Carolina Ale House - Garner — Restaurant in Garner

Update (no photos on this update) to add 2 stars: We decided to try again this past weekend since we had out of town relatives wanting to go to Cabela's. We did have to wait, but that was to be expected with Covid. I ordered the Roasted Salmon Salad which was DELICIOUS!!! The salmon was cooked perfectly and the blue cheese gave a perfect pop. My husband ordered the ribs which he said were really good. My cousin ordered the General Tso's dish, again good; and her husband loved the burger (which was HUGE!). In our opinion, the 'Frickles' were cut a little too thick and the batter was a bit salty, but that didn't mar the experience this time. It seemed on this visit the chef was cooking with love. Megan, our waitress, was on point! Good job!

Previous Review with photos: One star is basically for the atmosphere. We know this is a sports bar and the atmosphere was as expected. The second star is for the cleanliness of the place. It is a clean place to eat. We have been to the restaurant many times since this is a local place and it has been on the decline lately. This negative review is for the FOOD! It is just not good lately. It is really as though people just don't care about the food they are putting out. We went this past week with 4 people. We were greeted pleasantly and seated in a booth. Our waitress seemed somewhat new but waited on us alone. We ordered a Blue Moon and an IPA that came out with the orange slice in the IPA. We ordered 6 of the 13 available appetizers. The queso was ORANGE and tasted like the can cheese you can buy with a BUNCH of chili powder added. It was just gross. That queso was with the pretzels (which on their own weren't terrible) and the chili cheese fry bowl. That queso being placed all over the fry bowl made those inedible. The waitress ultimately took those off our bill. The chicken was dry. The cheese curds were good though. It has just started to feel as though the food is bottom of the list of priorities and that quick prepared items are being used which makes things taste terrible. When they first opened the food was good, tasted fresh and good quality. It used to be really good "bar food", now it seems it would only be good if...

If I could give this location zero stars, I would. I went to meet a few people I hadn't seen in a while. It was so loud inside that my party sat in the outdoor area just so we could relax and talk. We waited 15 to 20 min for a waiter to tell us he was almost done with his shift and asked if we wanted to place and pay for our orders. We declined. What would happen if we needed something during our meal? How absurd! He handed off our table to a 2nd waiter who was already manning a station inside. He took our drink orders of 4 ice waters, but the runner only brought 3. We had to wait for the 4th. We then placed our orders and proceeded to wait 45 min for it. When they brought our food, it was completely cold. One person asked for no jalapeños and it was served with it. I asked for fried chicked to be added to my spinach salad. The chicken was completely cold, and the spinach was wilted, macerated, and sitting in a pool of vinegrette. It wasn't edible. No one came to see how we were doing or if we needed condiments or refills. The waiter must have forgotten us. When the waiter finally appeared, we complained, and he had the manager come to our table. He apologized and put in new orders for our food. We then proceeded to wait another 45 minutes. During this time, the waiter came with our checks asking if we wanted the food to go. We declined because then we'd be eating cold food again. Anyway, the food never arrived. I searched for the manager and spoke to him. Another 20 more minutes went by, and our table never received food. He did end up comping us our meals, and rightfully so, since we never received fresh hot food. He also ended up picking up one meal from the kitchen, which he boxed up for us. I've been to other Carolina Ale House locations with a better service experience. We all vowed never to return to the Garner North Carolina location. By the way, I don't know what the story was with the table next to us, but they simply walked out...

Sports bar in White Oak. If you're looking for a sports bar that gets the atmosphere of a shorts bar down right, this is the place. Great bar area, well decorated, plenty of screens filled with many of the latest games being played. Good feel to that part of the restaurant. Side area a away from the bar area for those who want to focus more on dining.

Standard American bar food menu. Burgers, sandwiches, wings, ribs and such. Nothing really standouts as a signature dish or a higher than average effort in preparation.

Waitstaff are pleasant and attentive enough. Nothing special but nothing unpleasant. Go there for the game or for a simple meal with some friends.

Last visit was at four on a Saturday with a very brief wait. Plenty of parking.

To management:

The sandwiches we ordered (Braised Brisket French Dip) were over cooked. The brisket was crispy from overheating. The onion soup dip could have helped giving some moisture to a dry sandwich, except it was wet onions with hardly any broth. This could be a signature dish if properly prepared, but it wasn't. We both othered this meal and we both got the same over cooked sub with wet onions in a bowl covered with cheese. You guys do a great job with the atmosphere and keeping a clean restaurant but both times my wife and I dined there we were underwhelmed with the meal preparation. Of course, we say this about most restaurants these days given how difficult it is to find motivated staff. Especially when the restaurant uses cooks instead of chefs. I say this as a father who has a son who is a chef (in Maryland) and as someone spent 25 years in the food...