The Refectory Cafe — Restaurant in Durham

Our server was a nice person, but the staff initially ignored our table for the first 5 to 10 minutes after our party arrived. We sat at our table with no drinks or menus while I attempted to contact the host repeatedly.

The host kept walking/bobbing around with his arms crossed behind his back and looked directly at me while I was asking for service but just wandered past me while ignoring the fact that we still hadn't even been seated with menus, silverware, or water. It got to the point where I basically yelled at this guy to get his attention. There were three seated tables in the entire restaurant and it was very quiet. The staff was standing behind the register watching it happen and did nothing.

To put it kindly, it was a very odd interaction. Guests shouldn't have to work to be served.

When drinks were finally offered, they only handed out one glass of whatever was requested. So if someone requested tea, they got tea alone and no water. Seems like the service staff didn't really feel involved in serving our table.

The food was overpriced and the vegetarian options were quite unremarkable. Apparently the trick to making "Award Winning" Dal is to combine lentils with veggies and no seasoning. Weaver Street Market sells dal that is 5 times better for 1/2 the cost. The chili was absolutely bomb and is good by any metric. The vegan cheesecake, however, was okay when fresh but quickly disintegrated into a weird fluffy paste by the time we brought it home.

It's no wonder Guglhupf gets all of the foot traffic, to the point where this restaurant needs to put signs up on its own parking lot reserving the spaces for their establishment. The owner(s) would probably make more money if they charged for Guglhupf parking than continuing to reserve the spots for patrons who rightfully...

We dined here on a Tuesday night for our anniversary dinner. Despite the rather humble decor, the food was very fine. Being the middle of the week, it was not crowded at all. There is an emphasis on local sourcing, organic, gluten-free and vegan dishes. While it was a bit pricey, especially the glass of wine, we bear some of that responsibility as we did order two of the most expensive dishes on their menu. I ordered the beef tenderloin and my wife had the crabcakes.

My steak was a little over-done on just one side, but the serving amount was just right. I felt satisfied without feeling bloated. The mashed potatoes were smooth without being a pile of gluten. The green beans were cooked, but still a bit crispy. I need to add salt and pepper to my dinner, but what a nice change to have a meal served with too little salt than too much. My wife said the crabcakes were very good rather rich as they had a lot of crab meat in them, versus being mostly filling.

We split a dessert of their vegan chocolate "cheesecake". This was not overly sweet, but not overly chocolate flavored either. Instead of dairy products they use various nut oils. I am glad to have tried it. It was much lighter than a regular cheesecake. The dessert tray was quite varied.

The staff was pleasant and attentive. All three waitresses checked in on us during the meal. If our main waitress was busy with another patron, a different waitress helped us out. I plan to return as I would like to try their chicken parmesan and shrimp linguine.

If I have any suggestion for improvement, it would be to include the wine, beverage and dessert menus to their web page. Photos of their dinners would be...

Great for takeout, but in-person service is iffy. They have a wide variety of options, and even decent options for vegan and gluten-free, but the people who work here never seem to know what's going on.

I've spoken with some in-person and ordering pick-up over the phone on several occasions, and they tend to lack menu knowledge, dietary requirements (whether a vegan item can be gluten-free, etc.), and just aren't really aware. They don't seem to read the tickets to know that one person ordered a hot chocolate, and the other is a dairy free latte, and any other additions (like not being sure if your pancakes have blueberries because they didn't read the ticket and none are visible on top, or bringing you a glass of ice with lemon when you asked for water with no ice or lemon).

Also, in-store you need to be careful that the food is fresh. If I'm taking it home, I expect I might need to reheat it a little. If I'm ordering at the restaurant, I will politely ask for a new plate if it comes out cold, and don't appreciate when the employee makes me feel like I'm asking for too much (to be served hot food). While that was uncomfortable, someone did promptly bring out a fresh plate and I was quite happy.

The food ranges quite a bit, but so far, I'd stick with breakfast pancakes, avoid bakery items, and the "award winning dhal" is quite underwhelming. The veganized huevos rancheros were quite good, but the broccoli in the vegan scramble is a huge mistake. Seriously, its just nasty.

My partner tells me the burger was just okay, and his chicken marsala was a bit disappointing.

Oh, the breakfast potatoes are a must. They're typically nicely crunchy with a good pepper and...