The Station at Person Street — Restaurant in Raleigh

I've been to the Station numerous times, and I really want to like it. The food is good; the prices are fair; the staff has always been friendly; it's in a nice neighborhood within walking distance. However, about half the time we go, something just weird goes on with the service that sours our experience, and as a result, we're hesitant to go back. Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about.

Most of the time we go, there doesn't seem to be a single waiter per table. It's more like a swarm of waiters where each one visits every table and asks the same questions. Sometimes they come back with what we ordered, sometimes they just disappear entirely. This has really happened at least twice that I can think of.

The first time one waiter came and asked for our drink order. Then another one came and asked for our drink order. We said we already placed a drink order. Then the first one came back with our drinks. Then a third waiter came and asked for our food order. Then the first waiter came back and asked for our food order. We said we already ordered food. We got everything we ordered but still, I've never seen a restaurant run this way, and I think there's a reason for that.

Another time a waitress took our drink order. Then another waiter came and took our food order (before we got our drinks). Then we got our food (but still no drinks). We hadn't seen the first waitress in about fifteen minutes, so we flagged down the second waiter (we really had to flag him down, like wave and shout, I think he was trying to ignore us), and ordered drinks from him. Then the first waitress came with our drinks. Then the second waiter came with more drinks.

One time we went on a Monday for the burger special. It was kind of busy and it took a while to get our food, but we weren't in much of a rush and didn't mind hanging out drinking beers, so no biggie. After our meal, the manager (or assistant manager?) sat down with us and apologized for taking so long. She said they were working out some kinks, and that we could have a $20 gift card for the next time we came back, and she showed us the gift card. We weren't too upset, but were happy to take the gift card anyway. She then asked a few more questions, put the gift card away, got up, and took it with her. So she offered us a gift card, and then didn't give it to us.

Another time me and some buddies dropped in at the outside bar for a beer. The outside bartender poured them and gave them to us. Then a waitress came from inside with more of the same beers for us. The bartender said since they accidentally poured double beers, we could have the second ones. We were really only going to have one, but hey, free beer. When we settled up, we noticed the "accidental" beers on our check. We pushed back, and the bartender said "hey, you drank them." We pushed back again, and they relented and took them off our check. Seemed less than accidental.

Another time something similar happened. They poured me the wrong beer, and I said it was the wrong beer. They brought me the right beer and said I could have the wrong one for free. Remembering the first time something like this happened, I didn't drink it, and just pushed it towards the bar, where it sat for the next 20 minutes, asking to be drank, but reminding me of the scam they might be trying to run.

So it's not really accurate to say they had one bad day in terms of service. It seems to be a chronic issue. We'll likely go back and give them another chance, but not really holding out hope.

1/5 for service 5/5 for...

i ate at this establishment today and had the most horrid experience almost ending with being threatened to have the police called on me. from the beginning i had great intentions on trying this place. i ordered popcorn shrimp fries and a side Caesar salad. half of the lettuce was brown and i was going to pick through it but the lettuce tasted like the lettuce wasn't washed. the shrimp and half soggy or warm to cold shrimp and some that looked freshly fried but weren't hot enough to back the manager or the runners words about the shrimp and fries just coming out the fryer. this was far from the truth. i then ask to speak to a manager who comes up to the table quite rude accusing me of being a problem and telling me i could just leave the place if i want to treat people wrong when i hadn't even gotten a word in yet pertaining to what my issues were with the food. i then get up to pay for my cousins food and to tip the servers because this is not their fault this has to do with the kitchen . the manager then appoints another employee or manager to talk to me about how i still have to pay for the food i didn't even eat. she gaslights me and taps the receipt on the bar telling me she cant take anything off except the salad. i advise her that this is bad customer service and that i wont be paying for food i didn't even eat. the other manager comes back claiming i can call the general manger but also says in the same breath that he was a general manager he proceeds to tell me more about how wrong i am and if i don't pay he will just call the police . i then replied with CALL THE POLICE your not going to do this to me days before my birthday. he leaves comes back and says don't worry about the check i then say no we would like to pay for at least what my cousin ate he then says its complimentary as I'm explaining i don't want to be the two black people labeled for not paying because they are being uncompromising. safe to say i will never come to this establishment and if you a a foodie black person like myself id advise you don't eat here either.

the managers in question through this scenario are a white man with curly blonde hair and a white woman at the bar with a piercing in the center of her lip i think she has brown hair but if anyone sees this from this establishment please offer these two managers some training on deescalating a customer complaint because this is unbecoming of a restaurant to lie to their customers or to bully them into paying for bad food or food that they...

I simply left the station with my companion and we despised the experience and administration. I have been to this place various times however today wasn't extraordinary in any way. When I initially arrived I exhort the server that I had an extra individual nearing and to bring two waters. My speculation arrived truly 5 minutes after the fact and no water had showed up, The server returns after my visitor arrived and asked what would she have liked to drink, she said water. We sat tight just about 20 minutes for her to bring the water which my visitor needed to get up and request her drink, right now our sustenance turned out. At the point when submitting our request it was cracking bad dream. My visitor and I both request the kids meal station burgers with fries, we were told we couldn't arrange the kids meal in light of the fact that we were not kids. We both said to her we are alright with the value contrasts if that is the issue, She let us know she would ask her supervisor, (which I later discovered from my visitor she didn't, she called to tell them about the issues we had) she return to let us know we are to give you the kids meal however it won't be valid in the future (keep in mind we have order this same exact meal in the past with no problem). Amid our lunch we were not recognize at all nor did she confirm we need refills or anythings. When we were near to completing our lunch she ask how did we want the check(s), we advised her it didn't make a difference. Because of all the fizzled endeavors of attempting to have a decent time and make the most of our lunches, my visitor and I both concurred that she wouldn't get a tip in light of the fact that the administration was awful. In the wake of exiting the building and getting to my car with both notification the server had turn out and waved bye with a f-you as an afterthought. I don't think I will ever return, I will make a point to let all my...