Parkside Restaurant (Wendell Falls) — Restaurant in Wendell

The Parkside has become a mixed bag as of lately. The last few visits the food has been under seasoned , served cold to warm at best, and just taste mediocre. Our last visit was New Year’s Eve brunch. We were served a breakfast burrito that consisted of nothing but chorizo. Cheese grits that were bland and contained no cheese, and a BLT loaded with mayo when we specifically said NO MAYO! I expect more out of a restaurant with the prices they charge. Hopefully they can get back on track and turn things around but for now this won’t be a place we visit again for a while.

4/6/24 UPDATE: It has been a while since our previous disappointing encounter, so we decided to give this restaurant another chance tonight, hoping for improvements. Unfortunately, our experience was just as disheartening. Despite making reservations for 5:30, we were promptly seated when we arrived at 5:22. The emptiness of the restaurant, with only three occupied tables, raised immediate concerns – a worrisome sight for a Saturday evening. Regrettably, our hopes were dashed once again as we sat at our table for a full 20 minutes without any acknowledgment from the staff. Frustrated, we opted to leave without even getting the chance to try the food this time. This visit marks the final straw, and we have no intentions of returning ever again. As a member of the community, it's particularly disappointing to witness such neglect from an establishment we hoped to support. It's evident that the owner's attention is elsewhere, and perhaps it's time for them to consider selling and focusing solely on their Raleigh location, where their efforts may be...

Hmm... Something just ain't right about this place. Everything was... Fine. Just fine. Can't make any specific complaints about any of it, but it just really feels like something is missing. I got the short rib stroganoff and my wife got the shrimp & grits. Now, I'll admit the stroganoff was at a disadvantage because the last time I had stroganoff was at Pack's Tavern in Asheville, and that was literally one of the best things I've ever eaten. I wasn't quite expecting it to be at that level, but it didn't stand out in any way at all, really; it was exactly what was expected, nothing more. And that wouldn't be so bad, except it was in fact priced the same. So in that sense, I don't think my expectations were unreasonable. I tried some of the shrimp & grits and that was definitely a bit more interesting, but it did need some hot sauce. We also tried the pimento cheese appetizer and that was also good, maybe slightly above average. But really, any of these dishes, you could probably convince me that they actually bought it somewhere else -- several different places, actually -- and snuck it in. In fact, the whole menu kind of feels like it's a bunch of random ideas they threw together. I dunno, it's just hard to tell what this place is trying to do. From the atmosphere to the menu to the actual food, it feels like nobody's behind the wheel. None of it's bad, it's just really missing some...

I am sharing an honest opinion here. The veggie burger needs to either be taken off the menu or replaced with a Beyond Burger or Impossible Burger. I paid $50 for two veggie burgers, an appetizer, and unsweet tea and received one of the worst veggie burgers i've ever had, with fries just thrown on the side of the plate. I can pay $50 to have amazing impossible burgers, fries presented nicely, unsweet tea, and a way better atmosphere at Cheesecake Factory. As a non-meat eater I'm not sure if I'll return to Parkside in Wendell Falls, as a Wendell Falls resident because I'm hesitant to waste my money yet again. If Parkside Wendell Falls does not care about it's non meat-eating clientele, that's fine, but let's be transparent in the fact the veggie burger is not something vegetarians would want to eat, despite Publix being right there for any last minute beyond burger/impossible grabs. It's 2023 y'all, non-meat eaters no longer have to be punished by bad interpretations of black bean burgers, it's so easy to give us a great experience as well and have us return! Hopefully this review leads to some change, if not - then I probably won't be back (cause i'm not going to risk any more disappointment with other menu items) and can make a better...