CRU Lounge Fayetteville — Restaurant in Fayetteville

Tonight was the last straw! I’ve given CRU Lounge Fayetteville more chances than I probably should have, hoping it would get better. But the one thing that’s consistent here is the lack of consistency, especially in the kitchen.

Let’s start with the lamb chops. Undercooked, pink in the middle, and not in a gourmet way. Just flat-out underdone. They’re also tiny and nowhere near worth the price. I’ve ordered them more than once hoping for improvement, but it’s the same disappointment every time.

Taco Tuesday? Trash. I’ve had both hard and soft shells and they’ve been stale every time like they’ve been sitting open for days. The chicken wings are either raw in the middle or overcooked and dry. And the hot honey flavor? Never the same twice. One day it’s alright, the next it’s just oily with no flavor.

The Rasta Pasta lacks everything that should make it good. It’s bland, overly sweet, and has no trace of authentic Caribbean flavor. I’ve had better pasta from a microwave meal. The chicken tenders are over-breaded and fried until they’re tough. Even the salmon is unpredictable. Some nights it’s dry and unseasoned, other nights it’s way too salty or over-spiced. It’s like whoever’s cooking is guessing instead of following any kind of recipe.

And that’s the real problem. There’s no standard, no structure, no recipe book, no quality control. The food you get depends on who’s in the kitchen and what mood they’re in that day. That’s not a restaurant. That’s a gamble.

Your atmosphere and bar might be what draws people in, but that can only carry you so far. People come for the vibe, but they’ll stay or never come back because of the food. Right now your kitchen is the weakest link in your business. You need a real chef, a consistent system, and someone who’s holding the team accountable.

Until that happens, I’m done spending my money here. This place has potential, but potential doesn’t mean much when the food keeps failing. The truth is, you...

So boom CRU FAYETTEVILLE here’s how it went for me. My bro bday was today so we chose to come by cry and the security was as security should be professionally stern. Once we entered we were greeted kindly by the girl at the reception table she seated us quickly. Now here comes the highlight…. Our server CAT!!!!!! Here’s the visual ( imagine a pretty brown skin long braids 90s vibe woman with a gold 2 teeth grills on top and bottom greeting you with long well done nails bedazzled just enough but not too much) taking care of you. She told us about their specials, she was patient, nice and attentive from the time we came in until the time we left. We tested her taste in drinks and food by allowing her to choose out drinks and wing flavor for us and she did not miss, for me she choose a double trouble(drink), the sour patch kid drink and Georgia peach drink for me, I must say she have great taste as her drink choices were fruity and great tasting while also providing enough punch to get you where you wanna be while drinking. Our drinks were made by the beautiful bartender name Mary, she came out near the end and spoke to us as well and she was just as courteous and nice as cat was. She’s Puerto Rican and carry a very sweet spirit and it shows though her drink mixes and sweet smile. Overall I enjoyed cru, the vibe of the place is not that of a club but more of a lounge you would come out with your friend group have drinks and enjoy the music and company while having a very non toxic environment full of happy people. If you get the time go show cat and Mary some love. Tell them z sent you lol. Peace love and profits to this...

We found CRU Lounge through the RESY app via American Express dining experience recommendations. Unfortunately we never got in even with our reservation because the doorman want to conduct a search of us and our clothes for some reason. He claimed my multivitamins and my wife’s daily heart medications were drugs, even while they were both in clearly marked medication bags. Who sells medication pills or multivitamins in a restaurant during brunch?

When we asked if we could simply throw them away (we were hungry and parked fairly far away), the man said yes. I asked if there was a trash can inside, he declined to allow us to claiming we can’t enter with them on our person. I asked if we could hand them to him while we dined and he refused very rudely. This was all before what looked like a metal detector wand in his hand which we assume they possibly have a gun or weapons problem here?

After dealing with the doorman’s attitude and the possibility of dining in the kind of environment where you need such a doorman and metal detectors and gun wands and searching patrons for drugs prior to entering, my wife and I decided CRU Lounge was not for us and made the choice to simply take our money and dine elsewhere. From the pictures on RESY, we thought this would be an upscale and classy brunch experience in Fayetteville, but this is not even close.

This may seem fine for a certain demographic of people, but we would probably never attempt to dine here ever again or recommend it to any of our friends, family or business clients. Not...