Team Wet Dog

carrboro main street, restaurant reviews

I've been getting a lot of hits on this page from people searching for a review of Glass Half Full. For a full review of the restaurant/bar, click here:

Review of Glass Half Full in Carrboro, N.C..

I want to do a quick rundown on a few Carrboro and Chapel Hill restaurants that I've visited so far -- initial impressions, mostly, with full reviews to follow over time.

But I want to stress that these are not intended to be full reviews. Some of these restaurants I've only visited once (while on the other hand, I've been to one of these places six times). If you're interested in more food writing and reviews, check here...

Eating out in a new town has been an interesting experience. I've been trying to balance my expectations against living in a smaller town, and that's hard to do.  I hope these criticisms are fair, just as I hope I point out when a restaurant does something well.

If any of this sounds harsh, I think it's because some of these places have come so overwhelmingly recommended that there's no way they could live up to the hype. With that said...

Glass Half Full -- A spacious wine bar with a rotating selection of wines and food. The real draw here is the bar - it's large and attractive, with a decent selection of wines and fair prices. Retail wine sales are available also.

The drawback to Glass Half Full, to be honest, is the food. Some dishes come woefully under-seasoned (zucchini latkes with an over-easy egg) while others are too salty to eat (pan seared scallops). The ham croquetas stand out as a tasty and inexpensive snack, and a few of the desserts are very good. Both the cheese plate and charcuterie plate were left by wait staff without any explanation or description, which felt especially odd.
 

Acme -- People keep telling me to try their brunch, but stress that the food is hit or miss any other day. This restaurant tries to take Southern cuisine and refine it, but seems to fall short. The "Fried Green Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella Napoleon" is overpowered by a balsamic reduction sauce, the cheese seems stringy and the tomatoes are tough.

The bar is nice but service is a bit cold, and their wine list includes a couple of choices available at the grocery store. I realize all wines are marked up 200% to 300%, but I'd rather you didn't do it with bottles I can find at Harris Teeter.

Crooks Corner -- One of the "Holy Grail" restaurants of this area, Crooks is supposed to be known for its amazing upscale Southern Cooking. And while the food is not bad, it's simply not good enough to draw consistent raves.

A chicken wing appetizer arrives battered and fried, and then dipped in enough sauce to make it a complete mess.  The much-raved-over shrimp and grits just falls flat, I have to say - maybe it was over-hyped for me, but I found it slightly bland. A "Carolina Sampler" plate of BBQ and other favorites is a success though, as the vinegar-based pork made a great contrast to sweet cornbread.

3 Cups -- I hate to say the best food I've had in a restaurant so far was a sandwich, but the best food I've had was a sandwich. The meatloaf sandwich with balsamic glaze was well seasoned, and the grilled chicken on ciabatta was full of crisp flavors (roasted peppers, pesto, caramelized onions).

The downside is price: 3 Cups is simply over-priced, with sandwiches running $7 to $9.50 or so. But the ingredients they use are really good and the flavors are distinct, and so if you can look beyond price the product is really good.

Mama Dips -- Another one of those Chapel Hill legends, this is basically Southern comfort food that doesn't really aspire to be much more. The sweet potato pancakes were satisfying and the whole fried catfish was cooked well. Biscuits and sweet tea round it out, all served in a bustling dining room that attracts a lot of families.

It's hard to say anything negative about Mama Dips because the restaurant cooks what it knows and doesn't claim to be something it isn't. Publicity and fame seem to be attracting the restaurant much attention - you can buy a Mama Dips Cookbook or Mama Dips' Cornbread Mix at the register. But if you can get beyond that, the food is satisfying and solid.

Carrburitos -- This place gets mentioned often for good, cheap burritos and tacos. I couldn't to tell you why.  The pulled pork burrito has a distinctly metallic taste, and the fish tacos are overwhelmed with a guacamole sauce.

What I don't understand is why Carrburritos thrives when excellent late-night weekend tacos are sold from trucks just down the street. The "Mexican" or "Latin" food trucks that show up on weekends are serving really honest, solid tacos in all kinds of flavors and cuts. The sauces are spicy and clean, and at $1.75 this remains my favorite meal for the money.

— Robert

(9/24/07) 
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