Commerce Kitchen — Restaurant in Huntsville

Where to start?! I’ve been wanting to try the Commerce Kitchen for quite some time now. My expectations were based on their reviews and their appetising sounding menu. We were frankly astounded to be seated at a booth which guaranteed we would not ever see service given it was at the far back of the restaurant and tucked in a corner behind a partition so remote that I even forgot we were there. We ordered our food from a waiter clearly disinterested in a single word we uttered. His general demeanour was one of irritation at having to be there at all. We ordered the Avocado Toasts with Shrimp as a Starter, then the Breakfast Tacos, Shrimp and Grits, Fried Green Tomato Benedict and a side of pancakes. We waited and waited without having our drinks refilled or being checked on for over half an hour in an empty restaurant. Finally our food arrived…followed shortly by our starters. Four toast points smeared with a stingy amount of avocado and sprinkled with very little onion and tomato. $12 for this sumptuous dish no less. No shrimp in sight, so we informed our waiter who took the dish back to the kitchen, then returned with the same dish, informed us in a condescending and accusatory voice that the dish would have to be remade and that next time we should ask for the shrimp. We replied that we had and he said “My bad” and left. We were left then with no drinks to try and eat shrimp and grits with a fork and no spoon, no salt or pepper to season the bland food placed before us. I had to climb out of our awkward, hidden booth to go seek seasoning and a spoon since we had once more been left and forgotten. The shrimp had a delicious flavour to them but the grits were bland and watery. The breakfast tacos were atrocious! $15 for 3 small corn tacos smeared with beans and topped with a fried egg. They had zero flavour except for the sharp corn taste of the corn taco. The “souffléd” pancakes were dense and cold, couldn’t even melt butter on them. My fried green tomato Benedict consisted of untoasted English muffins topped with a cold fried green tomato, cold left over pulled pork, a “poached” egg and Cajun Hollandaise sauce. Not a bite of it was remotely warm. One egg was cooked to perfection and the second was not edible as it was quite raw. The finest drizzle of hollandaise was so sparingly applied that you couldn’t taste it. I asked for a little more as it was mainly over the raw egg. When informed the egg was raw the replacement waitress we were assigned after complaining we received no service from our waiter Tyler didn’t even offer to replace it, simply brought the hollandaise I asked for and left. She did at least get us some drinks. The manager offered us free dessert to compensate for the cluster of disappointments and we ordered two. A divine peanut butter pie clearly made somewhere else and a creme brûlée we really regretted asking for. We were informed they had to run next door to get it and im sure they meant they ran to the hardeware shop to get the packet mix to make what was clearly packet mix vanilla pudding with a sprinkle of sugar on top which was then burned with a torch. No crust whatsoever and the brûlée was served ice cold in the middle. All the while we could clearly hear their wait staff talking about us and making fun of us. So in short. Deplorable snotty service, followed by even worse food, a hideous dessert and a steep check. We will never be back and honestly….I can only assume the place has gone downhill since they got the good reviews because I struggle to imagine anyone being happy with what we...

Commerce Kitchen has been a staple in upscale dining in Huntsville for as long as I can remember. I'm not someone who does "fancy" too often so I've never had a chance to try it as other options have been more enticing on the rare occasion when we do want a finer dining experience.

About two weeks ago I made plans to try Revivalist for lunch. I showed up there only to find their hours don't match what's posted on Google and they were closed for later lunch (~2:00 PM). I popped up the street to BeeZr and Poppy and Parliament. Also closed in the later afternoon. I was trying to kill time before an appointment and I really wanted to try a restaurant I'd never been to...so I strolled over to Commerce to find them open. Here goes!

The entrance is actually on Franklin Street as opposed to the square, though there is a door leading out onto the square. I was seated promptly when I arrived. The restaurant was almost entirely empty except for one pair of older women. It's small and cramped inside and there's a row of seating in the aisle of the restaurant that I imagine would be very uncomfortable to sit in during prime time -- too much moving around.

I wasn't dressed fancy at all and no one said anything, so that was nice for me. I was seated by a window with a view to the square, which I enjoyed. The decor is simple and classic -- just fine. The ladies' restroom is a one holer and clean. Displayed nearby is their recent health score. CK and other downtown establishments have been beset by iffy scores recently. This one read in the high 80s. Not absolutely a no-go for me personally, though you'd hope for better at an establishment like this in particular.

CK is a James Boyce restaurant concept, as are many other upscale restaurants in the Huntsville area, especially downtown (to include Pane e Vino, Cotton Row, and Grille on Main in Providence). Honestly, I've historically not been terribly impressed with any of them, but I do always try to let each restaurant speak for itself. I was a little miffed to find the lunch menu here to be nearly identical to the lunch menu I got at Grille on Main when I visited about 2 years ago. I wish they'd freshen up the menu as well as at least provide a few differences between restaurants.

Although I ordered the fried green tomato BLT at Grille on Main when I visited, nothing else on the menu really tempted me for lunch, so I ordered the same thing here. I also got a sweet tea to drink.

Overall, I will say the fried green tomato BLT was about the same in quality. The tomatoes were sliced way too thick for my preference and the breading didn't bind super well and didn't have a lot of flavor. The pimento cheese was good but there wasn't enough of it. The bacon was cooked well and the bread was nicely toasted. One large improvement over GoM was the French fries. These didn't have the same super mealy frozen-fried texture like GoM did. They were also seasoned much better. The sweet tea needed both more sugar and more time steeping; it was very watery. Overall, the food was pretty average. On the bright side, lunch prices are more reasonable than dinner prices.

One highlight of my experience was my waiter, Timothy. He was polite, attentive, and very pleasant. He wrote a kind thank you on my check and I noticed he had lovely handwriting. He was gracious with my compliment and we had a nice chat about how he does the lettering for the displays outside. Shout out to Timothy!

I will likely continue to shop around the fancy restaurants in town. Still, this is a serviceable option for...

I just sent the below letter to Commerce Kitchen. It seems you should be wary of going out to dinner in larger groups. It is your fault for not being served promptly.

To Whom It May Concern: This past Wednesday evening, June 3rd, several friends and I came to your establishment to celebrate my sister’s birthday. After scanning several online reviews, I am extremely surprised by the negative experience we received. Our party consisted of 12 people that ordered. Of the table, half of our party were served water immediately. The other half of the table, where I was seated, waited a minimum of 25 minutes before receiving water. My wine was served before the water came--well, it was served to the opposite side of the table. Several bar orders were served to the incorrect party members. Receiving water refills also seemed a challenge. After another twenty minutes, we noticed that all tables around us, most of whom had been seated after our party, had received baskets of dinner rolls. My husband politely inquired to a passing server as to why we had not been served. The waiter stated that, because our party was large, we were not being served and bread was not baked until after menus were removed from the table (which had been 15-20 minutes prior to this exchange). 45 minutes after being seated, rolls arrived. However, only two baskets could be spared for our table of twelve. I noticed that other tables of two people had a whole basket. The one positive note was that the food was delicious and very well prepared. However, once again there were issues with serving: Several dishes were given to the wrong people and we had to sort it out amongst ourselves. One person received his order wrong. These things can be expected occasionally when out to dinner, but with all the other strife, it added to our collective frustration. The same happened with the check. The check was consolidated instead of separate tickets and took longer. This was the only time over the course of the evening that we received an apology from management. Out of consideration for my sister, as it was her birthday, we decided not to raise a fuss on-site. We felt that since it was a larger party and gratuity was automatically included, we were ignored and received sub-par service. Normally we are generous tippers; however, the forced gratuity coupled with the experience left a very negative impression. I hope that you may take my comments into consideration with training...