Salty Dogs Cafe (Archibald's Deli) — Restaurant in North Carolina

I will never understand the audacity of someone leaving a one star review on a business because they didn't like the price of one item out of an entire menu, so I figured I'd share my experience.

The past couple of days I was working in Supply, and not knowing the area I took to Google maps to find something close by to get lunch. Archibald's Deli wasn't even a mile and a half away from where I was at, so I figured I'd check it out. I immediately checked out the reviews and saw that it was a 4.2 stars with 270 reviews and thought "wow that's pretty decent."

I drive up there yesterday and immediately love the building. It has the feel of a small mom and pop shop (if you're into that kind of atmosphere). I walk in and the women working were all nice and patient as I glanced over the menu. Given all of the negative reviews of the lobster roll, I decided to get the meatball sub. I got it to go, drove back to my job, opened the box, and was in complete awe.

When I tell you that aesthetically, this was one of the best looking meatball subs i have ever seen in my life. The whole thing was covered in cheese. I couldn't even see the bread. There wasn't time to take a photo, it was gone in a matter of seconds. Afterwards I decided I was going to go back again today and try the lobster roll.

So, the lobster roll. I have attached photos so that you can see what it looks like. It was delicious. I believe they call theirs the "Connecticut style" which is served hot and then I added mayo. I think after tax it ended up being $27. And I do believe it was worth it.

I live in Wilmington, so locally, I've had the Lobster Dogs food truck, True Blue, and the Maine Lobster Roll Company (as well as lobster rolls in Bangor, Maine) and the lobster roll here at Archibald's Deli is comparable to the aforementioned. True Blue is $21 and the one at Archibald's has more lobster and, in my humble opinion, it tastes better.

I would like to add that when I got the meatball sub yesterday, I got pickles and chips with it and it wasn't even $11. I did not get a drink, but even then, my total would still have been less than $15.

This place is awesome. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you're ever...

Absolute worst lobster roll I've ever had and it's not even close. You'd think that a place with live lobster in an ocean not an 8th of a mile away would have fresh lobster. Instead it had this small, rubbery, old, nasty lobster that was frozen and thawed. It was slapped on a stale hotdog bun that was barely palatable. The shrimp dill salad didn't have any shrimp and was so bad they gave me a sample for free of something they deemed worth money. It was highschool pasta salad with mayonnaise and no shrimp. They were out of cream of crab soup and why shouldn't they be. It wasn't like it was noon and empty in the restaurant. The only saving grace was the cup of Food Lion sweet tea they upsold for $2.50 a glass. It came straight from the jug and you got to pour it yourself. Food Lion makes a mean sweet tea. Don't waste any of your time coming here. Doesn't matter whether it's the off season or not. Just terrible. I'd rather have covid than spend one more cent at this place. Just plain terrible. Oh yeah...and the chocolate pie was starting to crack and bloom. You might wanna replace it in your pathetic deli window.

Edit: In response to your reply... If you were so concerned about covid, why didn't you or the person you were working with wear a mask? Be that as it may, there is no way someone should pay $60($55+tip) and receive food that tasted like that....where the best thing we had were the bags of potato chips. I'm sure you could agree on that. If you can tell me that you'd pay $60 for that meal then there's a problem. Good luck as well. Hope y'all...

Nice, clean little place with very friendly service. Unfortunately, the food was disappointing. Before we get to the quality, everything is served in styrofoam, regardless of if you are eating in or taking out. There are cheaper and more enjoyable disposables than styrofoam. We ordered 6 menu items and every one of them were lacking in flavor and proper execution- stale bread, cheese not melted, off temp ingredients, etc. Crabcake was mushy, lacked of flavor and barely warm. The shrimp salad was reccomended and it was actually quite delicious. Everything else was really underwhelming, especially the $25 lobster roll. We own and operate restaurants so we totally understand how difficult this business can be, especially during these times. I gave 4 stars because I know this is an independently owned restaurant that does not need vague, bad reviews. They do need honest feedback and return customers in order to be here year after year. We've been coming to Holden for years and really, really want to like some local restaurants but, unfortunately, so few seem to make an effort to deliver. Yes, prices are high every where but I'll gladly pay a premium for a good meal that is...