The Country Squire — Restaurant in Kenansville

My family has been going to the country squire for many many years - we love the Caesar salad made at the table. Over the years there have been one or two times we felt it was not quite up to par but never off enough to stop us from going back. But the past year we had 2 incidents that have changed our opinion - first was when we stopped in around 8pm one night coming back home from our trip and we asked for the Caesar salad for 2 made at the table and were brought just 2 salads from the back but charged 18.99 which is the charge for making it fresh. When we asked about it we were told it was made fresh in the back and it was the same price regardless. It wasn’t as good as what we normally get but it was getting late and we were hungry so paid it and debated if we would go back. Fast forward to 6 months and we go back with my brother and SIL (August 27,2025) and had reservations for 630p so we were seated promptly and soon our order was taken. There were only 4 other tables of customers in our area but it was after 8pm before we got our steaks, The food was good but the service was slow. I can live with that but what has now made me determined not to go back - we paid with our debit card and I have my copy of the bill - I know what I left for tip but when I checked my account on Friday, an additional 10.00 had been added to my bill. I can only assume someone wrote over my amount to give themselves an extra 10.00. Fortunately my brother paid with cash so he didn’t have this experience. 10.00 will not break me but it is the principal - I leave tips based on service. Don’t think we will be going back, and I suggest checking your account afterwards or pay with cash.

9/2/25 UPDATE: I contacted Countey Squire by email regarding my previous experience with the additional tip charge. They did apologize and assured me it was a entry mistake and my money was refunded. She did say the owner was very hands on but is currently on vacation and asked if it would be okay if she called me upon her return and I said yes. I will update once I talk to her.

update: Owner did call me as soon as she returned - super nice and apologetic- she really does love her restaurant and practices great customer service. Guess that’s one reason they have been in business so long . It was very nice speaking with her and we will...

Our experience 05/07/2022– as regular, local people, not “review hounds”. We, a party of 5, were seated at 530pm as per reservation. We finally were served our meal at 6:50 pm. Food ordered was a chef salad with Korean beef, and the pork chop dinner— both are CS regular specialties; chicken Alfredo was also ordered by others. We had ordered drinks and an appetizer which we received fairly quickly. Then—we waited and waited… At 6:25pm the server flew by to say we were not forgotten and the chicken was cooking. (Allow me to note as a decent cook that chicken grills and bakes and broils very quickly). Our food arrived at 6:50pm. Now— either (1) the server did not immediately submit our orders, or (2) the kitchen dropped our orders or (3) chicken had to be thawed to fulfill our orders. At no time did management communicate, apologize, offer extra appetizers, or offer to discount our ticket. In fact our server never checked in again until our food finally arrived. Let me comment on the very pricey chef salad— it arrived on a 9-10 inch salad plate on a wooden server. It was in chunks and large pieces— not edible with a fork unless it all was dissected vigorously— which I could not do on that plate without pushing it off of the plate onto the table. The chef salad was primarily large sheets of barely green iceberg lettuce with minimal whole rings of bell pepper and onion and 1 round of tomato cut in half and 1/2 boiled egg and shredded cheese… I asked for a box and took it home uneaten. The other meals were judged to be very good but we all agreed that none of it was so great that it was worth the wait and below-average customer service. I am a Duplin county citizen and had not eaten at The Country Squire in a number of years due to a previous negative experience. It will likely be quite awhile before I...

The Country Squire is a wonderful treat every time I'm able to make the trip to it.

The food and wine (which they make at the Country Squire Vineyards and Winery right around the corner) are always wonderful. Their Korean Beef and Marinated Turkey are the highlights of the menu, but everything on the menu is wonderful, and I always feel fancy with the relish tray they bring out. They also tend to bring crackers with a house-made cheese spread that is excellent.

The service is wonderful, and it's clear that everyone who works here is very passionate about the Country Squire.

The atmosphere is extremely unique. The restaurant is very large, but there are only a few open-looking dining areas. A lot of the restaurant is made up of hallways with a few tables in nooks to the side. Being led to your table feels like an adventure, as you'll journey past rustic walls with antique lanterns and documents, old farm equipment, small gardens, and even artificial trees "growing" through the building.

It is surprising how affordable the Country Squire is for a steakhouse of its quality.

If you are looking at this review from Wilmington, Raleigh, Durham, or even Greensboro, Charlotte, or Richmond, the experience you'll have at the Country Squire is well worth the drive - at least once. I live in Raleigh, and I try to visit the squire at least...