1892 East Restaurant & Tavern — Restaurant in Huntsville

I visited here for lunch yesterday to celebrate my coworker's birthday. This was her choice, and I wasn't mad about it! I had never visited before and was glad to have an excuse to give it a try.

1892 fills a kind of interesting niche in Huntsville. It's definitely nicer/fancier and more expensive than more family-style restaurants like close by Melt or Jack Brown's in downtown Huntsville, but it's not as fancy as super upscale places like the Bottle or Purveyor. The menu focuses on farm to table meals and has a fairly large amount of creative options for vegetarians and vegans.

The interior of the restaurant was larger than I thought it would be. There are two large main rooms and a nice bar. Some of the walls have some chips/scuff marks so the place is showing its age a bit, but the atmosphere was still warm and comfortable.

I have heard great things about their burger for YEARS, so I decided I'd try that. Two of my coworkers split the burger and fries and each got side Caesar salads, and my final coworker ordered the chicken pot pie. I asked for a sweet tea to drink, which was a mistake; I was offered my choice of simple syrup or sweetener to mix in myself. I personally really only think sweet tea is good when the sweetener is added while the tea is brewing, so that was kind of a disappointment.

That aside, though, I wasn't mislead on the burger at all. It was really good! Since it's made with house ground beef, you can choose the degree you want it cooked; I opted for medium well. The medium thickness patty was super, super juicy and had a great beefy flavor. The bun stood up remarkably well to the juiciness of the patty, the melted cheese, AND the balsamic aioli I smeared over every square inch, which was impressive! It had nice crispy outer edges and a soft pillowy center. The aioli was deliciously creamy with a faint, pleasant sourness. Really great burger! The fries were pretty good, but not quite as impressive; ideally, I think I'd have liked them a bit saltier, but they were cooked nicely and paired well with my meal. I'd happily eat them again.

Coworkers' burger wasn't quite cooked to their liking (a little less done that they asked for), but they were happy overall. The salads looked fresh and delicious. The person who got the pot pie said the filling was delicious, though the crust on top was almost more like a cracker and she wished there had been more of it.

Our server was very nice and did his best. They stayed very on top of refills and got our checks out quickly when we asked. However, I think they only had maybe 2 servers for the whole restaurant and they were about half-full. The kitchen must've been slow or understaffed, too, because it took a pretty long time for our food to come out. All told, I think lunch took almost an hour and a half. We hadn't intended to go that long, though it wasn't a huge deal necessarily. Just something to keep in mind if you're looking to go in the near future.

All told, I'd definitely be down to revisit. I'd grab a burger again, easily, and I've also been told their brunch rules! Would love to try that. If you're looking for a middle-range, comfortable spot for a low key date night or celebration, this is a good option to consider,...

1892 East Ruined My Birthday :((

First of all, I had created a reservation with the restaurant via phone earlier that week for Friday night (the night I had put on my invitations). Later that day, the restaurant called me back and cancelled my reservation without any warning or recommendation on how to make it right. I then called back of my own volition to reschedule for Saturday night. Things were already off to a bad start because some friends were no longer able to celebrate with me because of the date change.

Fast forward to the night of my birthday. Mind you, the restaurant refused to let me make a 7:00 reservation despite there not being any other reservations booked for that time. They insisted it be at 7:30. They failed to mention, however, that the kitchen would close 30 minutes after our arrival. So much for ordering dessert!

When the food came out, I had actually excused myself to the bathroom. Imagine my surprise when I returned to hear from all 18 of my guests that they strongly disliked the food. I was told that the Caesar salads were salty and soggy, the chicken tasted like McDonald's, the seitan was dry with an unappetizing sauce...and the list goes on. One of my guests asked the waiter (Jordan, who was the only bright spot in our whole experience) if they could speak to someone regarding their concerns.

MIKE the manager came out, and my friend very gently and respectfully shared that none of us were satisfied with our meal. Mike immediately escalated the situation and ordered us to, and I quote, "get out!" He said he had been serving the food all night and everyone had enjoyed it. He raised his voice at us despite how kindly we were approaching the situation. We all stated that we would of course leave a generous tip for Jordan who had been nothing but kind, but that our experience needed to be made right. Mike in essence threw us out of the restaurant.

Jordan came back over to ensure there was nothing else he could do to make our situation better. We CashApped him and left a generous tip. How is it that your waiter is doing the job you should've been, Mike? As manager is it not up to you to set the standard for customer service? In truth, the entire interaction had a highly racist tone to it that made all of my (fellow Black) guests extremely uncomfortable. We left and I proceeded to break down in my car, sobbing uncontrollably at how horribly we were treated and how unhappy all of my guests left. I will tell everyone I know to choose literally any restaurant over 1892 East. I will never, ever return there and caution everyone I know to not step foot in such a place where they will be treated with...

My family and I ate here while vacation. The initial impression was good. The atmosphere was inviting, even though everyone agreed the restaurant was so dim you can barely see your food. The restrooms were clean. We ordered around 5:15 and had a party of 4 adults and 3 children. They do not have a children's menu, and the only children's meal offered is grilled chicken and french fries. Honestly, the children's meals ended up tasting better than our food. Our meal took over an hour to come out. There was little excuse for this considering the menu offered less than 10 options. I had Seitan, which I had never tried. It was essentially a thick moist bread similar in consistency to french toast. It could have been good properly prepared. It was served tasteless on a bed of dry rice mixed with what seemed to be the worst black eyed peas I've ever had. Topping that off were grilled red tomatoes, which would have tasted reasonably good, had they been de-stemmed. My wife had stuffed trout and it was mediocre at best. It was served with whole chunks of bitter cooked lemons. My mother in law had beef tips and they were cooked properly, but had no seasoning. Our party included 7 with the children and as such an automatic gratuity was added to our bill. I don't think I've eaten anywhere that included an automatic gratuity at such a low table threshold (6). I think this contributes to poor service. I would have probably tipped 10% had I been given the option. The restaurant was not busy at all and our service was almost as mediocre as the trout. The gentleman waiting on us was polite, but distracted and we had to ask for additional rolls and even refills of water. I normally like to tip 25-30% or more at a nice meal on vacation, but this service didn't warrant such a tip. All in all, I strongly suggest anyone reading this to choose a different restaurant. This...