Merk's Tavern & Kitchen

This is a great hotel cafe! Very underrated and under used in my opinion. Maybe because it's a bit hidden or maybe people think it's only for hotel guests, but it isn't. Their shrimp & grits is the best I've ever had! The BLT crabcake with house made chips is awesome. Most of the menu is outstanding, just don't get the salad that comes with yogurt dressing, that was yuck! I've eaten here many times and they've catered many meeting I've had in the hotel, their food is good! Not cheap, but worth it.

I don't like to make reviews like this. However, the food was extremely bad tonight. When we walked in, no one seated us. We eventually went up to the bartender behind the bar to ask for seating options. They said to sit anywhere. The tables were all dirty. We sat at a dirty table and asked the waiter to clean the water off of it. Once we ordered, our food was the worst part. The rice was raw for the salmon dish - completely inedible. The plates were very hot (microwaved). The steak we ordered was rare not medium. I usually do not complain about food but this was the one case where it could not be excused. I asked the waiter to bring the rice back to the chef and all they did was send me some additional rice. Staff never apologized for the horrible food. I didn't have the energy to complain tonight. I was too tired from my trip. This was my father's day meal for my dad. Extremely disappointed.

Some co-workers and I went here for lunch recently. There was hardly anyone else there and we only ordered burgers. It took about 45 minutes to get our food. The waitress was nice enough, but by the time our food came we had to get to-go boxes and get back to work. To top it off, they 'surcharged' us like $3.75 each since there were 6 of us. They charged me over $22 for a grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a coke. The food was pretty good, but not spectacular. Certainly not worth $22. The atmosphere is relaxing, which is good if you're having a stressful day. This place might be OK if you've got more than an hour to eat and less than 6 people. Even then though, it's going to be slow and expensive. I had a bad experience overall and won't go back.

When I read the reviews I was worried. But my experience is people love to complain because this food is amazing. A bartender named Terry waited on me and he was on point. Amazing drinks, kind, and on top of it. A lady who I didnt catch her name greeted me as soon as I came in. I give this place 5 stars!!!

As guests of the hotel, we walked in on a Saturday night and decided to eat here instead of going somewhere else. We walked in...waited...never greeted...sat ourselves....still not greeted. There was one other table occupied n an empty restaurant. After about 5 minutes, one of the bartenders came to the table and said “what do you want to drink”. I responded with “I don’t know, we haven’t seen a menu”. He walked away, grabbed menus, threw them down and walked away. We thanked him and he never responded. So we got up and left. Horrible service so we left and went to a neighboring restaurant where we are right now and are receiving. Wonderful service. With prices like that, Merks, you should treat your customers a little better.