Rebellion NC — Restaurant in Wilmington

On Saturday, October 26th, my family and I, a party of 10, visited Rebellion in Wilmington, NC. We were seated inside at a large table, where I had my service dog (SD) lay at my feet, out of the way, as she does everywhere we go. Soon after being seated, a worker came over to ask “whose dog is this” and “what tasks does she do?” As always, I answered “deep pressure therapy” and “grounding.” Long story short, we were denied access and I was told that emotional support dogs and psychiatric service dogs (PSD) are not covered under the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) in North Carolina. After having a wonderful meal with great service and waitresses, I asked to chat with the manager, who ended up being the same worker, Brandy, that denied my service dog access inside the restaurant. I expressed that the information I was told on ADA laws is not accurate, and I wanted to share insight and knowledge on what is allowed and not allowed under the ADA, as I noticed this was a veteran owned restaurant, and some people would turn this into a law suit. I confirmed that emotional support animals are not task trained, and do not have the same rights as SD’s. However, psychiatric service dogs are essentially medical gear that can do tasks, such as medical retrieval and medical alert. Brandy continued to state that the restaurant staff have been thoroughly trained in this area and in NC, they are not covered under the ADA. As a dog trainer in the area, I am certain that this is wrong. If it is true the staff have been trained, I would love to know who provided the training. I provided Brandy a government notecard that states the ADA laws, that she would not take the time to acknowledge, read and understand. As someone who is actively involved in my community and see it in my everyday livelihood, I completely understand and agree that the service dog world is saturated with unqualified SD’s. However, my SD, was displaying all appropriate behaviors as a service dog should. I would like to bring attention to this matter, as it is extremely disheartening that a veteran owned restaurant would handle a scenario in this manner. I hope this educates and sheds some light on an unlawful situation that could help future SD teams.

Please see informational links of the law below:

https://disabilityrightsnc.org/resources/legal-guidelines-for-service-animals-in-nc/

https://disabilityrightsnc.org/resources/service-animals/

Pictures below include screenshots of Disability Rights NC, ADA notecard, and SD in vest. My SD was not vested at restaurant, and is not required by law...

Overall: 7.5/10

Food: 7/10

Service: 9/10

Drinks: 7

Food: Old North Burger - this burger has slaw, cheerwine bbq sauce, and Tabcco onions. I liked this burger the most because of the variety of flavor. It was savory with a hit of sweet and hid the fact that the burger patty itself is not well seasoned.

Rebellion Burger - although this is the restaurant main burger and it has everything I like in a burger, I couldn’t finish the half of it I had. The patty is thick which is great, but the patty itself lacked seasoning which made the burger itself hard to eat. The toppings were good and I enjoyed their bourbon bbq sauce.

Wrap, It Up Charlie (tuna wrap) - my wife ordered this and I took a few bites without the avocado crema (I’m allergic). It was good the tuna was cooked well and a nice size. The rice and beans pair with the tuna to give a savory pop of flavor which makes each bite a delight.

Tots - get the tots they were so good and the house made ranch pairs phenomenally with them. Unlike the burgers the tots are well seasoned and I could order those any day.

Fries - I tried my wife’s waffle fries they were also well seasoned and delicious. They were crunch in the outside and soft in the middle which is the perfect fry for me. I swear I’d come in here and just eat their potato products. 😂

Drinks: I had the habanero nights was good. The flavor of the habanero and peach paired well together. I wish they drink would have had a more sweet forward with a heat back as the name and ingredients would imply but overall it seemed that they habanero provided a hint of flavor without heat. I would still recommend the drink, as the overall taste of the drink was refreshing, bright and light for a summer night.

Service: our service was phenomenal! He checked on us regularly and ensured we had everything we needed for our meal. He was also very friendly, I wish I remembered his name, but he had long blonde hair. The food and drinks too a little while to get but the place was busy and despite how busy they were we were seated immediately. My drink from the bar took a while even after the bar slowed down.

Ambiance: A rustic tavern with an impressive bar. The owners Patriotic, it military owned and they had shirts...

Bad experience; food was ok. We (3 of us) went Saturday night without a reservation and because of covid everywhere is understandably understaffed. When the woman told us it would be an hour and a half wait we understood. The problem was we were told our table was ready and got seated at 9pm but we didn't get to leave until 11pm and only 10 minutes of that was spent eating. We had looked at the menu while we waited so as soon as we were sat we were ready to order. We got the pretzel appetizer, the Charlie Does Surf, a classic burger, and plain mac and cheese. The pretzel was nice and hot and came out 20 minutes later, which we figured. The rest of our foor we had to wait an entire hour for. The waiter was super attentive and kept checking on our waters but after an hour and 10 minutes with no update we decided to get the tab and go get Domino's. As soon as we caught him to tell him that he said our food was coming out in just a minute so we decided to wait. Our food finally came out and everything was cold. The sandwich and burger, the tots, the mac and cheese; everything was cold. We were so hungry and tired we ate it anyway but it was obvious the food had been sitting out for a While. The annoying part was a large group of six got all of their food nice nicely hot 20 minutes after they sat down and they came in 40 minutes after us. We ate for about 10 minutes before deciding to get boxes and the check. Overall it took another 30/40 minutes to get the boxes, get the checks, and get our cards back.

If the hostess had just told us it was about a two and a half hour wait we would have understood and gone somewhere else. The time we sat waiting At our table we could have gotten food elsewhere. It probably would have been better had the food been hot or even warm, but because it wasn't that ended up just being the tipping point.

Tl;Dr Everyones food was cold and could tell it had sat on the counter. Waited and hour and a half after sitting to get our food and another 30/40 minutes to get our checks and leave. Group of 6 next to us got their food in 20 minutes and they came 40...