was cooked exactly as requested and was very tender. Worth the price of the steak alone. However, the Oscar topping was awful. On the menu it is listed as "Lump Crab, Asparagus, Hollandaise Sauce". The lumps of crab were just like in the crab cake. The "Asparagus" was three pieces of only the top 2" of the asparagus (why not the whole asparagus?). The Hollandaise sauce seemed to be rushed through no flavor. It was more of a béchamel sauce and was only a small spoonful not even covering the top of the steak. The online menu says it is $10 but they charged $12 when we were there.

The Ribeye and the Au Poivre "topping" was a complete disappointment. Anyone that eats ribeye knows that quality ribeye should be "well marbled". Marbling is THIN streaks of fat and some smaller spots throughout the cut. The ribeye we got at 1836 had 1/4 to 1/2 inch fat throughout the entire cut making nearly 50% of it waste. The "topping" again had very little flavor and was a completely disappointment. If you list something as a toping then it goes on TOP, not under the steak. It was a bed of sauce and it kind of "jellied" under the steak making it look like a grey coagulated blood, making it incredibly unappetizing.

There are plenty of online recipes that will teach you how to make the sauce taste good and how to properly place it on a steak for proper presentation.

Sides. We ordered the bacon mac and gouda ($6) and the Risotto ($6) The Bacon mac and gouda was good and worth the price charged. The macaroni was cooked well and the cheese sauce was creamy and flavorful. It comes in a little iron skillet and the portion size was right on for the cost.

The Risotto was a disappointment. The risotto was over cooked giving it a very un-palatable texture. The sauce had a thickness of mashed potatoes, and the portion size was about the size of a small ramekin that you normally would get some sauce in, not a full side. This is by far the worst risotto I've ever had.

If you want good food at a fair price (high end or not), drive south about 20 to 30 miles and eat in Willis, Conroe or The Woodlands. Plenty of places there that will give better quality...

Disappointing Consistency from a Place with High Expectations

We’ve been to 1836 four times now, genuinely hoping each visit would improve but unfortunately, the experience has been consistently underwhelming, especially for a restaurant that markets itself as a high-end steakhouse.

The service is always friendly and attentive, which we appreciate. But the food quality just doesn't match the pricing or the upscale image they’re aiming for.

Each time, regardless of what we’ve ordered whether appetizers, steaks, or entrées the results have been the same: inconsistent execution and subpar quality. The steaks are the biggest letdown. I’ve tried both the tenderloin and the sirloin on separate visits. The tenderloin had more fat than meat, which is unacceptable for such a premium cut. The sirloin wasn’t dry, but it lacked the tenderness and quality you’d expect. It tasted like a lower grade of steak, and based on the texture and flavor, I don’t believe they’re using high-quality cuts. You can also tell the grill temperature is too high the outside sears too fast, leaving the inside unevenly cooked.

Their steak sauce is just as disappointing: it tastes like a salty, artificial version of A1 mixed with an overly buttery base that overwhelms the steak rather than enhances it.

Sides don’t fare much better. Portions have gotten smaller while prices climb. The baked potatoes are tiny and inconsistent either overcooked from sitting too long or undercooked and tough, topped with a mound of nearly frozen sour cream that ruins the texture and flavor.

The appetizers, including the calamari, have been consistently off every visit. The calamari is supposed to be crispy and hot with balanced sauces, but it always arrives lukewarm and soggy, drenched in sauce with no crunch or texture left.

Even when we've ordered something different like the 1836 burger the same quality issues show up. While the burger itself has good flavor, the bun was burnt on top from being seared at too high a temp. At this price point, every component should be handled with care. A great burger should be excellent from the meat to the bread not just "good enough."

As someone who knows good food and cooks at a high level, I wouldn’t feel comfortable serving plates like this, especially not at these prices. It’s frustrating to spend this much money on meals that feel rushed and poorly executed.

Huntsville doesn’t have many upscale dining options, which is part of why we kept coming back, hoping for a better experience. But after four visits with the same food quality and execution issues, it’s hard to justify coming again. This restaurant has potential, but the kitchen needs to seriously raise its standards if it wants to live up to the name and...

Just Ok. So, not worth the price in my opinion. For the price and online build-up as a fine dining experience, I expected a bit more. Yes, there were some highlights, and some low-lights, in the end resulting in a mediocre experience. First, the positives. Service friendliness and attentiveness was good. The soups and salads were good, in fact, the wedge salad was excellent. The side of steamed vegetables was cooked perfectly. Now, the “just ok” items. The chicken fried steak was average. The second basket of rolls (more about the first basket later) was ok, too. Two of the three sirloin steaks were of average quality, but not as tender or flavorful as similar (and a lot less expensive) sirloin steaks at Texas Road House. The side of steak fries was warm, but nothing special. And, the three layer chocolate cake, while it was clearly of the store-bought variety, was decent. Finally, to the areas for improvement. The first set of rolls, which were touted as”right out of the oven,” were lukewarm and burnt on the bottom. The server did bring out a second set later on. My steak, ordered au poivre, did not come au poivre. I alerted the server, who brought out a dish of peppercorns and a separate dish of cream sauce for me to make the au poivre myself. However, I’m glad I did have the au poivre, because without it, my steak would have been inedible. It was so tough and filled with gristles that I had to cut it into tiny pieces and drown it in the sauce to eat it. For the server, who was very friendly and attentive, there were a few mistakes that I’m sure will be sharpened with experience. For example, he never took our drink order. He hastily filled our water glasses at the beginning, but didn’t offer any other drinks. The second basket of rolls was returned with our original half-consumed dish of whipped butter - since it was taken back to the kitchen for the refill of rolls, the butter dish should have been refilled and returned full. The wedge salad was said to be included with my sirloin steak dinner. However, the bill included an up-charge. One other disappointment was the menu. This being our first time to the restaurant, we had gone to their website and examined the detailed menu. However, at the restaurant we learned that they no longer had that menu. Several of the items we had planned on getting were no longer offered. And, the remaining items were now priced higher. Overall, we are glad we went to 1836, if nothing more than to satisfy our curiosity about the nature of the experience and the quality of food. Now that we’ve experienced 1836, we probably won’t be back, as there are many other higher quality and less expensive dining establishments...