ScrubOaks Contemporary American Pub — Restaurant in Fayetteville

My boyfriend and I had Easter brunch here. Having grown up going to brunches for the Easter holiday, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, these hopes were dashed the minute we ordered.

Our reservation was at 1:30 p.m. We were seated promptly, which I took as a good sign. When our waiter came over, he informed us that they were out of the ribeye option. This wasn't an issue for us, as neither of us were planning to order it, but it was odd to be out of one of the food options already. So we continued on. I ordered a mimosa, the tomato basil soup with herbed croutons, the maple glazed ham with deviled eggs, the mandarin spinach salad with red onions, and the cheesecake. My boyfriend ordered the coconut shrimp, pan-seared salmon, the salad (same as mine), and the chocolate torte. Our server came over to us promptly to take our order and provided water. Unfortunately, that is where the good experience ends.

Our server rarely, if ever, came to check on us. We had to catch him twice to get us more water. My mimosa tasted like it was mostly orange juice. I had only wanted one, but this was disappointing. My tomato basil soup was good, but there were no herbed croutons. Instead, I was given packaged saltine crackers. My boyfriend's coconut shrimp were only 4 small shrimp and tasted just fried. My ham was decent, but seemed like they had simply poured glaze on top. My boyfriend's salmon was stuck to his plate, and the outside was dark and crusty, as if they had just put it in the oven like that to heat it up. The salads were just diced red onion and mandarin orange on top of spinach--no dressing or anything, and we were not even offered a dressing option for the salad at any point. We were there for over an hour and were checked on maybe once, and it was rushed. (Mind you, the area we were eating in was not busy, nor was the restaurant itself.) We were disappointed and wanted to just leave, so we asked for the check. Even without dessert, we were still charged the prix fixe price: $38 per adult. Unfortunately, this meal was not worth the price.

I had high hopes for an Easter brunch but was very disappointed. If this was our experience for a special event, I do not know that I'd have a better experience any other day of the week, and we will not...

We met up with my husband's long time friend who had not seen eachother in over 30 years. I was told this was their favorite spot.

We drove straight in from Texas to this spot which was recommended by my husband's friend when I recommended we meet there.

The waitress let us chat for awhile then took our orders. I asked for the obvious things like, silverware, catsup, etc. I had to ask several times. She was sure quick with the check though. I realize we took up her table meaning, we took tips so. I made up for that. I hope it made her think hard about the poor service she gave me.

In response to date and time we were there. 1/15. Arrival at 12 ish. (Hard to say exact time. Our waitress had long dishwater blond hair. She was petite. No glasses. We set at the big table at the first big window past the cash register on the right. Birdseye view of the door. Great establishment. Good food. Nice selections. Place was busy but, she absolutely could have easily brought my requests. I have to say I did take it personal as everyone at my table got what they needed. I normally do not make a big fuss about things like this as I was a waitress for 20 years and I understand forgetting things. She had to walk past us every single time she went to wait on a table. I asked for a BLT with mustard and mayo. No mustard. I asked for silverware to cut my sandwich down. I asked for catsup for all of our french fries. I had to ask for these things multiple times. I finally asked a passing waitress who, I assume told our waitress. When she gave me the items she was quite flustered. She did apologize for the time it took but, honestly. Everything was cold by the time I ate. I just had them box it up and my husband ate it on our trip back home. (That also took a very long time and I asked a passing waitress for that as well. She brought it as she was carrying drinks to another table. This waitress had no problems bringing refills to everyone at our table. She was attentive to everyone except...me. The funny thing is. I was the big tipper. I really do understand having a table take up all your time. That is the only reason I did leave her such a big tip. (It was almost as much as our food). But, it was not at all because of the service...

Our visit to Scrub Oaks Contemporary American Pub this past Sunday was outstanding! It was our first time visiting this establishment but it definitely won't be the last.

I chose the following items for my meal: Fried Onion Rings (appetizer), Boom-Boom Shrimp (entree size), their version of Mac and cheese, and a side salad w/ranch dressing. The appetizer was delicious, the salad was nice and crisp and really didn't even need the dressing it was so good, and the shrimp was very well-prepared w/lots of spices and had tons of flavor.

I'm going to give their Helluva Burger a try the next time I visit. It would have been unseemly for me to order that burger -and- the Boom-Boom Shrimp entree for that one visit -- even though I wanted to. I mean, I'm not uncivilized, you know?

I -do- have standards.

LOL!! 🤣 I almost had to do it, though! I almost had to do it... Ha, ha!!

Anyway, many thanks to Scrub Oaks for a great experience and I look forward to my next visit!

Oh -- There was one area I believe Scrub Oaks can improve and that's with their version of Macaroni and Cheese. That's the only part of my order I simply didn't enjoy, at all. It (the Mac and cheese) just felt like an afterthought when compared to the depth of flavors the other food had: it was just some penne pasta bathed in cheese sauce. It wasn't baked and there were no spices used to prepare it (from what I could tell).

I don't know if folks would miss it if it were removed from the menu when served in that version? Some folks may like it and that's fine, but that wasn't 'macaroni and cheese'. If it had been described as 'Penne Pasta w/Cheese Sauce', I would not have ordered it.

Keep up the awesome work, though! See you all...