The Casual Pint of Chapel Hill — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

Updated Review:

The Casual Pint is worthy of my list of neighborhood hangouts.

After having been served by the owner a couple times, and by friendly and knowledgable staff a couple times, my recommendation has settled in on a nice solid 4-star review across the board. The finger food is great, the ambiance is nice and the beer selection is excellent.

*I am still not a fan of mixing nitrogen and CO2 for IPA beer (thought it's great for Irish [Dry] Stout). Maybe that's a down-east thing? :-)

---- UPDATED REVIEW [July 1st, 2022] ---- I visited the Casual Pint again today and had a much MUCH better experience. The owner waited on us and was not only knowledgable but was friendly and professional. The experience was 180º from my first visit.

At this point I consider the first visit/experience a mulligan. Adding another star to the review :-) After a few more positive visits I will purge the original review content and write an update. ---- EDIT [June 2023] ---- I learned from the owner the likely reason for that "watered down" experience was due to their use of nitro blended CO2 to pressurize the taps. This seems fine for roasted barley malt [aka: Guinness style] but this will alter the experience for a West Coast IPA.

---- Original follow-up to the Owner's response (The Google does not appear to directly support a dialog):

Thanks for taking the time to reply, really. If you looked at my few other reviews you will have seen they are generally positive [e.g.: I normally do not bother with critical reviews]. Bullet points follow:

I am indeed correct on the price, as that was the price (sans tip) that I paid.

The glass was certainly not full of 16 ounces of beer, lets go with that.

I was indeed at the location for which I wrote the review.

I like my generally anon persona, it's not Jason Bourne level but it's good enough.

I wrote that review after I finished my experience at you bar (within the past 42 days).

** Because my goal with this review was not to punish the bartender, I was not specific in that detail. I am sorry if this throws a wrench in the works. If this waters down the review like a re-bound 11th edition copy then so be it [I prefer to give a mulligan to the guy or gal working the shift, because there are probably factors I am not privy to].

I recommend you generally educate your bartenders about the rich nuance of beer and the multiplicity of its variations. Also, I recommend not closing the kitchen until actual closing time. I understand it's a pain and costs more but I stand by it.

Because you actually took the time to respond, I have changed my review to three stars.

---- ORIGINAL REVIEW ---- [moved to the bottom because this negative content does not reflect the positive followup reviews nor the friendly interaction with the business owner]:

Local "dry hopped" beer was $6.35 for 12 ounces. It was watery and flat. It was most certainly not "hoppy". The bartender admitted to not knowing anything about beer. ...in a place with 35 beers on tap.

This nitpicking is likely due to the flippant and amateur youngling behind the bar.

I will give this place one mulligan, hoping for a...

Why I like this place, and why I have concerns.

First off, I like the idea of this place: Good number of taps, good pub food, solid location, layout, and design. As for the beer, you can only fault them to a point as they are too new to demand a better beer selection from the distributers based on their history as they don't have one in the area - granted, The Casual Pint is a national chain of 13+ beer stores (I don't believe the Chapel Hill location is traveling to pick up regional beer options, something they should consider if they want to stay competitive), but even some of the beer options from the distributors on tap aren't on par with what other, more beer focused, locations in town are offering. Did I find I pint that was good, yes... did I know of one or two other places in town with a better selection, yes. Nitpicking a bit, but seeing the likes of AB InBev blended in with true craft breweries was somewhat off-putting.

My concerns:

To be honest, the food (in combination with their staffing) may be their undoing. To be clear, the one meal I had at the location was good and reasonably priced. But, I think they would have been better off letting in food from the outside. But, in terms of them sticking around in that location, they look to have a staffing problem. Both times I've visited, there have been 5+ staff members at the store, and I'm sure there were others at the location. What's the concern? I've seen full blown restaurants with less staff, and many seemed to be somewhat less engaged.

Minor Complaints: It's customary to call "last call" (any reasonable adult will get that they need to finish their pint and leave within 5-10 min. Coming in and saying you need to leave because of the lease arrangements isn't really needed. Just a "Hi folks, we just closed, and we appreciate you coming." Just an awkward interaction that a seasoned bar/restaurant person would have avoided.

I really don't understand the 2nd floor, when I was last at the location they gave us a menu of food, but no beer menu. I assume you order drinks from the first floor, but I never really understood that process. Eventually, someone did get us a beer, but couldn't provide a menu.

Hopefully, this is just the "first few months in business" jitters as they dial in a better experience and find the right people to make it a success. I'll continue to give them...

Went to The Casual Pint near Whole Foods - Chapel Hill last night for the first time. We were greeted at the door by the friendly owner Bill. Such a nice man! We were lucky to snag a table on the first floor (it was 4pm but already getting busy). Because I had mentioned to Bill upon entering it was our first time there, he came over to our table after we sat down and explained their beer selection and that you order your food/drink at the bar and then it is brought to your table. We started with an appetizer of 3 soft pretzel sticks (they also have an enormous soft pretzel) and delicious house made beer cheese sauce. Bill told us the beer cheese changes on a regular basis as they make it with a different beer each week! It’s so good! Not thick and gloppy, but delicious, smooth and pourable. My mom ordered the German Brat on a pretzel bun (from Guglhupf Bakery) with mustard and sauerkraut, dad ordered the Hot Brat on a bed of sidewinder fries with bacon, jalapeño, sour cream and beer cheese sauce, and I got the “loaded” sidewinders sans brats but with lots of bacon, sour cream, jalapeños and beer cheese sauce. For dessert, we split the Black Out gourmet ice cream sandwich which was delicious! Their dessert menu offers about 10 different kinds of thick gourmet ice cream sandwiches. This place is clean, super friendly, casual, has a great beer selection, 4 basic wines on tap (2 whites, 2 reds) and delicious bar-style food. (Unfortunately no salads). My folks and I really enjoyed ourselves and will definitely make this one of our regular places to eat in Chapel Hill when we want fun food in a super...