Persimmons Waterfront Restaurant — Restaurant in New Bern

My other half and I have visited this restaurant multiple times, first for drinks, then an appetizer, and finally for a full dine-in experience. While the staff and atmosphere consistently deliver a 10/10, the food, unfortunately, rates a disappointing 2/10. Our first foray into their food offerings was the fried green tomatoes. They offered a creative twist, but the tomatoes were undercooked and the accompanying pork was tough to eat. This initial disappointment was echoed during our recent dine-in visit. On a busy Saturday night at 7:30 PM, we anticipated a wait and indeed had one for 45 minutes, spending it at the outdoor seating with a beer before being seated on the outdoor patio. We decided to give the fried green tomatoes another try, hoping for an improvement. Sadly, they were again a disappointment: undercooked tomatoes, overcooked pork, and pineapple that was barely seared. Our drinks also left much to be desired. My other half's sweet tea was overly sweet, far from a classic southern sweet tea. My water had a distinct, unpleasant metallic tap water taste, leading me to switch to a glass of Pinot. To my dismay, the Pinot was not chilled, making it a $10 waste. I also noted that the waiter, under scrutiny from his manager, refilled my unappetizing water despite my polite refusal. It seems management's focus might be better placed on kitchen efficiency rather than drink refills when the kitchen is clearly struggling. Our dinner finally arrived at 9:20 PM, almost an hour after ordering, and neither dish was served fresh and hot. My other half ordered the special, a fish dish with corn salsa and jasmine rice, which he did not enjoy. At $29, a significant portion remained uneaten. The image I provided in the comments.

I ordered the seafood Alfredo, which arrived lukewarm. It contained only three shrimp, no scallops, and a single chunk of lobster. The next day, I made the mistake of eating the leftovers and felt nauseous again, reinforcing my initial reaction.

The overall experience felt rushed by the kitchen, despite the long wait times. It seems a focus on making the food "right" rather than just "fast" would greatly improve the customer experience. Our total bill for two entrees, one appetizer, two beers, one sweet tea, and one glass of Pinot came to $126. As residents of New Bern who dock our boat at the restaurant, we appreciate the good vibes and convenient location. However, the food truly needs a thorough re-evaluation. The presentation in the photos attached, which I would describe as looking like something an inexperienced home cook would present, perfectly encapsulates the lack of flavor and overall quality. I am hopeful that a visit during a less busy time might yield a better culinary experience. Consistency is paramount, especially when customers are...

Really wanted to give 5 stars but cannot because they let us down on the following 2 things:

Reservation request included celebrating birthday. Birthday was not mentioned, asked or celebrated by the server or hostess desk personnel. Hostess desk asked did we have a reservation when we entered. I said yes and told them the name on my reservation.

Just before leaving, we had to wait 15 to 20 minutes for a to-go box. I got up from the table, walked to the server while she was entering someone else's order into their system and reminded/asked her for a to-go box. Minutes later, another personnel brought a to-go box to us.

Now, what we loved about this restaurant.

We used their website to schedule reservation for 4:30pm. We were in the area around 3:30pm and was ready to eat. We called and asked if we can change or reschedule the reservation. A young lady said that we can just walk in. We arrived a little before 4pm, walked in, they asked for the name on the reservation, told them my name, they asked inside or outside seating, we requested inside seating next to the window. They seated us immediately by the window and it was not busy at all. Our waitress asked for our drink order, drinks were served quickly, waitress took our meal entree and appetizer order, I asked if they had ranch dressing for the house salad, waitress said no, she recommended the Caesar salad, I chose the Caesar salad based on her recommendation and we ordered the calamari appetizer. We also ordered our entrees. The salad and appetizer came out quickly. The calamari and Caesar salad were excellent! Entrees were brought out as I was almost done with my Caesar salad. The entrees were delicious and we were asked if we wanted dessert. I chose the lava cake (and ice cream ) to go. Our ticket or bill was brought to the table , I asked if we could do contactless payment, waitress brought a payment device to the table, didn't work, so we walked to the bar and I paid via contactless payment via the payment device at the bar. Everything was good up to this point.

Then we had to wait for a to go box and nothing was said or done about celebrating my wife's birthday. We still left the server a 20% tip before and or while waiting for our to go box.

Outside of that, I highly recommend and I would love to return even though we only visited the area for a few days.

We arrived just before 4pm on Saturday. There were people seated outside eating; no one inside when we arrived. Our food was served so fast between 4 and 4:30pm. The dining room inside started getting busy after 4:30pm. We could have been out of the restaurant by/before 5pm if we didn't have to wait for our to go box. Highly recommend arriving before 4:30pm...

When our entree's finally arrived, we just about stood up and walked out on our 12th wedding anniversary dinner. The restaurant setting is decent, but the service is strangely terrible! It was a bit windy outside, so we initially asked to be seated inside. It was not terribly crowded, but the hostess seated us next to the kitchen and at a 2- person table next to a party of 15+, and then walked away. A passing by waitress helped us flag down the hostess, who was now ignoring us, and we asked to be moved outside. We were then seated on the windward side of the deck, in the sun, right next to the fumy gas pump... and then she walked away again. We asked the waitress to move as to not be in the fumes; she was very nice, but there seemed to be some sort of toxic social order amongst the staff, so after some delay, we were moved again. This was a rare occurrence where we ended up tipping the waitress well even though service was sub-par. She was very nice, but seemed significantly under trained. While we waited, we witnessed another table get served a burned and cut-up steak. The couple asked the waitress if it was supposed to be like that to which she answered "I don't know". They were too polite to send it back, but were clearly upset. We ordered the Tuna Tartare appetizer. Not impressed - it was tasteless served with chips that were way too gritty to be paired with this dish. Our entree's took a very long time to arrive. When we were served we still did not have silverware. Turns out they were all out, and we had to wait some more - with food in front of us (note that they are still not terribly busy). Luckily the entree's were decent. We had the Shrimp Roll and Crab Cake and Fried Green Tomatoes. (Notice "Crab Cake" is not plural). The dish should have been advertised as a salad with one crab cake and 3 very thinly sliced tomatoes. Regardless of the unusual portioning, these both tasted pretty good. At the end of our meal we asked to speak with the manager (tall woman/blue hair) to give feedback. It was at this point we quickly realized the root of the customer service / toxic atmosphere. Instead of receiving critical feedback, she offered excuses (that sitting next to a smelly gas pump was one of the most sought-after tables!!) and instead of proactively offering a resolution to our disappointing experience, asked us if she could do anything for us. No - it's apparent that...