The Eddy Pub — Restaurant in Saxapahaw

The Eddy was a quiet, laid back sort of place with a nice atmosphere for a family dinner of four or a nice first date restaurant. The kind of place where you want to chat with your party and still be able to hear but also don't want to worry about having to whisper. The beer/cider/wine list was local and eclectic, as you would expect from a place associated with the Saxpahaw General Store but not overpriced, as I would have expected with a place associated with the SGS. I didn't see a liquor list but the bottles I saw behind the bar were top shelf. Although The Eddy is a fancier restaurant than the SGS restaurant, it was comparable in price (entrees $15-23) and had a much nicer atmosphere; i.e. not pretensious and hipster, as well as being fancier though the waitstaff wore t-shirts.

The food I will give mixed reviews: of the four in my party, two loved their entrees and two didn't care for theirs. The portions were small. The mushroom confit and the pimento cheese fries we ordered as appetizers to share were devoured in minutes. The seared pork chop was very juicy and was served with delicious glazed carrots; the trout cakes were different but tasty. The vegetarian bowl I did not try but the person who ordered it only had a few bites before passing on eating the rest.

I had roasted quail with blue cheese grits as my entree ($15). I love quail and blue cheese, and was really excited to try grits with blue cheese! My whole plate tasted the same- like a grocery store rotisserie chicken. The quail I was served was only two tiny wings with no breast or other meat, and didn't taste at all like quail. The grits were totally covered in the quail "juice," so that was all I could taste- I couldn't taste any of the blue cheese, grits, or other spices; the texture was classic grits texture. With the exception of sweet pickled red onions on the side (which were odd but something I would certainly purchase if I saw them on sale at a deli because they were delicious!) there were no vegetables or other sides beyond the grits.

Although the Eddy is on the third floor, there was a long wheelchair ramp that had a reasonable angle. The dining room was close packed though and would have been difficult to navigate with a wheelchair.

I recommend this pub for drinks and appetizers but the entrees are hit or miss. I've heard wonderful things about The Eddy in the past but the general consensus from people who've been there multiple times is that the quality had gone down over the last 5...

This was our fifth time to The Eddy Pub. What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The hostess was snotty (per usual) and couldn’t believe that we didn’t have reservations when we walked in at 5 PM. We thought there may be availability since it was early. We sat at the bar and the interesting thing was we counted five tables that were vacant the whole time we were there (which was just 30 minutes.) I understand the need for reservations and we know to make them when there’s a show. We dislike this place so much that we agreed earlier this week that we wouldn’t go there before The Mountain Goats played. However, once we got to the shopping center, we decided we were hungry and thought we would try The Eddy one more time. The hostess could’ve said something like, “I’ve got some tables that are reserved , I could fit you in if you could finish by 530. Does that work?” We would’ve been happy to do that. Instead we got, “you can see if there is room at the bar” (while rolling her eyes.) What really disappoints me about this place is that it is the only restaurant to go to before a show at the Ballroom that has table service. My husband and I like to get to the venue early so we can get a parking space and then grab a bite. He is vegetarian, and the pickings are slim. The fish and chips were just as bad as they were the time before. Too much breading with limp fries. Tonight we paid $65 including tip for greasy fish and chips, bland penne pasta and one beer and we agreed we would never go back. It’s the General Store...

This was my 5th time dining at The Eddy and the food and atmosphere were great as usual. Taking this into consideration with the following experience, I'm writing a 3-star review.

We had a reservation on a busy night (Haw River Festival) to celebrate a birthday. Two folks on our party of four were 20 minutes late due to traffic, but the other two of us were sat immediately and received our drinks and appetizer while we waited. Our server began rushing us to order before our guests arrived, and asked if we could put in our entrees before our guests were settled in stating that there were many reservations tonight and that we needed to get our food in. We weren't intentionally taking our time and we promptly consumed our food upon receiving it. Within 5 minutes of receiving the final bill, we were asked to leave as soon as possible due to the next reservation waiting outside on our table. I have to say, I've never experienced something quite like this at a restaurant. I understand it was a busy night, but isn't that the point of making a reservation? I felt like there was a time limit on the reservation that I was unaware of. A logical solution to this would be either to book fewer reservation blocks or disclose a time limit on the reservation before being sat. But honestly, who would want to eat and enjoy drinks in such a cool place with a time...