The Cardinal — Restaurant in Boone

Where do I even begin. I wish I could leave lower than a single star, this place maybe deserves half a star after the experience my boyfriend and I had this evening. Firstly, him and I both work in full service restaurants and have for many years. He literally managed burger-specific restaurants for 5 years straight. Neither of us have ever experienced such poor service on a night with so few tables in a restaurant. It truly was not very busy, and we got there as the rush was dying. The host (who was FANTASTIC, btw) had to alert our server twice after we sat down. Our server did not introduce herself and spoke very quietly. My boyfriend created his own burger with pretty simple ingredients, for some reason the server decided to ring in a specific menu item, which actually contained onions, a food he is allergic to. She did not return to the table to check on us for at least 25 minutes, meaning we sat there staring at the overworked well-done burgers that he couldn't even eat if he wanted to. The host also brought us refills while our server was nowhere to be seen (we didn't flag anybody down, we are not a problem table, she saw us have empty cups for so long that she decided to help us herself). When our server finally returned and we sent back the allergy burger, it took at least 15 minutes for the replacement, which still wasn't even correct. She rudely said "there's mustard on the table" and then walked off again before he could even check it. We were then ignored again until the host passed by and we requested a manager (something I have quite literally never done before tonight), which was a HUGE MISTAKE. He sauntered over like he expected a compliment, and when I started explaining the slow service, he cut me off and yelled at me "FINE. DINNER'S ON ME THEN!", threw up his hands, and stomped away like a child. I was going to say that we understand if it was super busy before we got there, but the main issue was the random allergy burger (which of course would have been phrased nicely). Then, some random old lady at a table next to us interrupted while we were trying to leave, and started talking about how her son used to work there and the staff is so yadayadayada. I told her i didn't care and we left. As someone who has literally been serving since the day I turned 18, I genuinely did not believe service this bad and management this poor even existed. I always thought guests were lying or at least being dramatic. Today I stand corrected, I learned that apparently my coworkers and I just give phenomenal service, and I apologize to any customer I talked bad about for this reason. This place sucks, and if it was an off night, we won't be trying again due to the manager who shouted at me for having a very valid complaint phrased very politely. I left the host a $20 bill, she needs a raise. Also, the food is ridiculously overhyped and overpriced. If you want a good burger with a nice cashier in less than an hour, hit Come Back Shack. They...

On February 22, 2025, I travelled to the Boone area to go snow tubing. On the way back I was looking for a place to eat dinner, and I found a restaurant just outside of town by the name of the Cardinal. It looked to be a small, unassuming restaurant, but what happened next surprised me.

Before I even entered, I first noticed the unique shape of the building. It was triangular and was giving log cabin, a perfect vibe for the mountains. The second thing I noticed was how busy it was. A busy restaurant is always a good sign.

Upon entering, I was greeted by a man and a map of America with little wooden license plates for every state. When you see your home state, you flip it over. The atmosphere inside was nice, and it felt like a cabin in the mountains with its many TVs and wooden furniture.

Once we were seated, our server Dallas quickly took our drink orders. The drinks were nothing special, just simple Pepsis and Dr. Peppers. She readily answered every question we had, including ones about the game burger special, which was lamb at the time. A few minutes later, we ordered our food, I ordered the jalapeño cheddar hush puppies and the single Cardinal burger.(Side note, the prices may look daunting when reading the menu off of Google, but the prices are based off of the largest burger size, singles are only $8.)

When the food arrived, Dallas and another server named Byron brought my plate with angelic singing, which was a pleasant surprise. Shout outs to Byron. So far, everything had been outstanding, but I was still not prepared for just how good the food was.

The jalapeño cheddar hush puppies were not that spicy, and only had a hint of the actual jalapeño cheddar flavor. I can see how this would be a disappointment for some, but as someone who doesn't like spicy food, it was amazing. The white sauce (can't remember the name exactly) that came with them perfectly complemented the hush puppies. The burger was delicious and was better than most other burgers in my hometown of Mooresville, NC. The burger patty itself was juicy and tasted great, the buns were soft and greasy, and the ingredients came together to make something honestly special.

Once we were done eating, I asked for a small box and some extra white sauce for my singular hush puppy that remained, and as always, Dallas delivered (W Dallas). It really does say something about the quality of the food at the Cardinal that I almost entirely cleaned my plate, as I normally only eat about half my meal. That is, unless the food is as good as it was here.

Overall, everything about my experience at this restaurant was perfect, and for this, I give...

I don't even know where to begin.... We were recommended to try this place. Cure inside. Totally dig the fireplace. Serve from the waitress was great initially the we got ghosted. She took our order, we waited 40 minutes for our lunch arrive after we got an appetizer. When lunch finally arrived, we all needed refills. They were out of unsweetened team and were told they had to make more and would be back. We never saw her again at the table. Lunch was ok... nothing special. After we were done eating we waited and waited and waited some more for her to come back and she never did. Finally, we had to wave someone down to come to the table to get our check. We politely explained that we wanted more tea and no one came back not even to ask how the food was. The woman that came over to the table... wow! After we explained what happened, we were quickly cut off and she asked who what to eat so she could get the checks. Not a word about anything else. Very abrupt, no apology for the lack of service, nothing. Did I mention she was loud too when talking at us? Yeah, everyone was looking. And then she stomped off, almost as if she was mad cuz she got bad service. Odd but whatever. Our waitress finally came back after she was given our checks by the woman. We asked if there was a manager available and she said yes, we asked to speak to that person and guess who it was?! Yep, the woman! We couldn't believe it. At that point, we paid and left. It would of been pointless to say anything. I get people have bad day. We never know what someone is going through in their life. We all have stories and sometimes it can be difficult to leave them aside. Please take the time to listen to people, give a smile, an apology when needed, have a conversation....something. Being in management can be tough, we get it. That situation, wasn't managed well. I hope others have a good...