Drake's Huntsville — Restaurant in Huntsville

Short version: Everything about the visit was deserving of accolades. Great, properly prepared food; exceptional service by Allie; Superior oversight by manager, Amber; fair prices; No mistakes. Details: We (party of 4) were greeted with a smile and promptly seated. Server, Allie, acknowledged us almost immediately and said she’d be right back. She returned shortly and took drink orders. Drink delivery was timely. My son and wife both commented that their Bloody Mary’s were especially good. The menu is tastefully done and not overly lengthy but provides good choice variety with some unique, mouth-watering items. Allie was pleasant and engaging. We hit the server lottery with her! She demonstrated thorough knowledge of the menu and, at our request, described a few of her personal favorites. My wife and I selected one of her recommendations and were glad we did. We also ordered fried pickles and tater tots for starters. Serving sizes were ample. The tots are prepared differently than you’d find elsewhere and were a huge hit. You’ll have to go there and order some for yourself to find out what makes them special. Our entries were properly prepared and were at what we considered perfect temperature for the palette. Shortly after our food arrived, manager Amber stopped by to ensure were satisfied so far. Truthfully, were thrilled. I felt like Amber wasn’t just checking a box by visiting our table. She seemed sincerely interested and was clearly well aware of what was happening with her customers and work crew. Note that my educational background includes graduate studies in management, so I’m qualified to make that assessment. I’m retired, but if I wasn’t, Amber is a person I’d want on my team. The service throughout our visit can only be described as sterling. Allie was helpful with our menu choices, did a quick check every time she walked past our table, stopped by periodically (but not obtrusively) inquiring if we needed anything. The table was kept clear of used or unnecessary tableware. Water was topped off without us asking. The entire food order was correct. No mistakes were made during the entire visit. The food, management and team interaction, service, beverages, and environment all contributed to our wonderful enjoyment of this lunch meal – and this 5-star review. These glowing complements are richly deserved and warrant your support as a customer. We will...

Horrible experience. Went in at 10 till 2. Didn't leave until 3pm. It took THAT long to get a burger and a salad. Waitress was very slow to our table to get our drink order. took a long time to get our drinks, then she tried to walk off before she asked if we needed anything else and I asked her if we could go ahead and put in our appetizer order. 15 to 20 minutes later we got our appetizer. Someone else dropped it off. We had to ask for appetizer plates. No one came to check on us to see if the appetizer was good. 15 minutes pass and I had to ask a passing by forever to get our waitress and take our food order for lunch. He decided to write down our order and give it to our waitress instead. five to ten minutes later she came over in the vicinity of our table and said that she had put the order in for us and it would be out shortly. It took a very long time. I kept watching other people get their food and they were just two people to a table just like us. when my chicken schnitzel salad arrived we weren't asked if we needed anything else and my elderly mother could have used some condiments for her burger which was very dry. My chicken schnitzel did not taste like chicken schnitzel at all. the chicken portion was very small not like the picture on the menu at all. And it did not taste like schnitzel. It just tasted like a plain chicken breast dipped in batter and fried. Eventually our waitress came back. I didn't bother complaining about the food or the service because we had already spent so much time there and my elderly mother was ready to leave. additionally, that was the only thing I ate all day, and I was sick after that for 3 days! not sure if someone in the kitchen was mad or was just having a bad day or the waitress was mad because we kept having to ask other people to do things for us, but it's just a very strange coincidence that I would be so incredibly sick after eating there. Our drinks never got refilled. and I had to physically walk up and hand the waitress the bill with payment because again, she was nowhere around our table. My mother did say at least her...

Hadn't been to Drakes before so decided to try it out around noon on a Saturday with my wife and two kids. Despite being pretty busy we were seated without a wait. Waitress was nice and took orders, drinks arrived pretty quickly. Ambiance was kind of a brighter sports bar but still family-friendly. Loud music and conversation but not obnoxiously so, lot of families present.

On to the food. Let's be honest - the place is a little on the expensive side. Cup of chili for $6, salads start at $14 and go north of $18, all the burgers are $14+ with one side etc. That being said, I don't knock of stars for higher prices, you can check the menu before you show up and go elsewhere, but I do want to point it out.

I ordered the Triple Double cheeseburger Sliders and was able to sub out the side for chili for $2, which I felt was a good deal. The burgers were well done but sliders are kinda to get anything else and they tasted good. To be fair, they didn't ask how I wanted them so that's just how they come. No complaints about the burgers besides the size. Chili seemed like it was made fresh and tasted really good. Scattering of beans, hamburger was diced very fine. Great flavor, not too hot or top greasy.

Wife got the chopped Chicken Salad but opted to swap out chicken for salmon. She thought there was a bit too much dressing (order it on the side). She fel the salmon was cooked a little more then she asked for but was still good -- a good entree sized serving of salmon. Everything else in salad was great.

Kids got mac-n-cheese and chicken strips. The chicken strips were grilled and they were probably the best kids chicken s trips I've tried. My daughter thought they were one of the better ones she'd tried as well. Mac-N-Cheese was good.

$65 prior to gratuity for all that, two waters, 1 soda and a 23oz beer. Kinda high but they offered a military discount that was very generous. Came out to just over $51 after discount which I appreciated a lot.

As long as you are OK paying for quality good, you won't be disappointed -- food here is great and service...