Crafted The Art of the Taco — Restaurant in Greensboro

Okay. I took a few days to think about this one. I'll start off focusing solely on the food. The food tasted great! I ordered a BBQ styled taco and a fish taco with a kick you won't forget. Order the Mac N cheese. The Mac N cheese is not just a side dish, it's an experience! The atmosphere is hip and urban and nicely located downtown. The open air patio is a nice touch and in line with the Downtown Renaissance that seems to be sweeping across NC and VA. The drink glasses are the small Mason jars that always seem to scream southern charm, but they're too small. Imagine an extra large shot glass. This wouldn't have been an issue if the service had been anything close to acceptable.

I've had better service at Taco Bell. Nothing against Taco Bell, but they shouldn't be outpacing a restaurant of this caliber in anything, especially service. The host sat me immediately and the waiter took my order immediately and even gave me a suggestion for food which I followed. The brilliantly crafted food came out fast, much sooner than I expected. However, the glass that held my water and the glass that held my tea were empty. I looked for my waiter for nearly 5 minutes before asking a nice waitress walking by if she could get me more tea. Once that tea was gone, I'm again waiting on my waiter who ironically is now behind the bar refilling his personal glass and watching World Cup games. Another gentleman who seemed to be of the management type came over and asked if he could take my plate, which he did. Now, I'm sitting at a table with no food, no drink, and no check. So I wait......and I wait. Finally I make eye contact with the nice waitress from earlier and the same management type gentleman came over and asked if I needed my check. I said yes and he brought it over. I immediately placed money on the bill tray and waited some more. The same gentleman who brought the check collected my money and returned with my change. I asked him at this point for more tea and he offered to pour it into a to go cup. He brought my tea, thanked me for coming and wished me well. While waiting for service I watched my waiter drop and kick an empty dishbucket, watch TV behind the bar, pour and refill his personal drink, joke and laugh with guys in the kitchen and completely ignore me. I couldn't fully enjoy my meal due to the lack of attention I received. It was the kind of blatant incompetence that left you wondering if your waiter was the owner's son. I'm hoping this was an anomaly and not normal. I have them slated on my burger tour so maybe they'll impress me and earn...

Crafted was my all time favorite spot in college, but this recent visit was not what I was looking forward to at all. We walked in at 7:50pm and immediately were told we have 10 minutes to order. No problem for us because of how often we use to dine at Crafted so we remembered exactly what we wanted. The winter hours stated they will stop seating at 8pm on Sunday, but I didn’t realize they would serve cold food even after we ordered just a few minutes before 8pm. When we were ordering the waiter said they are out of a bunch of things which was disappointing, I wanted to try the vegan fried chicken and he said they turned the fryer off… it was 7:55pm. The winter hours state they close at 9pm.. not sure why the kitchen is getting closed up an hour before closing, but I still had 5 minutes before the kitchen closed so I don’t know why the fryer was already turned off. I asked for an extra side of the sweet spicy chili sauce when I ordered my food, but the chef didn’t put any in the taco (when the fixie comes with it) just a little side cup of it on my plate. I asked the waiter for an extra side of sauce at 8:05pm and he said he can’t because they closed everything down. That was just very confusing because it was a little side of sauce. I’m sure it’s pre-made. Most restaurants will still service you when you’re eating your food past their closing time, but we felt rushed out. We left at 8:19pm and the winter hours stated they close at 9pm. I understand closing the kitchen at 8:30pm, even 8pm, but I felt like I asked for the moon when I just wanted extra sauce. The overall service/attitude just threw the whole mood off, I was very excited to come back to have Crafted again. If yall are shutting things down before 8pm on Sunday, just state that you’re closing at 8:30pm...

My wife & I recently visited the restaurant Crafted the Art of the Taco, for the FIRST TIME today, on CINCO DE MAYO of all days & I must say, I was thoroughly disappointed with my dining experience. The food was subpar at best, & based on my FIRST TIME experience I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a tacos.

Let's start with the chorizo queso dip. It was nothing short of a disaster. The dip was incredibly watery, lacking any depth of flavor, & had a strange aftertaste that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was clear that the kitchen staff didn't take any care in preparing the dip. It was SO WATERY, the “queso” if you wanna call it that, was running off the chip, imagine trying to eat cereal with a fork.

The braised beef tacos were equally unimpressive. The beef was bland & lacked any seasoning, the taco shells were saturated with the tasteless juice of the beef. It was falling apart, had to eat it with a fork. I was expecting a burst of flavors in my mouth especially since it was recommended by the server, but instead, I was left with a lackluster taste that didn't do justice to the recommendation.

To add insult to injury, my wife’s shrimp tacos were overly salty, making it nearly impossible to enjoy the dish. She could barely taste the shrimp because of the overwhelming saltiness & had to take a napkin to try to rub off the excess salt. She was over the experience.

Overall, our 1ST TIME at Crafted was a complete letdown. I don’t know if the lunch time rush was overwhelming the staff on top of it being Cinco De Mayo. Not that it matters, but they lost a 1st time customer but WE WON’T be returning to this restaurant anytime soon & already have let our experience be known to our...