Bin 54 Steak & Cellar — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

There's nothing I despise more than getting catfished by over-priced, bland food. My expectations were appropriate; I wasn't expecting a Michelin star experience. But let's run down the $350 bill from last night:

Caesar salad. The chef was focused so much on aesthetics that flavor just gets lost. You're given 3 cloves/stalks of lettuce that are laborious to cut through. Placed on top is a toasted slice of bitter bread with an olive tapenade. Flavorful but obviously salty. Coupled with too much gourmet pepper in the mix, you won't make it past 2 bites of salad without coughing/being thirsty.

Lobster gnocchi. It should be called Lobster penne because there was no gnocchi or anything that resembled dough - just pasta oddly. The accompanying sauce was uninspired and had a weird taste. The entire dish came from the kitchen BLAND. Requesting gourmet salt made it edible. 2 stars

Beef Tartare. Again, presentation and aesthetics superseded taste. BLAND. Even with salt added, bland and uninspired. Just meat with slivers of edible garnish. Pretty quail egg in the center. I guess I paid to look at how they sat the cracked egg upright on the plate.

Hot honey bacon. Could've very well been thick sliced Smithfield's bacon from the grocery store. I've had pork belly slices and gourmet bacon many times, this wasn't that at all.

$80 bone-in ribeye. Cooked to my requested temperature. The issue is someone really thought that the natural flavor of the meat and the side sauce is enough. BLAND! Because it's a thick slice of meat and how it was prepared, adding salt after the fact didn't make it easier to eat. It was very disheartening to literally see my money on the plate and no matter what I tried to do- I couldn't eat it.

House special pan fried rainbow trout. BLAND with an oily finish to the point that adding salt afterwards didn't help. We took 4 bites.

Beef short rib. Edible after adding our own salt and pepper.

Creamed spinach. Good.

Mashed potatoes. Good

Cocktails. Most of the offerings have the same theme around coffee, cocoa etc which was odd. We requested a Mai Tai & a Long Island from the bar. The Mai Tai tasted like a strawberry margarita made by a beginner. The Long Island never made it out but we weren't charged.

We were still very hungry by the time the dessert menu came out but it was time to go after that.

Waitstaff were amazing so we left a top notch tip although we left hungry and disappointed 😞

Ambiance is great and romantic though a little noisy compared to other high end, similar places. Great portion sizes.

If you love spending hundreds on bland or inedible food but you value great service - this is the...

came here for a family event on 10.29.23, my parents 60th diamond anniversary.

a little irritated at first that the waiter is pushy about putting an alcoholic beverage in my hand before my entire party arrived, that's not very classy actually. Do I seem desperate to get my drink on? Like I've never consumed alcohol before and just turned 21? Also when you request sparkling water, can you just put the entire bottle on the table? Thank you.

I ordered the 10 oz fillet Mignon, medium + they had it cooked as. It was for me a little bit too pink + a tinge bloody. they said they cook it over hickory wood but didn't really taste any of the smokiness in the meat. no biggie just a minor detail. It was moist and I could tell the meat was high grade. However a bit ridiculously overpriced. Unless this is somehow Kobe beef or we're going through a beef famine, not sure why that is. Perhaps because there's not much competition in the fine dining arena here. I can head to my local butcher and pick up some farm to table quality fillet mignon and cook it over firewood easily enough. Just to cite an example I can go to my favorite Argentinian steakhouse in Chicago (Tango Sur) and get the el'filet which is 2 medallions of Fillet Mignon, a side of green mashed potatoes for $22. So $42 fillet mignon failed to blow my mind away.

I do like the servers pouring my wine, but I don't like how they ration the pouring of the wine. What if I wanted more? They should ask me when to stop instead of pre-determining this.

Also I was thinking I was too underdressed until I arrived and saw some dudes in surrounding vicinity dressed in t-shirts looking like complete slobs. Can you at least look like you're not at Biscuitville or Bojangles? Nobodies asking you to get dressed up in a suit or tux but at least make an effort to be respectably presentable.

What REALLY irritates the heck out of me: sides, which they've dubbed 'companions' are Á La Carte. That's a capital sin in Chicago where I'm originally from, and which is legendary for steak. I half imagine it's similar if not moreso here in the south. I know the owner is Greek but last I checked this wasn't Greece, and maybe that's a Greek thing but it really ensured I'll never be returning back here anytime soon.

I will praise their salmon dish, my aunt raved about it and said it was the best she's had in...

A Fabulous Unforgettable Dining Experience

It is rare that food and wine quality and taste, ambiance, and service all gel together for a memorable dining experience, but we found it all at BIN 54 in Chapel Hill, NC.

I was the guest at a small family celebration for our grandson’s high school graduation in the private “Wine Cellar”. The seven of us shared most of the plates, so we were all able to taste a wide selection of the delicious foods. While starting on the extensive appetizer selections, everyone enjoyed their cocktails, while I had the luxury of a 3 glass California red wine tasting and selected a bold Cabernet Sauvignon from the Sierra Foothills. The special appetizer of the evening, foie gras, was not only was delicious, but was more than adequate for each person to have 2 large servings; it made by the chef, as was all the food served at the restaurant. We also enjoyed a tasty tuna tartar, fried calamari, jumbo grilled scallops, and a tempting cheese plate, all which we would order again.

For dinner we all selected red meat: filet mignon, NY strip, porterhouse steak and short ribs. The steaks were all perfectly cooked and tender. We each selected a different condiment to complement our beef: au poivre vert, Bearnaise sauce, creamy horseradish, and blue cheese butter were all tasty; the Brussel sprouts were among the best we had ever eaten. We finished our feast with scrumptious desserts: a honey and ginger crème brule, an unusual banana pudding and a classic chocolate mouse cake with raspberries. We couldn’t believe we ate EVERYTHING ….it was so delicious, that we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave anything behind.

The service was impeccable. From the friendly welcome of the General Manager Heather, to the attentive service from Laurence our waiter, the wine recommendations from the sommelier Tim, and a unexpected visit from the owner Jay, we felt like VIPs. The Wine Cellar ambiance was everything one would expect from dining in a well-stocked wine cellar with an extensive selection of varietals from around the world. We highly recommend Bin 54 to anyone wanting a premium...