Acme Food & Beverage Co — Restaurant in Carrboro

Well, we must have loved this, because while visiting Chapel Hill for 2 nights to show our daughter UNC Chapel Hill, we ended up eating at Acme Food & Beverage Co 2 nights in a row. I maybe should give it 4 stars instead of 5, because not every single thing served to us was perfect, BUT -- the things we had that were delicious were so very delicious that we returned for more. The first night, we shared the $20 tomato appetizer and it was just one of the most gorgeous fresh, ripe, full of flavor local heirloom field tomato experiences I have EVER had. I am not a shouty caps lock type computer user. You can check my other reviews and see this is true. But the chef at Acme has such a way with tomatoes that I guess it makes me a little shouty. If you are there in tomato season, please try however it is they are serving tomatoes. Wow, just wow. For that very expensive price, we got a platter large enough for the hungry three of us to share as an incredible appetizer. It was all beautifully ripe and intensely flavored field tomatoes treated in a variety of ways, each way was exquisite. Their tomato pie: also exquisite. Tomato, cheese, mayo, basil etc baked into a great crust. Southern mouth watering deliciousness. We loved that tomato appetizer so much that we got a tomato pie to split as desert like total unrepentant weirdos. For dinner, one of us got the pork bbq dish - meh, salty and only okay. I'd skip that for sure...except that it did introduce us to their fabulous mac and cheese. Pretty sure there is some smoked gouda into the cheese mix, and a wonderful crunchy topping. Another of us had the smash burger, which was almost too salty but it pulled it off as a gourmet/sleazy diner happy mashup burger. It is a grill fried patty mash fried, topped with simple cheese, served on a perfect potato bread burger bun. Great duck fat type French fries on the side. This was a winner, which was ordered by another of us on the second night. I had the brined and seared pork chop, and it was moist, crispy, very tasty. I could pass on the bed of corn and diced tomatoes it is served on, which was fine, but just not up to the magnificence of the other great items there like the tomato app, the mac and cheese, the burger, and the tomato pie. Returning the second night, it was that fantastic tomato app for us again, a repeat on the smash burger but, I switched to the salmon and it was excellent, and one of us just got the mac and cheese and tomato pie for their entree. What this place does well, it does stunningly well. But some menu edits are in order for it to be the kind of spot that wins awards, that draws a crazy word of mouth obsessive following even from foodies out of town. But it could get there. Someone in the kitchen has loads of talent and a gift doe certain ingredients. Also, Acme has a wonderful location set into a historical shopfront in a very charming hip gentrified revived southern university town. That whole Main St area was packed with adorable bars, shops, places to dine and hang. The beer list was nicely chosen, and Acme has a lovely back garden full of string lights, reclaimed wood build ins, a water feature, etc. The name made it sound like some tacky strip mall eatery, but Acme is instead full of charm and character. I wish I could take a tomato themed cooking class with the chef -- their tomato magic...

I wouldn’t eat here if you aren’t ok with blatant racism.

My husband and I (a bi-racial couple) came in without a reservation with my mom and more than half of the tables were empty. They kept insisting that we sit out back at a communal table and that they had everything in the dining room booked all morning. We decided to sit at the bar even though they continued to insist we sit out back. 3 other white families came in right after us without reservations and were immediately seated in the dining room.

Anyway, we’re sitting at the bar and the older woman working the bar refused to acknowledge my husband (who is non-white) and would only speak to me or my mom (white). She was rude and kept acting annoyed by us (we didn’t do anything but ask a question about one of the food items on the menu).

Finally we order and she asks how I want my eggs and I said egg whites. She turned up her nose and said that they don’t do any substitutions and definitely don’t do egg whites. My mom orders scrambled eggs and adds cheese and somehow that’s totally fine. Then the woman has the gall to START WALKING AWAY AND IGNORE MY HUSBAND! My husband has to yell his order at her and she just says ok but refuses to look at him or turn towards him.

During the meal she continued to check on my mom and I and ignored my husband. And once the check came and asks my mom and I if we want to split it my husband says no just one check. And she won’t look at him but says ok just one. When she brings it back, she’s hands me the check? Once my husband has his card in the book he puts it in front of him and because she won’t look at him, it’s just sits there. Finally, he puts it on front of me and she finally took it.

At first we were wondering if we did something wrong but once we sat at the bar, it was really obvious what the problem was. Please don’t support businesses who behave this way. It’s 2019...

I was so very excited when friends invited me out to one of their favorite restaurants to celebrate Mardi Gras. I'd never been so I was looking forward to it. Short version... 3 out of 5 were extremely disappointed...the other 2 had some of the regular offerings and were content. Three of us ordered one of the cajun dishes as indicated by the mask on the menu. For me personally, the rice which accompanied the crab cakes I had were without salt and the crab cakes seemed to have quite a bit of filler. A friend's dish had too much salt where she took a few bites and couldn't even eat it. 4 of us ordered Hurricane's and they were extremely strong. They seemed to be missing the grenadine and simple syrup which "hides" such a strong alcohol taste. A drink like this is supposed to sneak up on you vs tasting like a shot. My friends all apologized saying it isn't usually like this. Another ordered a 2nd drink, same thing...not sure who was bartending but they were losing money last night. The waiter pushed the idea of having the bartender dilute it even though my friend's face was clearly saying ...this isn't right... she suffered thru it. To top it off, we get ready to pay and were told we couldn't have individual checks since there were 5 in our party. Would have brought cash if I'd known. Hmmm, I've always known it to be 6 or more but maybe I'm wrong. 3 of 5 didn't have cash but he would put it on 2 cards. After paying, we lingered a bit. It couldn't have been too long as we weren't even there 2 hours. We were given "the eye" a few times by our waiter (the one with the Mardi Gras choker on). All of this combined didn't make for an enjoyable experience. Maybe I'll try it...