The Porch | Kitchen & Cantina — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

First let me say we rarely post reviews of restaurants. We had been looking forward to eating at The Porch for sometime, & today was our very first experience. To say that we were disappointed would be an understatement! We were seated right away. Our server came & brought us 2 glasses of water with very little ice, so it was like drinking tap water. They came back to take our order in a timely fashion. My wife & I gave our entree orders and we also ordered an appetizer. When you read a description on a menu...that's what you expect to get. Warm chips and salsa should not translate to cold chips with a watery unseasoned very blended dip. Okay...our entrees will be good we thought. After watching our server being "talked to" by someone that we assumed was management, he came over & told my wife that she couldn't get what she ordered because it was only available from 3-5 on Sunday. It was on the backside of the Sunday Special menu. My wife just ordered a side of guacamole as her meal....& that was smart on her part. The ?manager came over & explained the 3-5 on Sunday info. She also told us that you could get the burrito ANY other day of the week for lunch or dinner...but that Sunday before 3 was just a little different. My wife told her that it was our first time there & that she didn't see the 3-5 in the upper right corner on the menu. I ordered the Mamacita's Chicken/Mac and cheese entree, that came with a side salad. The chicken breast was ok, but something I honestly could have gotten at any number of fast food places. The side green salad was ok, but nothing out of the ordinary. The Mac and cheese was not good at all. It had no flavor, seasoning, or any cheesey creaminess to it. Certainly not what one would expect from a main component of an entree dish. The staff/service was also very disappointing. Most of the staff walked around & looked as if they didn't want to be there, much less care about their customers. When a young woman brought out my side salad that came with my entree(It came out after the rest of my entree did), it was literally just tossed onto the table. I realize it was a "tossed" salad, but come on! There was no comment from her at all. During lunch, staff walked by & around our table bumping into our chairs multiple times!! Not once did anyone say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry". When we received our bill, I was shocked. We had 2 glasses of water, chips/salsa, a very small side of guacamole, & my entree....and our bill was $23.49!! We paid, got up & left without ANYONE saying one word to us....I.e. "Thank you for coming", "sorry for the menu mixup" or "have a nice day". This may have been our first visit, but it also was definitely our last!! Winston Salem is filled with wonderful restaurants with amazing waitstaff!! That's...

Would have given 2 stars, but after speaking with a manager about my concerns, they offered a discount to be refunded - so I'll add a star. We dined outside on the ground floor with 6 adults and 4 kids between us. This was our first time eating here for my family. •Service: apps came before drinks (only soft drinks and water were ordered), and silverware/napkins came after the main course. But only after we had to ask multiple people for them multiple times. P.s. eating with kids means we need napkins stat, folks. •Food: meh. I ordered the 3 taco plate; I chose the fried chicken, shrimp, and Houston beef as my proteins. The shrimp were naked and very bland, with no seasoning or sauce on them and only shredded cheese on top. The fried chicken was simply thin strips of what looked like fried cutlets + shredded cheese. The beef was pretty flavorful, best out of the three, I suppose + the shredded cheese. The plate did come with a spoonful of guacamole, sour cream, and pico on the side. Also, they got my tortilla preferences wrong (they ask upon ordering). For the record, this food did not taste like Tex-Mex, save the yellow cheese dip, and we have lived in San Antonio. My husband got the breakfast tacos and said they were completely underwhelming. •Misc: our children were enjoying playing next to our table (we dined outside and no one was sitting close by), when they found some extra outdoor chairs in a stack by our table and chose to arrange them to sit around together in the grass, when an employee came to the table to tell us pretty bluntly "can you ask your children to stop playing with the chairs?". (Umm, they moved them and then sat in them, so I'm not sure what the problem was.) After the chairs were stacked back up in the original spot, another employee came out to retrieve them and swiftly took them away. After we paid, I decided to go inside to discretely address some of my concerns with the manager. I mentioned the service issues to which they told me they were short staffed this day. Then I asked about the chairs. They said the kids were being rough with the chairs. When asked what they were supposedly doing, they said they were seen dragging them by the legs and flipping them on their side. I told them I didn't see any of that occurring even though I was sitting right there watching (and I wouldn't let ours be rough or inappropriate with someone else's property anyway). They mentioned something about their "policy" about the chairs that I can't precisely recall. They ended up offering me a discount to help make up for the service (I didn't even mention the food). We don't plan...

We came in with a party of 6 at 7:15p and the hostess said we would have an hour and 15 minute wait. They asked for a phone number and said we would get a text when the table was ready. We went to Hoots next door (who had a wonderful stout by the way) and waited until 8:30p before we finally walked back over to check on our table. We never received a text at all (not even after we were seated). We were finally seated around 9:15p and the hostess was extremely rude to my husband when he inquired about our table and said we needed one more seat for a 7th person. While we were waiting for the table, I went to the bar and stood there for a good 10 minutes and not a single bartender asked what I would like (and they were not slammed by any means). My friends who went to the bar before I did informed me they had to wait 15-20 minutes before they were served. When we sat down, it took a good 15 minutes for a server to come take our order and since we had to wait so long, we went ahead and just ordered drinks and food all at once. We ordered a starter size of tater tots and queso and the server brought us a side size (literally 10 tater tots for a table of 7 people). We told the server we ordered the starter size (which is supposed to come in a big basket) and he insisted that was the starter size. Our food came out relatively quick and the only positive thing I have to say is, the food was wonderful; however, we didn't get our drinks until AFTER we were finished eating our meals! My husband's beer was room temperature (and this isn't Europe people...we like our beer cold). The manager did come over and ask about the tater tots and we said we ordered the starter size and she said, "No that's the side size." and brought us a basket of the starter size. We were still charged for the tots and the manager didn't offer to take them off or offer a gift card. When we said something about our drinks coming after the food and how the table next to us received their drinks before us when they were seated AFTER us, the server said "Well uh maybe your drink orders were more complicated." To which I replied "They ordered margaritas...we ordered margaritas..." I am so disappointed; I have been wanting to eat here for so long and tonight was my first experience. It was just awful. It is very unfortunate because the food was so great and I'm leaving for Texas tomorrow, so I thought celebrating Texas Independence Day at The Porch was a great way to kick off my week in Texas, but I was sadly mistaken. Will not...