Angry Troll Brewing — Restaurant in Elkin

First I want to preface that we go to 222 (Angry Troll) regularly! We’ve never had any issues, with food or service, until our most recent visit. Recently, they began serving sushi on Thursdays and we hadn’t been yet, so decided to go & give it a try as we looove sushi. So my husband, daughter & I go, and order from their sushi menu. We received our sushi rolls and I tried the first one and immediately knew I did not like it. The texture was off - the rice was super mushy and there was no flavor profile other than the sauce drizzled on top. I had my husband try his and he also agreed. Now, as someone who has been a waitress for YEARS, I am the LAST person to complain about food. I don’t go into any restaurant expecting food to be perfect. I will eat just about anything, even if it’s not my favorite. But after trying the sushi, I knew I wanted to return it (which I’ve literally never done). So I got our server’s attention and informed her of the issue, and we proceeded to order two different entrees. Our server, Virginia, was the kindest server! Without even asking if the sushi could be removed from the bill, she went to TWO different managers to ask if it could be removed, in which they both told her no. We found this out shortly after eating our other entrees because we had inquired if it could be removed from the check, where she proceeded to tell us about the managers’ response. We kindly asked if we could speak with the manager just so we could relay that we don’t want to pay for it since we immediately discontinued eating it (and even ordered even more food, so they weren’t really losing money by taking it off the bill…). After waiting for over 10 minutes for the manager to come, she approached the table without introducing herself. I could see that she was irritated with us from the moment she approached. She went straight into saying “what’s wrong with it? Is it sour? Is the fish bad?” In which we responded that we weren’t sure what the exact issue with the sushi is other than the texture is very off and there was no taste. I told her how we informed our server right away after receiving the sushi and that we ordered more food, and enjoyed that, so we just didn’t want to pay for the sushi we ordered & didn’t eat. As I’m trying to thank her (and being way kinder to her than she was to us), she grabs the plates of sushi and just walks off. This manager’s name is Kristen (or “Red” as she was referred to). I was very disappointed in this encounter, especially as a food service worker. I have totally dealt with customers in my past that make me roll my eyes at their requests, but a part of the service industry is putting on a smile and accommodate them the best way you reasonably can. Especially when we felt we did what I would expect any of my own customers do: discontinue eating the food & inform the server promptly. It’s just disheartening to have that sort of encounter with a manager that should be representing the establishment in a positive way. But that matter aside, I want to shed light onto Virginia, our sweet server. She was so kind to bring our toddler some oranges to munch on while we awaited our food, brought her a coloring book page and crayons, and was super attentive to us. She was amazing and I want to really highlight her...

The Angry Troll is a fantastic destination in the homey and cozy town of Elkin. This review will cover the food, service, and atmosphere as well as one particular “special” shining star that simply elevates the Troll to a spot normally reserved for historic tourist destinations such as Chitzen-Itza in Mexico.

Food-Whether it’s a delicious pulled pork sandwich, nachos, crispy yet chewy crust pizza from their wood fired ovens, or a deeply satisfying and refreshing beer from their micro-brewery or one of the other options on tap, the food is always exquisite and must be cooked by Gordon Ramsey himself. (Without all the yelling of course.)

Atmosphere-The Angry Troll is somewhat misleading in name, as it’s more of the surly grandfather that yells at you with a smile on his face and a glint in his eyes and shoves a crisp 100 dollar bill in your pocket when you hug him to leave his house. The atmosphere is reminiscent of Denver Colorado and you always feel welcome and comfortable when you walk through the door. They’re extremely family oriented and you can definitely feel it when you walk through the door.

Now, the crown jewel of The Angry Troll the service. You could not ask for a better group of people to take care of you when you’re in the absolute oasis that is the Angry Troll in the desert of other “restaurants”. I usually show my ugly face every other Friday at the Troll, I walk in and sit down at the bar with my friends. As we walk in we are usually greeted by the short and vivacious pixie bartender known simply as, “Dee”. Now Dee is a pillar of not only the community at large but the Angry Troll as well, with her gentle mothering and kind nature as she comforts those who seek to drown their sorrows in one of the Trolls many fantastic beverages, Dee flits about making sure everyone has what they need and ensures all souls who sit at her bar receive a kind word or sage advice and a pat on the back as comfort. Honestly, in my many years of living I’ve never seen someone move with such precision, grace, and poise, many people may try, but it would be like trying to compare a macaroni noodle drawing to a Picasso. (It also helps she smells like the inside of my mothers purse after she’s been cooking sugar cookies all day.)

In conclusion, The Angry Troll is a refreshing change of pace in a fast paced world, they offer a place of refuge among the day to day dreariness and Dee is the diving board into the fantastical world of fine craft beers and drinks that she is willing to...

Atmosphere was good, it wasn't too cold for my wife and not too warm for me, and the bench seating was nice and encouraged smaller groups to sit together who may bit know each other. Everything was very clean from their bathrooms to kitchen and even the roof (you can see the exhaust and supply fans from the parking lot) so it looks like a lot of pride is taken on the restaurant as a whole. They also have a taproom upstairs and downstairs, both were really nice, people were friendly. Food was adequate, Burger was done more than requested but not dry, although it was a good boot smaller than the bun, Cheesesteak was good and a nice twist on a regular item, tortilla chips for the queso were HUGE (would be better with smaller quarter chip pieces and if they came out warm) and the large chips were hard to dip in the plastic container of cheese, potato chips where seasoned super heavy on half and almost no seasoning on the other side, boneless wings and the sauce for them was really good, the blue cheese was fantastic, wheat beer on tap was good nothing to write hinge about. Service was not good and nearly the worst I've ever had from our main waitress and the kitchen's timing. We sat for about 10 mins (not too bad) before one lady came over and took our drink order, and said our main waitress would be over soon. Took another 15 mins for main waitress and she couldn't tell me anything about what was on tap (at a brewery?) and wasn't clear on samples, so I guessed on a beer. Food came out very staggered after 20 mins of waiting, chips and queso, 2 mins later my Philly cheesteak, 5 mins later our order of potato chips, another 3 mins my wife's burger, and last almost 5 more mins later was my daughter's boneless wings. Drink refills came out really inconsistently, and then our waitress disappeared and I had to hail down the original waitress which took our drinks, and once she was on it, service was great for the check, boxes, etc. If they can get their service and timing down, this would make a great spot to stop at coming back from hike or...