Barley and Burger — Restaurant in Rocky Mount

Today, I tried Barley & Bruger with my family. This was my first experience and my genuine reaction.

I ordered "The Dude," which is like a cheese steak with mushrooms onions, and it was chopped up and incorporated with the meat that I had to look into the meat to see it. I'm a northerner, so I'm expected the traditional sliced mushrooms. I was a Lil apprehensive until I bit into it.... OMG! flavorful & juicy. I advise that if you order this sandwich, add lettuce, tomatoes, cheese slices, etc, or it will seem plain. My onion rings were too dark for my liking. Honestly, I didn't try it. (I'm a picky eater when it comes to onion rings)

The star of the show for me was the damn FRIED BANANA PEPPERS!! YES, YES, YES, YES, AND YES! WHEN YOU DO THANK ME LATER FOR RECOMMENDING! YOU'RE WELCOME! 😆 🤣 😂 ❤️

Our server was very good at her job, and whoever was cooking was working hard because we got our appetizer, drinks, and food in less than 10 mins. Very impressed. 5 stars for the staff.

The prices are shaking but so is our economy, so if you go there, go on payday if you're struggling.

The atmosphere is cinema, and Buffalo Wild wings had a baby. The artwork sparks conversations. I like that.

There is a bar for the adults reading 😉 Drink responsibility however you are by 🏨.

Now that I understand the restaurant, I'll give them a chance and try again another day and review again.

For now, as a...

Well. A big disappointment. When you walk in with a 2 year old, and immediately order their food with your appetizer, and yet it still comes out with the adult's entrees, there's a problem. We specifically said so she could get hers ASAP and we didn't order our entrees until about 10 minutes later. Then the burger wasn't cut in half ( again, 2 year old ) , and no silverware to do so ourselves. We also had ordered a salad. So eventually got a different server to give silverware. Salad was terrible power the wife. The kid never ate her burger (cause we had to give her the appetizer instead of her intended meal. Kids need more time to eat and more time for their food to cool off. Coming out with the parents food , when specifically ordered early, was very disappointing. Server never asked us how anything was until I went to pay and noticed the salad was barely touched. They got 2 stars instead of one since she took the salad off. We were barely checked on and overall a huge disappointment. Should have listened to my gut and went elsewhere when we saw the low 94 Sanitation food grade. There were a couple of other issues along the way. I covered the ones that made us...

Update: 02 Oct 25 Went to the new location for the first time. It's a lot bigger and plenty of outdoor seating. Asasha was a great server. And love that I can now get queso on the burger 🍔. I got the bacon cheeseburger with queso, fried egg and onion straws and side of sweet potatoes. We had the fried pickles for appetizer.

Updated the atmosphere rating to 5 stars ⭐

I first heard/read of this place by seeing their billboards on I-95. I was meeting up with family in NC. I did not go the first time I saw the sign. But the following week, when I went back to meet this family again, I saw the billboard again. So we decided to meet up at this restaurant. The first time the image looks like the actual food served. And it was so good.

I got the bacon cheeseburger with fried egg. You can even specify the level to which the egg is fried. Mine was done perfectly as I like it. My sister got hers done a little differently, but like hers as well.

The ONLY thing was an issue for me was the lighting because I have epilepsy. I tried to sit in the best location to minimize the flickering light effect caused by the fan and light. But overall would definitely...