Crafted the Art of the Taco — Restaurant in Mebane

The service here is consistently terrible. I eat here about once every 2 months. With a couple of exceptions, the interactions with servers has been poor. The servers seem to be in a bad mood, are unhelpful, and have a generally negative vibe. I never eat here alone, and this is noticed by the friends I dine with as well. If they ever cease serving the goat burger I won’t have to visit again. Replying to the thoughtful feedback from management:

Tate,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my review. I especially appreciate your use of the word “sincerely” in your apology — it shows thoughtfulness, and I recognize that.

To be clear, my review was in no way a knee-jerk reaction to not receiving sweet potato fries. That would be petty. Instead, my feedback stems from the overall trend in service I’ve experienced during three out of five visits (not accounting for today) since January 1, 2025 — visits which included two dates, two business lunches, and one outing with a friend visiting from out of town.

To highlight the contrast: a few months ago, a young man served us with such warmth and enthusiasm that it almost made me uncomfortable — but in a good way. He genuinely seemed to care about our experience, and I appreciated that. On the other hand, I’ve now been served three times (most recently three weeks ago) by a petite woman, likely in her 30s, whose demeanor more closely resembles that of someone working a Popeyes' drive-thru. She avoids eye contact, asks for orders while staring out the window, and responds to basic menu questions (such as the difference between two items) with a dismissive “I couldn’t tell ya.”

I initially brushed it off, but after similar encounters, I started to wonder if she might be related to ownership — because she shows no concern for guest experience. My out-of-town friend, unaware of my prior visits, even commented on her attitude unprompted, which says a lot.

As for today’s visit — being among the first customers in the door — my issue wasn’t the kitchen mix-up with the sides. That happens. It was the lack of any apology, acknowledgment, or basic courtesy from the server. When I followed up at the register, it wasn’t out of impatience or dislike for collards, but because her response (or lack thereof) made me genuinely unsure if she had even heard or addressed the issue. Only then did I sense her indifference and respond accordingly.

I’m not angry or upset. I’m taking the time to write this because you took the time to respond to me — and that’s worth returning in kind.

While I don’t agree that one needs to be a regular to fairly assess service quality, I understand that your comment likely came from a place of limited context. As a fellow business owner and former supervisor of a large, geographically dispersed team, I understand the balance between defending staff and being open to critical feedback. When someone takes the time to write a thoughtful complaint, especially after the fact, it typically reflects an experience worth deeper reflection.

I do not intend to avoid Crafted moving forward, and if future visits stand out — positively or negatively — I’ll gladly update my review accordingly. I trust you’ll continue to manage your team as you see fit and take pride in the business you’ve built. Likewise, I hope you’ll trust your customers to share their honest feedback — not to harm, but to...

I was really excited to try this place out because my friend has been talking it up ever since I started planning my trip to visit her. We decided to go Friday evening on 2/16/24 around 7 P.M. It is located in a cute little part of town that is within walking distance to a few other bars. When we walked in, we asked the very friendly hostess if there were any seats at the bar available and we immediately got sat. The atmosphere when we first walked in was great, friendly staff, modern decor, beautiful bar. The menu looked incredible with a wide variety of signature cocktails as well as a menu that caters to vegans/vegetarian which was important as my friend is a vegetarian. The bartender working greeted us with a curt hi and set down menus. Both my friend and I have worked in the service industry for several years so we initially brushed the first interaction with her off because we know what it's like to have a bad day, be busy, etc. After this, our interactions with this bartender continued to be bare minimum and borderline rude despite our kill them with kindness approach. When she was taking our order, she acted as if it was a huge inconvenience and she had better things to do. We observed her have two interactions with another customer and a coworker that were also unnecessarily rude. Not one thank you came out of her mouth until it was time to pay the bill. Now, maybe this is just her personality but as far as creating a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for your customers - she is doing the owners no favors. The food and drinks were both amazing and I would absolutely return for that reason alone. The only reason I was compelled to make this review is because we were truly baffled at how she had a job in customer service with that kind of attitude. The only conversation she provided the entire time was a comment she made after she heard my friend jokingly said to me "I don't even know how to tip anymore when I go out because I always leave it up to my husband." In which she replied " 100%" which in any other case we would have laughed at that comment but not after the service we received. We watched a customer walk up to her and tell her that he had never been there before and asked "what's good?" in which she replied "the food." I think if she changed her approach to customer service, she might see a change in her customer interactions as well as her tips, but hey it's only your living...

I stopped in for dinner on a Tuesday night. The restaurant is located in an older, smaller building in downtown Mebane, NC. I would describe the decor as chic, eclectic real world Mexican incorporating bold colors and textures. Although very busy due to its “newness” in a small town, I was greeted by the lovely hostess and proceeded to find a seat at the bar. I was a bit disappointed after I sat down at the bar, which had not been attended to and was dirty. I was not greeted by anyone at the bar for probably 10 minutes. This is somewhat understandable seeing that there were multiple servers/bar tenders making drinks, slinging apps, and closing tabs. It would have been nice to have had a designated bar tender or even two. There may have been, but there were too many servers and other staff constantly going behind the bar to help, I guess, which created a very hectic, high pressured environment. The amount of activity in the bar area almost made the experience not enjoyable, but the food made up for the busyness and hustle and bustle. I ordered the Crafted Margarita with a cumin salt rim, which was very good, followed by the stuffed avocado. This was a half of a grilled avocado with chorizo, pico and queso on top. This was very good, but for the price and the amount of tortilla chips that come with it, should include a whole avocado. I also ordered the “What’s Poppin” burger, that came with jalapeño popper spread (basically pimento cheese), pickled onions, fresh jalapeños, bacon and fuego sauce. I thought it was very good, although a bit rich. My burger was cooked medium as I instructed. This is a very rich, filling burger that had a little too much going on in my opinion, but I still enjoyed it overall. I ordered the regular fries as my side. They were extremely crispy, fresh and hot. Overall, I have to give the experience 4 stars because of the overly busy ambiance. There were just too many servers and staff running around, which I get to a point, but in that small of a space it created somewhat of an...