Summer House — Restaurant in Charlotte

I was treated very rudely by the bartender April. To the point that all the guests around me were offering to go to the manager. First, I was accused of walking in without stopping at the hostess stand when the hostess told me to sit there. I politely told her that the hostess told me to sit here to which she rolled her eyes. She then said that she is very busy and that I needed to get the seat cleared. I pointed to the hostess and said that she told me to sit here. The lady I followed in and sat beside said "Wow- what did you do wrong?" It took her a little over 10 minutes to ask me what I was drinking and then another 10 to make it. She served two new guests ahead of me. When she delivered my drink, finally, she asked me if I was eating. I said in a little while since I have a long layover. She looked at me and said- "So you're not ordering food" to which I restated that yes, just not right away. This made the couple to my right say, "Are you OK, she is being pretty rude to you" About 20 minutes later I tried waving her down 3 times as she walked past me to be ignored every time. When she did stop, I asked her if I could order chips and salsa as a start. She never acknowledged me as she poured a beer from the tap. My new friends to my right said, "I don't think she heard you." To which I tried waving her down a couple of more times- ignored. About 15 minutes later she walked over from the outside of the bar and literally plopped down a plate with chips and salsa and walked away. Didn't even place it in front of me but to my side. I could go on with more, but I had a total of 16 hours travel from one side going back to the west coast and whatever she was mad at she took out on me- the customer (which I will not be again next time through) She needs to understand what customer service and engagement is and to respond accordingly. On a side note- she had another female bartender come in and literally took off her sweatshirt, opened a new uniform shirt and get dressed for work in the bar! After she did this- she was told "I'll take this side and you can have that side and you can have him and pointed to me over her shoulder! She also made all the guests check out with her so that the "New bartender" was taking over. Someone really needs to...

I had a 3 hour layover and this was the closest spot. Big mistake! As I sat down at the bar, which was full, there was a QR code sticker to order "quickly and easily". I ordered and I waited. Nothing. I did, however, notice the 3 bartenders milling around, serving the occasional beer or plate of food. They were not overly busy. At one point, someone walked by and threw a menu in my direction with no acknowledgement. After waiting another 10 minutes I finally caught the eye of a very grumpy bartender. No smile, no greeting of any kind. I offered her a smile and I asked her if she had seen my order go through or if I should give her my order now. I also said that I may have used the app wrong, basically looking for some guidance. She said to me, "I'm not sure I can take your order". I laughed a little (thinking she was joking) and said, "really?". She did not like that and said something like OK, Fine. I gave her my order for a salad and a cocktail and she said she would bring me a salad but not the drink. I asked if she was joking and she said she was not. I asked why and she said "I don't have to give you a reason". Finally, exhausted with her clear unwillingness to be a part of our implied customer/ bartender relationship, I asked if she was joking. She said she was not and that she did not intend to discuss it any further with me. Well, the only logical next step was to challenge her to a battle of wits. Just kidding, she was clearly unarmed for such an encounter. I went to the next bar down the line and had my lunch.

I thought maybe she had a bad day, right? We all do sometimes. I am sure working in an overly crowded airport isn't always easy. But it is pretty clear from some of the comments above that this is a fairly common occurrence. Also, with the amount of staff they had on hand it did not seem like any one server was overwhelmed. They just did not seem to want to be there. And as a former server myself, I know that sometimes you have to fake it. (BTW, I am female so I'm not saying that everyone has to smile but it helps a lot in the service industry)

Anyway, good luck and enter at...

Served RAW salmon! I just had a horrific experience on Aug. 28, 2025 (9:21 pm) trying to get dinner at the Summer House in the Charlotte airport.

First, look at the salmon portion size for a whopping $37! Wow! What a rip off! This can't be over 4 oz of fish.

What's really disturbing is that the salmon was served RAW in the middle. This isn't a sushi joint, and this fish is NOT safe to serve uncooked.

Next, look at the dish: Served on $2 worth of spinach with a greasy side of garlic on sourdough that looks absolutely disgusting.

The Health Department should take a look at this place! The server, Maryann, was nice enough, and she shouldn't be held responsible for being handed raw food by the kitchen staff; but when I asked her if I could speak to a manager, she refused! She said that the manager wasn't on site and wouldn't be back for a while.

This was one of the worse dining experiences that I've ever had: Overpriced ... unsafe/raw/disgusting food ... and no manager to even speak with about it. Maryann still charged me for the beer that I ordered. When fail as miserably as this, COMP THE CHECK on an overpriced $13 20oz glass of beer!

I recommend avoiding this place, and I will contact the Health Department about what happened. That manager can avoid me, but they won't be avoiding the Health Department inspector.

UPDATE (9/9/25): The Mecklenburg County Health Department inspected the restaurant this morning, and they sent me a copy of their report. Several small problems were discovered, including contact surfaces/utensils not cleaned properly, food not maintained at the correct hot/cold temperatures, unlabeled/undated food storage containers, and one cook not using a thermometer for cooking meats. One potentially serious item was that rodent droppings were found in the kitchen. Management wrote in a response that they would retrain their staff and seek to improve. Let's hope so! Thank you to the Mecklenburg County Health Department and their inspectors for doing such an amazing job protecting the public. They're saving lives! I really appreciate how seriously and how quickly they responded...