Wonderland Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Raleigh

Went here this past Saturday to celebrate my friend’s birthday. The vibe and aesthetic were nice upon arrival. Since we were waiting on the rest of our party, we sat at the bar. That’s when I first noticed the sanitation rating was 94%. While that was a red flag, I didn’t want to ruin the evening for my friend, especially with a reservation already in place and it being a busy Saturday night.

The bathrooms were moderately clean at best, with tissue left in an open wrapper rather than properly stocked. When we were seated, the chairs were visibly dirty with a dark film on the fabric, which stood out since they were white. I refrained from mentioning this to my friend to avoid dampening the mood.

I ordered a rosé Prosecco that tasted flat, so I politely asked to switch to a regular Prosecco or mimosa. Our server was kind and said he’d check with the manager. As someone who works in a wine bar and has held a management position, I understand the importance of balancing costs, but ultimately the guest experience should come first.

The manager approached us with a confrontational tone. Without greeting us, she asked, “What’s the problem?” I explained I wanted to switch the drink because it tasted flat. She responded by asking, “Do you know what it’s supposed to taste like?” which was not only inappropriate but also condescending. I clarified that I do, as I work in the wine industry. She seemed annoyed and asked what I wanted instead. I said a regular Prosecco, maybe a mimosa, and she asked which flavor I wanted. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to catch me off guard, so I clarified that I just wanted Prosecco with orange juice. She brought the mimosa without further acknowledgment or apology, placing it down without eye contact.

The food was average. The chips and guac were decent, but the Caesar salad was underwhelming with minimal lettuce and two shrimp skewers, not worth the price.

Toward the end, we ordered Red Bulls. Of the four cans brought to us, two were half full. We pointed this out to our server, who was just as surprised and brought it to other staff members’ attention. He exchanged them for two full cans, but after seeing the condition of the first two, we no longer felt comfortable drinking them. We left the unopened replacements on the table and did not include them in our payment.

While waiting outside for our friends to exit the restroom, the manager walked past us on the phone. Minutes later, we received a call from our friends who were still inside saying the manager claimed we stole the Red Bulls and was reviewing security footage. This accusation was not only false but absurd, especially considering the cans were visibly unopened on the table and we were still outside the restaurant. The manager had an opportunity to address this directly in person but chose not to.

Our server was professional and kind throughout the night, and I want to make it clear this review does not reflect his service. However, the management was unprofessional, dismissive, and made no effort to resolve minor issues that could have been easily addressed, especially knowing we were there for a birthday celebration.

The automatic 18% gratuity did not bother me because our server deserved it. That said, We will not...

Called ahead at 10 for a Sat.brunch spoke to a gentleman on the phone inquiring about availability. He informed us that they had a private event starting at 1 and could accommodate us. 3 Adults 1 child. It was my wives birthday so she wanted to go somewhere with some atmosphere and because we were out of town. Arrived at 11ish when we arrived we noticed there was only 12 patrons in the whole restaurant so we were excited that it was going to be a prompt experience. We were greeted and sat without menus and waited patiently for 10 min then we took it upon ourselves to go to the hostess station and get our own menus Another 10mins pass and our server came to take our drink order. We ordered 3 signature drinks and a sweet tea and it took 20min to get those we waited another 15 min to have her take our order. A hamburger, pancakes, breakfast sandwich and avocado toast. The kitchen took 45 min. The pancakes came out first along with the burger. Then we proceeded to wait for another 15 minutes for the other two items, the sandwich and avocado toast. By that time my burger was completely cold. The timing of the whole thing could’ve been much better. Clearly they had forgotten the other half of our orders. When those orders got to our table, the eggs on both of them were done the wrong way. We ended up with scrambled eggs on the breakfast sandwich, which was requested to be hard over in the same with the other one. our server apologized and stated that they were overwhelmed at the moment which I thought was completely ridiculous, because there was less than 20 people in the whole building. And the majority of them had already been served. once we got our food, we were done eating in about 25 minutes, which is not really a long time in my mind. The manager approached the table while my wife, the birthday girl and my daughter were gone and informed us that there’s a private party starting at one, and that we need to move along. I told her if the food had came out and promptly manner, then we would’ve been gone by now and that she should just bring us the check. After that conversation, it took them another 15 minutes to get me the check. Once I got the check, I reviewed it and they had taken it upon themselves to add a 18.9% service charge. Which I felt was completely inappropriate given the service that we had just received I made it promptly known to the manager that this was unacceptable and ridiculous due to the way that we had been treated. I will never be going back to Wonderland. This was such a disappointing experience. I hope that...

Went here for a birthday party. Here is a truthful and unbiased review based upon our experience.

Started off at the bar, ordered martinis. Told that they had no olives. Sigh.

Changed and ordered a beer and a pill drink. 22 dollars before tip (just so you know, everything you order is defacto 18 percent added to bill.) So 26 dollars for one round. Can't complain about beer but drink was not only small but weak. Sigh.

Sat down, ordered steak fahitas and shrimp alfredo. Also ordered two martini, one gin, one titos. Drinks comes back, pure olive juice. I don't mind a touch of olive juice but this was 3 parts olive, one part booze. My wife likes a dirty martini but I do not. Specially said no olive juice on order. Just dry. Back it goes. Explained, gin, vermouth, that's it.

Comes back, dark vermouth. WTF? Explained, (really, bartender does not know how to make a martini?! GIN, touch of WHITE vermouth.) Comes back, we don't have white vermouth.

How do you run a bar without basic ingredients? It's not like vermouth or olives go bad. Guess it's a sign of the times.

Order 12 shots for the table, (on menu as shot board with vip entertainment, hefty price) big to do, which was fun but shots were juice. Sigh.

Food comes for table. (One at a time, not kidding). Missed three orders at table. Start to finish, first to last served is 30 minutes. Wife gets served last, 30 minutes after first plate.

I order fajitas. Not going to lie, I enjoyed them, which is why not one star. Wife enjoyed meal as well. HOWEVER, full order of fajitas, no cheese, sour cream, avacado, cheese or salsa. (Come to find out you CAN get those things to the tune of 99 cents each, turning a 17 dollar order of fajitas into 22 dollars.) OK, can live with that.

However, all the fajitas and they give you THREE tortilla. Might not sound so bad but tortilla is literally 4 inches in diameter! Huh?

Order more, takes 15 minutes to get and you guessed it. Another dollar.

Bottom line is this. Yes, place is lively, lots of focus on events. However, drinks are pricey and weak for the price. Bartenders are clueless. Bar is missing basic ingredients. Service is poor and they will nickle and dime you for everything WHILE forcing you to tip 18 percent for subpar service.

Give this one a pass folks. Nothing to see...