Restaurant Review: Humphrey's Bar & Grill

Because I work near downtown, I am always searching for a restaurant with great food and great service that I can get in and out of within an hour. Unfortunately, I only got one of my two prerequisites on my recent visit to Humphrey's Bar & Grill in downtown Huntsville. I visited Humphrey's recently for lunch with a co-worker and I chose this location because it was recently taken over by new owners, "extensively renovated" and is "now a barbecue and blues establishment." Humphrey's is open for lunch and dinner beginning at 11:00 a.m. and offers "customers...smoked turkey wings, barbecue sliders, pulled pork spring rolls, moonshine-soaked peaches and other unique but familiar eats." The lunch menu also has the standard meat-and-three plates and other fairly priced items.

When my co-worker and I entered Humphrey's, we were warmly greeted and quickly seated. I was not aware that Humphrey's was a smoking establishment and I was inundated with a strong cigar smell that took some getting use to.  Our server was very polite and quickly took our drink orders. A few minutes later, he came back and took our lunch orders. UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS ALL DOWN HILL FROM HERE! After our server took our orders, we did not see him for another 25 minutes. After this time elapsed, he came to our table and told us that they were out of French fries and did we want to make a substitution to onion rings or fried okra. We told him that we would make the change and then we did not see him again for another 15 minutes. During this entire time, there were several guests that came into the restaurant, were seated and had their food before we did. By this time, my co-worker and I were quite annoyed and we spoke with the manager about having to get back to work. He told us that he would check on the order and then came back with the wrong order (it was for the next table). He then brought us our food and apologized for the delay. After eating, we asked for our checks and that took another 10 minutes.

 

My co-worker and I both ordered something really simple: a cheeseburger. Aside from the poor service, the food was absolutely awesome! I really liked the onion rings (just wished they would give me more) and the little sauce that comes with it (a combo of horseradish, ketchup, mayo, Worcestershire sauce...I think..). The bun was extremely fresh and toasted just the way I like it and the patty was cooked just perfect (medium-well).

 

OVERALL REVIEW: Overall, I give Humphrey's Bar & Grill a C-. Restaurant service is very important to me and Humphrey's just didn't reach the mark. The only saving grace for this restaurant is the food. I think I am going to try the restaurant again and hopefully the service will be better next time. As far as the décor and atmosphere goes, I really like the vibe with the blues music playing in the background and the blues musician pictures on the wall. Humphrey's has a full bar as well as an outdoor patio.

 

 You may contact Humphrey's Bar & Grill at the following information:

 

Humphrey's Bar & Grill

103 Washington Street NE

 Huntsville, Alabama 35801

(256) 704-5555