City Hall Cafe & Pie Bar — Restaurant in Huntsville

We went to City Hall after Hurricane Beryl looking for something decent to eat. We had eaten there several times before and it's usually nothing amazing but usually is an ok place to eat. We were super thankful that it was open as we no longer live in Huntsville and traveled from Willis to get a break from not having power. We called ahead of time and we were told they weren't busy. We got a table quickly and they weren't that busy when we were sat. Our waitress was a bit slow on getting drinks and putting our order in but at first it wasn't too bad. After putting our order in we didn't see our waitress for about 40 minutes. We had to flag down another waitress to get refills and we were starting to wonder if she had left as none of the other tables she was waiting on around us were getting service either. When we finally did see her she told us that they were out of what my wife had ordered. We were upset that it took 40 minutes for her to come and tell us but just asked about when the rest of the food would be done and requested that they could bring a side for our baby to eat because we were worried about getting food in her. My wife asked how long it would be if she ordered a burger and our waitress said she would check and let us know. She then came back with mine and my nephews food and my wife ordered a burger since we had already gotten our food. My meal was just a grilled cheese and fries and instead I was given a cheese burger with no meat. Our waitress said she would get it fixed and left me with the fries that were cold as if they had been sitting there for a bit. Eventually another waitress named Anna who was doing an amazing job with her tables came by because she saw us looking around confused. We told her what happened and she went to check on it to find out that our waitress had never even put in the order for my wife's burger. When we asked to speak to management we were told the manager was busy and couldn't see us. Anna said she would get my wife's burger rushed out and had to track down our waitress to find out how the burger was. When we were given a burger it was the wrong burger so rather than having it remade again we just asked for the check. We were told that we would be getting a discount due to everything and the discount we got only took a dollar and some change off the total. We spent over 2 hours there waiting and didn't end up getting all of our food. It definitely was the worst dining experience me or my wife have ever had which is unfortunate because it used to be one of my preferred eating places...

Tl;dr City Hall is a no.

Hi there! I don’t write negative reviews often, but this particular restaurant has treated us poorly on several occasions and it still is bothering me. We usually really try to suffer through it, simply for the pie, but we will not return.

City hall has failed repeatedly in portion size, value received for price paid, delivering correct orders, delivering complete orders, customer service, and speed of service.

They also try not to honor the “appy hour” they advertise (free appetizer M-F 2-5 PM). I’ve been met with sarcasm and snide comments more often than not when requesting it.

We usually have to wait quite a while to be sat, in addition to the wait for the food. Expect to spend quite a bit of time there (2+ hours) even if they aren’t busy. Once, the red-haired lady (I think she is the owner) even came to our table and very forcefully accused of us seating ourselves. We hadn’t. It was humiliating. And she never apologized. She just stormed off.

I will say that the manager, the male one, is an amazing guy. I have no idea how they’ve kept him so long. He is the only one who seems to want to check on the guest or tries to make sure you’re happy. I always go out of my way to say hi to him or tell him if I had good service. I do that in the hopes that the good servers will stay, and we can have a place to eat pie comfortably. But the place seems to have a hard time holding on to good employees, because the staff is not consistent from month to month.

For example, on the most recent visit, I ordered a medium rare steak and it was well done. The server said “this happens every time”. The soups and salads came with the meal, to which the server said, “you should have told me you wanted them before.” We ordered a margarita with extra sugar and it came with nothing on the rim. Fine, but the drink had literally gotten hot before the server came back. They also charged over $25 for an order of 6 pieces of garlic bread and gravy. They did so without warning us that they were charging for each piece individually, instead of as an appetizer (which they had never charged this way before). Sometimes, I’ve gone to look for a server, and found them huddled around talking. Even with all of that, they routinely leave off sides and get small pieces of our order wrong.

In conclusion, this place is insanely disappointing in every aspect, except one particular pie. I would rather learn to make the pie. I wish you the best if you do...

At first view the decor is eye catching and fun. We went at about 730 and it was not busy at all. We had to sit in the bar area as they closed the rest of the restaurant down. Benches are a bit hard on the back. The menu items and description looked appetizing. Our server was pretty quiet and lacked enthusiasm even when we told him we had never been there. There were no suggestions for food or drinks. They have a kids menu with the basics. Chicken tenders, corn dog, burger and Mac and cheese. I asked if the Mac and cheese was a kids kraft or something else and was misinformed so both kids did not eat them. They did eat their French fries which were French fries. We asked for the kids food to be delivered after waiting about 30 plus minutes for the food to come out. Other tables who came after us had food way before us. Our server was actually sitting and chatting with them a few times while we waited for food. I ordered bourbon chops. They were thin and over cooked. Sauce was minimal. Best part of my meal was the broccoli cheddar rice casserole. Husband order shrimp Alfredo, shrimp was well seasoned but pasta was dry and bland. Oldest adult son ordered a burger which was sopping in ranch and just a mess. We had originally planned on ordering desserts but we weren't even given the option. He brought is our check even before bringing my daughter the extra order of garlic bread we ordered and that had been charged to our bill. She did finally get it as we packed up to leave. I do not think we will be returning there...