Carolina Ale House - Brier Creek — Restaurant in Raleigh

While the waitress was friendly and smiled alot, I did not approve of her decision making skills. Next time you drop the lemon out of my drink on to the table, DO NOT chuckle about it, toss it back in to the drink and then tell me you're sorry. GET A NEW DRINK! Also, if I have to ask you for straws with my drinks or plates/napkins with our appetizers then I feel like i'm doing your job for you which i personally don't appreciate. And don't expect me to tip you for NOT doing your job!

With that aside, the food was very hit or miss. The appetizers were the group's favorite for the evening. Out of 5 entrees, 1 was good as is, 1 was sent back as it was claimed to not be edible and the other 3 mediocre at best. The mashed potatoes were not mashed, they were smashed so they had HUGE CHUNKS of skin and potato in them and tasted under seasoned. The sourdough melt had poor proportions of meat to bread (WAY more bread than meat).

While the management did adjust the bill for the shortcomings of our meal (which was very good on their part, special thanks for that) it would have done little, if anything at all, to detract from the poor experience. Had i been the one to pay for this meal I would NOT have tipped AT ALL, and would have asked for my money back on certain entrees. While it is good to address mistakes as they happen, the mistakes that were made this visit, and the amount therein, just seemed indicative of a poorly run restaurant or poorly trained workers. While for some, these issues are hit and miss or just uncommon enough to be ignored, for the amount of money we spent and the time wasted not enjoying the entire experience, I can't say that I would ever be willing to return.

DISCLAIMER: For those that think I'm just being difficult, this perspective is coming from a person who used to work the drive thru at McDonald's and was credited BY THE REGIONAL MANAGEMENT to be the SOLE REASON my store bonused out each quarter STRICTLY DUE TO CUSTOMER SERVICE RESPONSES. With that being said I do know what I'm talking about as I literally did stuff like this professionally.

EXTRA NOTE: For those that legally conceal carry, this establishment actively bans concealed carry firearms. So if you genuinely care about your safety while eating out, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND FINDING A...

We stepped out of the car and headed into the restaurant at 9:08PM. Because of the horrible service, we did not leave until almost 11PM. Several tables around us were not bussed and remained so for quite some time.

Once it arrived, the food was decent. But having come from the gym, my son and I were almost nauseous for having had to wait so long.

Twenty minutes for our wing appetizer, another 15 to 20 before she came to get the dinner order. Someone else finally brought us our entrees a half hour after that. We waited another 20 to 30 minutes for the bill once I requested it because the waitress took that long to write down the food orders for a table of 15. It wasn't until she saw me get up with my wallet to approach the bartender that she finally came over.

Adding insult to injury is that the wait staff are using mobile ordering systems. They present the bill to you with the tip defaulted already at 20%. The waiter literally stands there and stares at you while you are paying the bill. So, if you do not want to tip 20%,, it presents a very awkward situation. Needless to say, she got a 20% tip for providing some of the worst service I've ever experienced. Even my son, who is normally very forgiving, was disgusted.

We used to like the Ale House. It was one of the first restaurants we went to once the pandemic restrictions were lifted. It will be a long time before we return.

UPDATE: Carolina Ale House Management was quick to respond to my review above. They sent me a $25 gift card and asked me to revisit the location with an updated review.

My son and I returned about a week later and were very impressed with the turnaround. We were seated quickly and immediately taken care of. We even ordered the appetizer with the meal, but requested for the waiter to bring the appetizer first - and he did.

Unlike the initial experience with the bad waiter, this waiter checked on us several times to make sure everything was good. We ordered our burgers medium rare and they came out the correct temperature. The food was prepared the way requested and we were well pleased.

Even with checkout, he gave me the bill and walked away, so that I did not have to fill out the tip in front of him. Of course, he received a 20% tip anyway.

Nice...

Terrible service, terrible food, rude, tense and even racist environment. From the beginning it was evident we were not welcome there. This is a summary of our experience: Waited approximately 5 minutes for someone to seat us First employee to approach us asked me something and I thought he was asking for how many people we wanted a table and I politely said, table for 4, please. He started screaming at us saying that wasn’t what he was asking. When I asked what was his question he screamed again and in a very RUDE manner that we was asking if someone was helping us. When I said no he kept screaming telling me what was hi question. We were finally assigned a table and waited 10 minutes for a server. I ordered a beer and after 10 minutes they told me the keg was not working. I ordered a different beer and after waiting, waiting and more waiting, the beer finally made it to our table at the same time as our food. Everyone else in our table waited 15-20 minutes for our drinks. Quesadillas were horrible. Basically tasteless chicken and burnt onion. NO CHEESE. Yes, that is correct. Quesadillas with NO CHEESE. Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders with no honey mustard Fish and chips with no tartar sauce. Were never asked if anyone wanted more drinks. This was not only terrible service. This was disrespectful, disappointing and unacceptable. You might as well just put a sign saying Latinos not welcome here. I will be making a formal complaint to the Moshakos and to LM...