Watkins Grill — Restaurant in Raleigh

One of the best breakfasts in Raleigh. However, it can be VERY slow for no obvious reason. It should not take 40+ minutes for bacon and eggs.

Watkins is a classic old Raleigh restaurant that still has confederate decorations on the wall. I see people of all types in there though. Everyone seems welcome.

It does not look like they have spent a dime taking care of the place over the years and that is part of its charm. It is not "dirty"... just very dated. However, the AC ducts are run right through the restaurant and have been known to leak on people and their food. Be warned.

The food is consistently great and the prices are hard to beat. The wait staff is friendly and after a few visits, they may memorize your favorite order.

The problem is the time it takes for simple orders to come out of the kitchen. They seem to cook one order at a time and if you get stuck behind a larger order, you are screwed. Although this is not a fault of the wait staff, they should warn you if things are busy and keep you comfortable with biscuits or something. If you are in a rush, this is not a place for you.

It makes me wonder how a place like Waffle House has a single chef juggling dozens of orders and the food is ready in only a few minutes.

The parking lot can be an adventure if you don't get there early enough. They accept cash only and have an ATM outside.

With some investment and efficiency management, this place would be a real gem... But they always seem to be busy enough without my...

Watkins grill, a historic Raleigh establishment, always gets a bad wrap for being racist. So I decided to visit. What I saw was admittedly a lot of Confederate memorabilia, with a lot of southern people of all shapes and sizes. More fascinatingly, all colors too. The idea that black people would voluntarily visit a southern restaurant with generous homage to the Confederacy is impossible if you spend enough time on college campuses. Shook, I went to take my phone out to record the setting, when my waitress rolled her eyes and said with a tired voice, "you gonna put that on Instagram?"

She had seen it before, some 20 something year old college educated world-fixers coming into their establishment to give them a bad wrap for their memorabilia. She seemed exhausted by my presence but that didn't stop her or her coworkers from continuing to serve the other parties with candor and love. Including the four separate black families. I felt guilty that I seemed to be troubling these honest, hard working people, who just wanted to share their southern cooking with everyone.

I'm not saying that the Confederate memorabilia maybe overbearing to some people. What I am saying is that at the end of the day, life is harder if you focus on the differences between people. It's an excellent, high-value diner that has been unjustly lambasted.

Please keep remember to keep an open mind. Not everything is what is seems. And if youre hungry between 5am-2pm near Downtown Raleigh, go check it out...

Our 1st time here. Our food and service was very good. I especially liked my southwestern omelet. . Atmosphere... I gave 4 stars because it's hard to find old style private owner restaurants Amy more. IT'S ABSOLUTELY NOT FANCY.... Original looking place with lots of years and wear and tear on it BUT not dirty or anything. I feel this is a positive because any place serving good food and service for such a long time must be doing something right. It's just a restaurant of days gone by that's hard to find these days. Big chain restaurants = prepackaged foods shipped in and being prepared from instructions rather than experience. If you are looking for good food and service without fancy fancy surroundings having fair prices then give them a try. Our breakfast for 4 with tax and everything (not including tip) and ordering some extra items was $54. Heck ya can't even walk into a grocery store for that amount anymore. They close I think at 2:00 or 2:30 pm and ONLY accept cash, check or cash app but there is an ATM on the wall outside. We didn't use it since Cash App worked fine and so would check or cash. Like I said, no frills, just plain good food, service and...