The Crunkleton — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

First off, if looking for a cocktail in Chapel Hill, Lantern blows this place away in terms of quality of their cocktails, speed of service, and attitudes towards customers.

I'm amazed at all of the glowing reviews of this bar. I have been here several times from 2010-2013 and received average service at best, and some really bad tasting drinks. Normally, the bartenders have been outright rude, provided poor service, and also poorly made cocktails. When questioned about the quality of a drink, the bartenders have responded with a holier than though attitude, not even tasting the drink to assess any imperfections (nor did they test the drink when making it). They generally refuse to remake a poorly made drink (I have observed this for several other people as well) or even discuss things with you in a friendly manner. They will choose the crappiest liquor on which to build a drink, and not ask you what you prefer, or even check if a particular spirit is acceptable to you. When I have complained they claim you need to specify what you want in it, but they turn and walk away so quickly you don't have the time to have any discussion about the specifics of drink crafting. Ultimately, this entire way of acting is very counterproductive to someone specializing in a craft . The result is they are giving the customer a crappy made cocktail and expect them to like it, but are really angry when the customer doesn't. These guys need to observe some basic tenets of working in the service industry.

I have only attended on weekend evenings although the bar was not necessarily busy so as to potentially excuse any poor service or attitude. Not that it should even if the place was slammed. If service or attitude goes down the drain when more patrons arrive an individual has no place being a bartender in the first place.

For a place that purports itself to be a classy cocktail establishment the service and execution fall far short of anything decent. Their selection is wonderful and it's a shame that the guys who man the bar are so often jerks. I have heard nice things about the owner but the men who run the bar during its busiest times reflect poorly on the...

It is such a shame that I am having to write this review, but it needs to be known that this establishment is very unwelcoming to people of color. I am not one to write negative reviews, or to claim that prejudices have been dealt against me, but the experience I had today at the Crunkleton simply cannot be left untold, and was unequivocally shameful.

My group of 6 friends, all graduating UNC dental students and all Black, Brown, and Asian, visited tonight, and the host turned us away at the door, stating that the building was at capacity and we could not enter until others left. That made sense, so we exited without questioning and waited outside. However, immediately as we were exiting, a similarly-sized group of all white folks approached the entrance, and were allowed to enter. No other people had left from the building between our two groups. Now, I will leave that up to you to decide what the difference was between our two groups, but to me it is clear what that difference is, and it is so shameful that an establishment in Chapel Hill or anywhere would act in this way.

This is not the only instance of such unwelcoming behavior either. I have other Asian friends who, on another occasion, have been repeatedly ignored and refused service at the bar (they luckily were at least let in) while other white counterparts were served around them.

Suffice to say, I hope anyone reading this review thinks twice about the bar they choose to be a patron of, and stay away from the Crunkleton— an establishment that is unwelcoming at the least, and racist...

Traveling for work and stopped in here 2 nights in a row. I have mixed feelings on the experience so here is the good and the bad. The Good: Beautiful setup. I love the wall of bourbon and just getting to see the vast array of bottles was worth the trip. The atmosphere is 5 out of 5 stars.

The Bad: Due to the large constantly changing volume of bottles there is not a price list and you must ask the bartender for pricing. I learned that the first night and when I brought some extra friends the second night I specifically asked for a recommendation on a good $30 pour for the three of us. The bartender directed me to an excellent bourbon, but when I went to cash out the bill was $162 for the 3 pours. I pointed out that I was expecting it to be $100ish and the bartender was very frustrated. He then gave me a new bill for $30 total. I was not asking for anything free. He said I drank a valuable bourbon and now the difference was going to have to come out of his pocket. I proceeded to tip $60 to make it more in line with original request but he was still very...