Town Hall Burger & Beer Chapel Hill — Restaurant in North Carolina

Overall, my family likes this place and the one in Holly Springs. Our main thought when deciding to eat here is...the burgers. We don't eat here very often though for a few reasons: a. value: pricing is crazy IMHO compared to similar restaurants. 5oz basic burger $8.75. No special toppings (bacon, etc), no sides. Philly cheesesteak $15. Sides we shared: pretzel bites $7. A small amount, no flavor to notes, just nothing special. Fries $6 - again no flavor and a mid size portion. Salt is the only way to add taste and they don't appear to be homemade but could be. The drinks at $2.75 seem in line with other places and good selection (self serve). Now the Service: You stand in line to place your order. You take a table marker and they bring your food to you. That's it. The atmosphere is.... crowded and noisy. You have to weave through other customers trying to eat to get to the order desk. No one has ever come around for refills, or any other 'service' BUT - despite the prices, when you pay, the dreaded TIP screen comes up when you pay. I don't mind tipping at all for 'service' but for our $66.62 bill (3 of us) at our last visit we'd see: $10 at 15%, $12 at 18%, etc. What bothers me most is that I've been told that they pay their front end staff minimum wage and then they tip-share. This is not confirmed however, Bottom line, IMHO is - pay your employees especially for the prices being charged. I have to compare this business model and service much like: Smithfields Chicken & BBQ (no tipping request or option, awesome service: delivery of meal, frequent checking for refills, other needs, comfortable seating, good quality food most made in house. City BBQ (no tipping request or option, same service model, Crazy awesome food - all made in-house), and dare I say ..... McDonalds (no tip request or option, they deliver your order at most locations, etc. - I know there is no comparison of food quality for McD's for most but the Tipping for Service...

Two strikes. This used to be one of our favorite places to go for burgers. With Covid, we've just been doing take-out, which means we're kind of stuck with what we get once we get it home. The last two times we've ordered burgers, and checked the " no pink" option on the online ordering, every burger in the order was rare at best - to the point of almost raw. The wings we got this time were charred, and so dry they couldn't be eaten. Additionally, when calling THB&B, no one picks up. It goes directly to "holding music", then to a voicemail announcing which location you've called and their hours....then a beep to leave a message. In conclusion, for a $103+ order, including tip, I'd hope our order was cooked a little more to our specifications, and that everything could actually be consumed. Given our previous experiences here, excluding this one and our last one, I'd say we'll give THB&B one more shot. After one more strike, I think it will be time to spend our money elsewhere.

UPDATE I received a call from Daulton at THB&B very shortly after posting my review. He apologized for their "shortcomings" on our last two meals there, and told me that efforts are being made to pay close attention to correcting mistakes being made. "I'm sorry for not meeting your expectations, and there's no excuse for it", are his exact words if I recall correctly. Accountability! Rarely seen. We will definitely accept his invitation to give them another chance in the near future. Great customer service follow-up, and greatly...

I ordered a California burger and shared the loaded fries with my wife. Our daughter had the Mac and cheese with tater tots.

Pros: *Fast service *Kind staff *Beef used in the burger was good. *My wife liked her Carolina Burger.

Cons: *Seats and tables were too low and had no padding. *Bun was greasy on my burger. *The burger left a bad aftertaste. *The cheese on the loaded fries was not very flavorful. *My wife liked her Carolina burger but mentioned that she was surprised at the lack of ingredients on the burger. *I couldn't taste the bacon on the burger or the fries. It was overpowered by the greasy oil taste. *Our youngest daughter couldn't eat her Mac n Cheese or her tater tots. She stated that the Cheese was yucky and the Tater tots were just as bad. After trying one I came to the conclusion that the oil being used to cook them is to blame. We took the Tater tots to-go and gave them to our teenager who we picked up on the way home. Without telling her our thoughts on the Tots, she ate them hungrily. The first thing out of her mouth was "there is something wrong with these Tater tots".

Our first impression was not good at all. I see many people love this place and have rated it with 5 star reviews. This confuses me because it's not what we experienced. Maybe the next visit will change our mind. I suggest giving the place a try. You never know. You could...