Mrs Lacy's Magnolia House — Restaurant in Sanford

Went on Saturday with my best friend and my son. He got a grilled cheese and we both got half a grilled turkey & brie sandwich with a side of soup (vegetable beef for me, chili for her).

In the hour it took us to be seated, I could have gone grocery shopping, driving the 30 minutes home, and made us better meals than we got. We both assumed that our sandwiches would be hot/warmed through and have substantial layers of each of the ingredients (Grilled Turkey with Brie - $15 Thinly sliced turkey with Brie, bacon, apple, lettuce and tomato.). Instead, we got slightly toasted bread, 2 slices of cold turkey, half a slice of thin bacon, a sliver of apple and a smear of something they called brie but looked and tasted like mayo. Another waitress brought us some more brie, and it was cold and the consistency of queso. I took 2 bites and left it. My soup seemed like Campbell's and was underwhelming. My son's grilled cheese was maybe 2 slices of cheese between the 2 thicker slices of bread. He got a better one at the concession place at the Science Center this week. Also, for a place with a kid's menu, the drink options for kids are terrible. No juice? No chocolate milk? ALSO, out of my friend (who is Chinese) and I, I was the only one offered a refill on my coffee when it wasn't even empty yet and hers was. I dunno what that was about.

I bought a dessert to go and looked at it later. The ingredients listed were jello pudding, cocoa, cool whip, and chocolate shavings, and said it contained nuts .. ?? . Much to my surprise, there were a few spots of a soggy crust on the bottom -- I'm assuming the nuts were in there? Either way, $6 for something that I could make 4 times over with grocery store ingredients was pretty disappointing. At least make the crust the focal point!

All in all, with people raving about the food and desserts here, I was expecting more. I love going out to eat GOOD food and was excited to go here on a rare occasion that we eat out. Now I know not to go again. It felt like the chef has been running out of ingredients and everyone was on rations without being informed of...

My dear friend and I made a field trip from Raleigh to Mrs. Lacy’s today at the suggestion of a local. WHAT A GEM! The atmosphere could not be more inviting. The restaurant maintains old house charm, yet comfortably holds dozens of delighted guests. Everyone is so happy to be there, obviously enjoying their hearty and delicious lunches at the many tables inside and out.

The menu is full of so many homemade favorites it was hard to choose. We followed the recommendations of our most friendly and attentive servers: the turkey and Brie sandwhich on marbled rye, apple pecan salad, spring salad, and broccoli cheese soup were all fresh, full of diverse flavors and just so darn good!

So glad we were ‘warned’ to save room because their desserts are the stuff of dreams. Again, very hard to choose but the Turtle pie and mixed berry crisp with ice cream were both huge and heavenly. Next time I come I intend to bring a cooler because their whole cakes and pies look divine and many of the salads ( chicken, tuna, macaroni, broccoli, etc.) and some casseroles are to-go/come by the pound.

Honestly, my friend and I felt like we’d gladly drive an hour just to eat here over and over again. Wish we had a Mrs. Lacy in...

I bought some colleagues here for lunch who were visiting from out of town. Overall the food was satisfactory, however, when we were getting ready to pay I noticed I was overcharged for my meal. I spoke to the server about it and she said it was a mistake, however, when she walked off she jokingly told the cashier she wanted to make sure she had a few extra dollars in her pocket. I was appalled as I had already left a 20% cash tip on the table despite her mediocre service. I don't think the server thought I was going to leave her a tip and instantly felt profiled. I was embarrassed to have bought my colleagues to support this business, which I will never visit again. As a paying customer I expect to be treated fairly without being profiled and overcharged. This is a terrible customer service practice, not to mention there's a 3% charge for using a credit or debit card. The business needs to get with the times as it's unethical to charge an additional fee for...