Big Red's Cafe — Restaurant in Kings Mountain

I’m the most offended by the fact that their homemade ranch tastes like Italian dressing. They have a house blend that they put on things that’s basically Italian dressing (olive oil, Italian seasonings, garlic, and vinegar)…I’m pretty sure they add it to the ranch. If I wanted Italian, I wouldn’t have ordered ranch. I didn’t order the panini because it also comes on the panini. I’m not sure why they are adding it to foods that don’t need it, I expected clean and simple sandwiches and melts from a small cafe. Good creamy buttermilk ranch. The salad was very fresh with crunchy cucumbers and freshly cut tomatoes. Cute little crunchy croutons. Coffee is pretty good but they are trying to do so much with all of the different drink flights and types of coffee, makes it hard to do things well. Soup was microwaved very obviously, which I’m not sure makes sense with it being a soup of the day? The “chicken and dumpling” soup was very gummy. It had carrots and potatoes but no visible chicken. Just thought that was strange. Soft potatoes on top of soft dumplings. Microwaved so hot and it was so thick it was hard to eat. I did like that the servers wore gloves when they carrying food. Service was alright, it’s definitely a relaxed bunch who likes to chat and the food takes a while. It’s not busy at all but they don’t deliver food or come to bus your tables, I think that would be a nice touch for a small business. I just think overall things could be improved with simple crowd pleasing...

This must be one of the best kept little secrets around. What a fun place to stop, either by yourself for a nice relaxing meal or with the family. It was a great atmosphere and they have a beautiful event room that can be rented by the hour. It makes me want to plan an event just to go there. We ordered two kids meals with fruit cups and a panini. All the food was good and the fruit cup was the best I have had at any restaurant, honestly in my life. It may seem silly but to have a wide variety of fresh cut fruit , especially with kids, the number of times fruit cups are ordered, this one is the best! It had grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, mandarin oranges, and the owner offered to add strawberries and blueberries. They had been cut by hand, nothing pre-packaged (except for the oranges). I seriously would return there just for the fruit cup. It was that good. Customer service was great, very friendly. The owner is amazing. Just listening to her interactions with other customers was refreshing. She was very hospitable, genuine, really a breath of fresh air. You owe it to yourself to give this place a try. They have a wide variety a food items to choose from, I would think anyone could find something they would like here. And they make fresh waffles and brunch items anytime of the day. Oh my, a a waffle with fresh strawberries, I need some...

Imagine walking into a “restaurant” (I use that word generously) at 1:00 PM—plenty of time before their posted 2:00 PM closing—only to be greeted not with hospitality, not with even the faintest trace of service, but with a dismissive, “Sorry, kitchen’s closed.” Excuse me? You’re open until 2, but your staff apparently starts their hibernation cycle an hour early? That’s not closing time—that’s false advertising.

Restaurants are supposed to serve food, not attitude. If you don’t want to feed paying customers, then be honest: change your hours to 1:00 PM so the rest of us don’t waste our time showing up to a ghost town staffed by people more interested in watching the clock than doing their jobs.

The whole vibe screams laziness dressed up as “policy.” Imagine if a gas station stopped pumping gas an hour before close, or a grocery store locked the doors while shoppers are still in the aisles. That’s exactly what this place is doing.

Bottom line: if you enjoy being turned away hungry by a place pretending to be a restaurant, then this is your spot. For everyone else—save yourself the trip and go literally anywhere else that understands what open until 2...