Pimiento Tea Room — Restaurant in Holly Springs

It was an enjoyable experience overall. The decor is quirky and fun, and the service was delightful. I wasn't totally impressed with the food, I think I came in with higher expectations because they finalize reservations about 48 hours out and the reviews here are great. The menu changes, so I would give this a go in a different season and possibly update my review, but as for fall some of the sandwich combinations were not great for me. I did like the brunch salad, that was a nice intro. I had hoped they would have clotted cream for the scone spread as that is more typical, but they did not (whipped butter seemed to be the stand in). I understand that this is hard to buy here in NC, but it could be made pretty easily especially with the reservation lead-out time.

I did not love the meatloaf sandwich taste-wise; I think cold meatloaf just doesn't do it for me though. I did enjoy the flavors of the chicken salad in the croissant sandwich. I could be wrong, but the texture of the croissant reminded me of store-bought croissants and they seemed a bit stale, so that was unfortunate. It had a distinct lack of layering and lacked the crusty, buttery top you would hope for.

I did really enjoy the savories; this was my favorite tier. My SO did not like the frittata because he found the balsamic spread on top to be overwhelming, but I love balsamic. The best bite of the day, for me, was the French onion stuffed mushroom.

The Caramel apple cream puff seemed to be lacking in caramel apple flavor, but it was tasty. The spice cupcake was probably the best of the dessert tier for us, which is surprising because I normally do not go for cupcakes.

We wished that one pot of tea was covered with the reservation and were a little surprised that it wasn't, but it is one of the cheaper options for this type of service in this region, so maybe that's why.

To sum it all up, up your price if you have to, but include at least one pot of tea. The flavor problems for us might have just been coincidental, but get a better source of croissants & possibly other baked goods. Try making clotted cream for the service to make the experience more authentic as it is a staple of...

I was blown away. First, if you're expecting a traditional afternoon tea experience, this isn't it, although I'd love to see them start, maybe in between lunch and dinner service. The atmosphere is about what you'd expect from a renovated, older home. It's warm and inviting. There's a nice lounge area with a bar, as well as the indoor and outdoor dining areas. The service is great. The owner husband and wife team were the host and chef, respectively. We didn't get a chance to meet the wife, but the husband was an excellent host. The server did a great job as well. Due to the pandemic, they're having trouble hiring enough employees, but hopefully that improves as things get back to normal. They were stretched thin, but handled it well. We were in a rush, and while that's not their problem, they graciously accommodated us. The food is a modern take on traditional southern cuisine. Pimiento cheese, pickled vegetables, black-eyed pease, collards, and sausage balls are all on the menu in one form or another. The pimiento cheese is good. Perhaps we'll see it have a place in the next Cary Pimiento Cheese Festival. The sausage balls are the best I've ever had. Seriously. They're amazing. The collards dip is astonishingly good. I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The brunswick stew was good, especially if you prefer it thick and not soupy, but the only meat is chicken. At a minimum it should include the entire chicken (specifically dark meat) and bacon, but really in NC it's nice to have some homemade BBQ (pulled pork). Some potatoes would be a nice addition as well. If you like plain teas as I do, you may find their tea menu overwhelming, as they're all flavored. However, I found the added flavorings to be subtle, and allowed the tea to...

I was excited to visit a tea room, being from a country where tea rooms are popular. We asked to sit on the porch, the hostess told us we could not, she needed to fill other areas first. Disappointed, but not wanting to make a fuss, we agreed to sit on the patio, to the left of the building. A lovely seating area with a gazebo and fans for a lovely breeze. We placed our order after posing several questions. The waitress seemed to tolerate our questions, showing veiled impatience. Service was slow, just under 30 minutes for tea and mini sandwiches? Tea options are good, but the only milk alternative is soy. Tea comes in a French Press pot ($6) and a cup for hot tea or glass of ice for iced tea. Sugar is cubed, delightful! The cream scone is 'skone' and not a 'skon' and has no cream. ??? Flavored butter is extra. The (3 petite) seafood salad sandwiches were delicious. The menu has a few good choices. While the tea experience is not a do over for me, I may go back for the soup and salad. Modern crockery and retro cutlery compliment the setting and seem to be intentionally chosen. Both the menu and the bill are high tech and touchless (scanning a QR code). Very convenient and a nice touch. The restaurant is compact, 2 gender free bathrooms that are pretty and clean. If one is new to a tea room experience, this is a good introduction. But as a seasoned tea room frequenter, sadly the experience was underwhelming. Before our food arrived, the hostess was seating people on the porch. She could have seated us there as well. The customer is always right, yet so few businesses realize this. I think with friendly, faster service, the experience would have been much better....