Baxter's 1892 — Restaurant in New Bern

This is going to be a lengthy review. I felt like it was necessary to give as much detail so maybe management can address some of these issues.

We came in last night. It wasn't super busy yet, maybe around 530. We told the main hostess that it was our first time in so we were open to sitting where they thought best. She took us to the very last two-top in the hallway to the bathroom. It wasn't a great spot so we requested to move and she told us we could grab 2 seats at the bar even though other tables were open. I would have expected her to place us somewhere else instead of just pawning us off to seat ourselves at the bar. We were at the two stools right before the bar turns to go long ways. It was a fantastic spot for the music, but a TERRIBLE spot to be waited on by the at least 3, maybe 4 bartenders. We were very confused as to who was actually taking care of us. The front of house manager ended up taking care of us for the majority of our time there since he was standing in front of us almost the entire visit. I'm assuming since we weren't along the length of the bartop, the bartenders hardly remembered we were there. Other than being able to see the musician loft, I would suggest removing these two spots. The majority of the staff were in and out right there in front of us, some just standing around, and I could overhear one of the owners and whichever man had the acoustics on his laptop react like it was no big deal that guests had gotten up and left since no one had helped them. Based off of watching them, neither were interested in making sure guests were enjoying themselves which was surprising since this was only the second week they have been open... I could see owners behaving this way in a few months, but it was a super bad impression for those guests as well as us to see them react in such a nonchalant way. Service cannot continue like this if you're wanting guests other than the ones you know (those were the only guests they interacted with the 2+ hours we were there) to come back.

Food was good for the most part, but we felt it was overpriced. We ordered the salad, chicken & waffles, and zucchini fritters. The salad was nice, but definitely not worth $12 for the amount you get. The chicken & waffles was okay. Chicken was flavorful & juicy, but the waffles were a little burnt & texture wasn't quite like a waffle. Not worth $19. The zucchini fritters would have been great if they would have had any salt. They were completely bland, both the batter and on the inside.

Twice our drinks sat empty for a while, both cocktails & waters, before I ended up having to ask for another round or a refill. Each of those times the man with the acoustics on his laptop was standing just to the left of me.

Overall we think this place has a lot of potential but the service has a lot of room for improvement. The front of house manager did take good care of us, particularly because I would just ask him to place our order each time we needed something. But with it being the second week of being opened, the owners need to be walking around & interacting with guests and ensuring they are receiving at least...

It isn't often that New Bern enjoys such a fancy establishment as Baxters, so I'm being positive despite my criticism. I hope management uses the comments so far to improve, AND I hope previous patrons also come back. We need a place like this here! Even if you only come for a drink before or after dinner, or to listen to music, or to wax poetic, or just to chill! The interior is a solid 5 star place: lots of elegance, history, architecture, and cool places to sit. We enjoyed several drinks and food. Although I do wish they had at least some beers on tap, the beer menu was good. The wine menu was a little small. What shines here is the cocktails- they're excellent! The food is the biggest area for improvement. It was not warm enough!! And for that reason, I deducted 1 star. I'd probably also deduct another half star because I think portion size is too small for the Chicken and Waffle, as well as the Short Rib Tacos, both at $19. That's a meal, so the customers who complained have a point. I really enjoyed the Chicken, but the Waffle pieces were all burned and not crisp. We also ordered the Barefoot Eggroll, which contained collards. Unfortunately, they were cold. My biggest problem was with the Zucchini Fritters, which were very cold, and made the interior of the fritters taste undone. The outside was fried perfectly. Our wonderful server Audrie said she would mention it to the Chef as she cleared the entire plate away. He came up and explained that the Sofrito Creme's consistency is supposed to be that way. Okay, no problem! But we didn't have a chance to enjoy them because we expected a warm replacement, which never came. There are always bumps in the road when new places serving beverages and food open. My hope is that they improve on the temperature of their very tasty dishes, and put the fine touches to their food like they've done to service and the...

This place is horribly overhyped for what it is and I genuinely hope the owners intend to read these reviews and take the opportunity to improve on this business.

The place is beautifully decorated but that’s about it. Service is incredibly slow even when they barely had customers. I didn’t really feel much of a warm welcome or positive vibes from any of the staff. We went for brunch and it took a solid hour to get all of our food.

Drinks were grossly overpriced and they lacked selection. They didn’t even have tea at brunch time which should be considered a sin for a business in the South.

They brought out all 6 of our entrees one at a time over the hour so we all had to eat separately while watching each other. The short rib Benedict was flavorless, I didn’t even eat mine because I was so annoyed I was served last after waiting an hour to be met with the worst Egg’s Benedict I’ve ever had. Bland short rib served with a runny, VERY undercooked egg, and a pathetic squirt of Hollandaise sauce. Genuinely, that was an insult to see the tiniest SQUIRT of hollandaise sauce on an Egg’s Benedict. Again, should be considered a sin. And for a bigger kicker, 4 out of 6 of our entrees were the short rib Benedict… so why did they come out one at a time? Odd.

Don’t even get me started on the fact that they don’t have real seating and I ate off a coffee table. I watched other families eating off side tables so I shouldn’t complain too much, I suppose.

I think Baxter’s needs to focus exclusively on being a lounge/bar with basic appetizers only at most. Expand the drink menu to have more basic, standard beer and soda options that don’t cost an arm and a leg. I get the vibes, I just think this bar is currently trying TOO hard to fit a “niche” rather than trying to appeal to several different markets/types...