Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

Inconsistent. The first time everything was amazing this 2nd visit was bad.

Emily was our first server earlier this year and Sebastian was our 2nd server– friendly and great service.

2nd time getting the Lobster bisque. Good. Different. It was like a New England lobster bisque. 7 put of 10. Ruth Chris has the best lobster bisque. It was a little too peppery and that overpowered the dish. It wasn't as creamy as it should be for bisque.

1st time getting the Famous steak and biscuits on our 2nd visit. Steak is tender but they seared it too hot so the outside was overcooked and the inside was overcooked. Some weren't as bad but parts of the steak had connective tissue. We think they used the iffy/bad parts/trims of the filet mignons and put them on these biscuits, if we took a guess? Biscuits were a hair overcooked. Some people may like it but we eat a lot of steaks and know great steak. Fries were almost overcooked as well.

We loved the free bread the first time and actually got a second serving of it. We liked it just as well this second time - it tastes like half bread, half doughnut with poppy seeds. It was fried. It comes with cinnamon butter. Great taste.

2nd time getting the coffee steak - the first time he had this it was amazing. Seasoned and cooked to perfection. This time however it was over seasoned and way overcooked. About a quarter of the steak was not good and the rest of the steak was just ok. With their level of service I could have sent it back and gotten another for sure, but opted not to. The follow up steak one this second visit could of likely have been just as good as the first, but this time it was a fail. We have never been back to a restaurant for a second time and had this inconsistent of food.

Creamed spinach was runny. The first time it was great.

2nd time getting the regular filet regular center cut - the first time I had this it was awesome. Seasoned and cooked to perfection. This time however it was slightly overcooked at the edges. It had connective tissue and chewy on portions of the steak. In the center was very tender and more melt in your mouth like a great steak should be but not nearly enough of it to save this steak or make me want to order it again. Not a super tender steak like we expected from the previous steak experienced earlier this year.

Au gratin potatoes just OK – the first time they were quite amazing and this time they even looked a bit different.

On our first visit we got the sweet potato casserole but I did not see it on the menu this time. The sweet potato casserole we got on our first visit was amazing and I am not a huge sweet potato fan nor pecan lover.

First time was 5 stars.

2nd time is 2 stars. Nothing was worth getting again except the free bread. Quite disappointing because the first time I actually thought this place beat Ruth Chris with the sides AND filet mignon steak.

Averages this out to be a 3 star review and we have no plans of returning especially for...

I left the restaurant tonight feeling deeply disappointed. This was my first visit, and while nothing major happened, a series of small missteps left me feeling frustrated and let down.

I ordered the medium-rare filet mignon medallion trio with garlic mushrooms as my side. When my food arrived, the steak was overcooked—closer to medium-well or more. At first, I decided not to complain and started eating. But by the time I got to the second piece, it was even tougher to chew. After waiting about 5-10 minutes, I let my waiter know and politely asked for just the second piece to be remade.

The waiter agreed and was accommodating but also mentioned that if I had told him at the very beginning or hadn’t started eating, he would have been okay remaking the entire plate. I reassured him that I was fine with just replacing the second piece. However, to my surprise, he took my entire plate, including the third piece of filet and half of my mushrooms, even though I had clearly said I wanted to keep them. He kindly offered to bring me more mushrooms, but I told him I was fine and only wanted to keep what was already on my plate.

When the remade filet arrived, it was brought out by a different waiter. To my disappointment, the plate only had the replacement piece of steak—the third piece and the remaining mushrooms from my original plate were gone.

In the moment, I felt too confused and hesitant to say anything, especially since the waiter who brought the replacement wasn’t the same one I had spoken to earlier. But on the way home, I couldn’t stop dwelling on it. We had paid over $100 (including an 18% tip), and I ended up losing half my meal over a simple request to fix something the kitchen had prepared incorrectly. It’s disheartening to feel like I needed to repeatedly advocate for myself just to get what I paid for. Instead of feeling cared for, I left feeling disappointed, embarrassed, and let down.

Something else that might have impacted my experience was that the table behind us seemed to be friends with our waiter. While I think it’s perfectly fine for staff to spend time with familiar guests, I couldn’t help but feel rushed in comparison. The waiter was very quick with us—professional, but too fast—and didn’t give me much opportunity to speak up. Although I understand that it was a busy Saturday night, it made it even harder for me, especially as someone whose first language isn’t English, to express myself.

Since this is a nice restaurant, I believe all customers deserve a thoughtful and attentive experience. To make matters worse, this dinner was meant to celebrate our anniversary, which left me feeling mistreated on what was supposed to be a...

It is too bad 10*s are not an option on this one. Better than the well known fine dining or steakhouses in Raleigh, better than any steak house in Durham in the last 20 years plus. We had a group of 7 and I was asked why I chose this place and replied it had been very, highly recommended. The main reason why I booked the reservation for us. So grateful I did as we got through each course of the meal, it became evident why that was the case and the restaurant was so crowded even on a Wednesday evening. The Wedge salad was a reminder of the Hartman's Wedge salad in the 40's through to 2000. Two, cold, crisp, iceberg lettuce wedges served with diced tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing drizzled over the top and served on a rectangular platter. Actually, enough to split between two people. The house salad looked delicious too with lots of toppings. The filets & ribeye were cooked to pure perfection. When it came to sides, plenty of options. We had potato options like I haven't had before. The potatoes were slivers of stacked potatoes like layers upon layers of potato chips baked instead of fried and made into a casserole of au gratin or carmalized onion potatoes along with so many other options. I got the au gratin and they were good. A tad heavy on the garlic but everyone's taste is different. I also ordered the wild mushrooms since I did not order a salad and they were fantastic. The flavor of the red wine, garlic, seasonings and whatever other magical ingredients tasted wonderful. The balance was perfection.

If you have room or someone to share, the high rise, multi-layered Carrot Cake serving is large enough for four people to share. The Crème Brûlée was delicious too.

Our waiter was Daniel and only once did we ask for something during the actual meal. He was attentive, kept our drinks and water glasses filled as needed and was spot on during dinner service. The bread bowls rotated as they emptied. Oh goodness, I forgot to mention the bread. The rolls are actually fried donut dough without the sweet or salty. They were little rounds of puff decadence, especially hot out of the kitchen with the softened butter.

A great place for a special date night, a small group dinner meeting although it was a tad noisier than I would have expected Otherwise, I very highly recommend the Stoney River Steakhouse and...