Meet Fresh — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

I was so looking forward to having quality, Taiwan styled shaved ice on a warm day in February. Shaved ice is a well known special of Taiwan and this place looked like it could fit the bill. What a disappointment it was.

We were very happy to see the place crowded with lots of happy looking people chatting and eating. The space inside is big for this type of establishment and they had outdoor seating, which was perfect for this warm, 70+ degree day in February.

The menu looks extensive, but it did not seem to have fresh mango, which is one of the specialties of Taiwan shaved ice because mangos are plentiful and delicious in Taiwan. I understand it's probably hard to get that in NC on a consistent based, so that was OK.

We ordered their Taro Ball Signature ice. As the first item on that section of the menu, I thought it's the most popular or the one they recommend the most. We also ordered Egg Waffle.

They looked busy, so I expected some wait to get the food. But, I did not expect a 40 minute wait to get the food!!

Given they were busy, that was almost excusable.

What is not good, is the quality of the product is poor, and the excuse given was not acceptable.

I was expecting snow like, fine shaved ice with the toppings sitting on top of the fine shaved ice.

What I got (see the picture), was chunks of ice, with the toppings under the chunks of ice in liquid. Looks like it has been melting for a bit of time.

I didn't get shaved ice. I got crushed ice chunks.

What a disappointment!! I thought it was important to give them real time feedback, so I flagged one of the workers down and asked them about it. He basically said "When we are busy, the ice shaving machine can't keep up, so you get this type of ice when we are busy"

That is not an acceptable answer. What would be an acceptable answer? How about telling me ahead of time there would be chunks of ice? I would have chosen a different item on the menu. What about saying something like "We are sorry. This is not representative of our product, here is a coupon to try us again in the future"

Needless to say, I will...

I really wanted to like this place and I have been 5 times now and every time they don't have anything I want. I came 2 months ago and wanted mango shaved ice and they didn't have it because they said they were out of mango even though it was 3 hours into their business hours. They told me to come back the next week and I did and one again they couldn't make it because they said mango was out of season even though every grocery store around them had huge mangos and on sale and very much in season. Really wanted to just buy the mangos myself at that point. I decided that same day I would get the strawberry shaved ice after seeing a couple order it and like I said, 3 hours into their business hours, they were out of strawberries. Had to settle for one of their drinks which was good, but as a business they missed a $15 order for a $7 order. Gave them the benefit of the doubt again and came again ready to order a different shaved ice and once again they couldn't make it because they didn't have the ingredients (did not involve fruits). Settled again for a drink and I only ordered because I was with a friend. Tried AGAIN a couple weeks after and once AGAIN they didn't have what was on their menu. That was the last time I was trying. I tried again, but didn't even stay long enough to be more disappointed and decided to drive to Milk Lab on a busy Friday, 30 minutes away just to have a better experience. They should have different menus for different times of the year if half the items are seasonal and why are you running out of ingredients when you haven't even made it half way into your business hours? I don't get it, and even though I truly still have the want for this shaved ice, I'm not...

Our favorite dessert place whenever we are in Chapel Hill area. Currently they are not letting customer allow to dine in, but everything else are still the same as pre-COVID time. All the menu items are available. They always make fresh after we order, so everything is nicely done for you. The store person is really nice as well (something I really need to mention!!). Since we are not local here, and last we went was more than 6 month ago, yet he remember us! The small stuff by the store person make very big difference the whole entire experience of the store itself as well. Of course the food...