101 Lounge + Cafe

Agreed

By David 09/08/11

I love this coffeeshop!!! Great atmosphere.  Lots of comfortable seating, couches are great to hang with friends, tables are great for studying/business.  Great menu options with friendly and knowledgeable baristas.  Try it out! They have music on Saturday nights.  My meet up group meets there!

By wynnkd 07/11/11

This place is simply first rate.  You get what you pay for and more

By MDNC 06/06/11

We dropped by the Oxford on a whim after a NC Symphony COncert on a recent Saturday Night.  I"d been to the Oxford for lunch maybe a year ago but dinner was uncharted territory.  Wow,  were we ever pleasantly surprised by both the fact that downtown was hopping and that this restaurant had upped it’s culinary game a whole lot since my last visit.  Our party of four was seated right away and while the place was loud from the Saturday night overflow in the bar area it wasn’t unbearable.  The menu was broad and the service was great.  The seared duck breast was first rate and even the vegan in our group was pleasantly surprised by the menu choices.  We left very happy, vowing to return.

By MDNC 06/06/11

We went to flights a few Fridays ago. We were the only two people in the restaurant the entire time we were there. It was a little weird. Our waiter had wonderful intentions but shouted everything at us like he was performing or something. The chef sent us out some complementary gazpacho before our appetizer came out and it was, well, pretty gross. The crab cake appetizer we ordered was really good, but not really big enough for sharing. I had the scallops which were presented well but pretty salty. My husband had the filet which was good but also overly salty. Needless today, im not sure we’ll go back.

By kzkk 06/02/11

Truly Terrible Experience!!  I still can’t believe how rude the owner/waiter was to us.  In fact, I have never been spoken to like that in a restaurant, outrageous! To top it off, the food was nothing to brag about.  The soup was very delicious, but it was downhill from there.  The entree and two tapas dishes we tried were not good.  I wouldn’t return there if you paid me to go.

By {screen_name} 05/15/11

I’ve been excited about trying out this restaurant, but was disappointed by the food.  The little pies at lunch were cold on the inside and had crumbly, not flaky crust.  I had the curry ones.  The salad had black yucky bits of lettuce and was drenched in dressing.
The blueberry pie was okay, but the crust was thick, and again not flaky.  At first I liked the atmosphere, fun art and colors-but by the time I left, the noise, clatter, and tense staff made it uninviting and cold.

By {screen_name} 05/12/11

The place is located in an “OK” space with decent lighting and layout but the ambiance suffers as most of the patrons are NOT smiling (I wonder why) the staff are grumpy and management idiotic.  In any business endeavor the way the employees behave always comes from the head.  We and the couple next to us felt like we were not wanted there, we were a burden, and they were (from the su-chef, to the manager, to the hostess, to the server) too important and too busy to see us. My wife and I have been to many excellent high end establishments, from the Capital City and Cardinal club to Ruth Chris, Sullivans, and second Empire where you expect outstanding service but you will have a much better time at Napper Tandys pub then wasting your time at Café Luna.  The food was simply poor the service terrible.  The server when asked about their Caesar salad had this to say, “It’s a mediocre Caesar, you know…, like we don’t make our own dressing.”

The BEST Tuscany Italian restaurant in Raleigh is Brio, hands down.  Excellent tasty food, attentive service, and great ambiance (happy smiling patrons too).  After our event (IMAX 3D Movie) we stopped at Sitti for a night cap around the corner from Café Luna and were greeted with a smile from everyone.  The hostess was cordial, the bartendress attentive and very pleasant.  We’ll be back for dinner.

There are many choices in Raleigh for a good to great dining experience.  Café Luna is NOT one of them.  You can discount reviews by delirious brides and anonymous overly bubbling individuals.  If they really had a meal there and are not the owners or employees they couldn’t be that happy.  The truth is in the other reviews which are predominantly 1’s (Poor) if the biased data are eliminated.  Usually a restaurant will not have that many 1’s ratings unless people are extremely dissatisfied.

Hope this saves someone from a poor dining experience.

By {screen_name} 05/12/11

I’ve been going here since I was a little kid, but most of the early trips were wasted on the Chinese menu.  It’s good, but the Vietnamese dishes are the reason to go.  The cold vermicelli salads are outstanding - I recommend pork with egg rolls.  The grilled lemon grass chicken with rice is another winner.  Don’t miss the cabbage salad appetizer with fried tofu: it’s unbelievably delicious, and I usually hate tofu.  I have not tried the pho yet, but I am eager for the day.

By {screen_name} 05/01/11

The sauce, cheese, and toppings are good, but the crust is unacceptable.  Way too doughy and sweet.  In response to the blurb above, no NY pizza supremacist would accept this.

By {screen_name} 05/01/11

I didn’t want this doofus review of Piebird (above) to be the only info on NR, since the Doofus reviewed the ‘soft’ opening (probably on the first day). Wednesday night, a month later, a nice crowd. These girls make some greatdessert pies, and the ice cream a la mode is outstanding. The chocolate cream pie is obviously a neighborhood favorite. The dessert pies take about the same amount of time to come out as the savory dinner pies, so I suggest ordering coffee before dessert, or another glass of wine. My only suggestion is to take a better look at the bagged lettuce before it gets sent out, to remove the bad pieces. That’s why I’m only giving it 4 stars. We will be repeat customers- a great boost for the neighborhood. Thank you, Piebird girls!

By {screen_name} 04/21/11

The pad kee mow was not very good at all, it tasted like soy sauce noodles. Strangely served with tempura shrimp that were soggy. The noodles were not the traditional wide/flat variety, and there wasn’t much flavor of thai basil. The yellow curry short rib combo was much better, and provided a unique dish I would go back for. The chicken breast sate appetizer was good, with decent though thin peanut sauce. I was disappointed by only 2 draft beers, and no bottle of red under $30.

By {screen_name} 04/19/11

so-so… tried the grilled eggplant app- delicious.  i’ve had MUCH better pad thai.  the massuman curry is pretty good, but seems like it’s lacking a bit in the flavor department.  if only sawasdee could be there, everything would be better.

By {screen_name} 03/28/11

Restaurant looks great. Designer did a wonderful job. Staff is passionate and friendly. But the soup I ordered was cold. Even when I requested another one. Here’s what happened: http://www.jefftippett.me/piebird-raleigh-review-piebirdraleigh

By Jeff Tippett 03/28/11

I am a huge fan of Cupcake Wars and when I saw the pictures on the website I decided to visit. The shoppe is cute and the display of cupcakes made you want to try all of them. The young lady behind the counter was ok. Nearly impossible to engage in conversation. Maybe she was having a bad day. I asked if she was the one who made the cupcakes and she said no, so obviously an employee. I was a bit worried when I looked into the display and saw the outside of the vanilla cupcakes. They look hard and overbaked, but I thought maybe it was just me seeing too many episodes of Cupcake Wars. LOL Instead of trying 1 or 2 I bought a dozen. I took them home and tried all the frostings. While they did taste like the flavor they were supposed to, the icing was crusty and hard on the outside. I was expecting to bite into a nice soft cupcake, instead I found them lacking in taste and a bit dry. Not light. Maybe it was just an off day with the baking? I don’t know. The taste of the cucakes reminded me of the .99 muffin mixes you buy in the store.

By {screen_name} 02/28/11

wow, what terrible reviews….guess i’m not going here. thanks for the heads up

By {screen_name} 02/25/11

Terrible service, cold food. Yeah, it was New Year’s Day but they were purposefully ignoring us and the folks next to us at the bar. Hope they don’t linger too long.

By {screen_name} 02/16/11

Creative and tasty vegan/vegetarian options for dinner but at a relatively high price (food is sourced locally when possible.)  While I enjoyed the live music it was too loud for pleasant conversation.  We’ll return occasionaly and request a seat far away from the band!

By Ames 02/07/11

I’ve tried this place twice now and have been disappointed both times. While I did enjoy the food selections, the inconsistency of their offerings are nothing short of annoying. Also, the location leaves much to be desired. I had a group of clients in town and was advised to take them there and they were clearly frightened to get out of the car or enter the diner (which most closely resembles an abandoned and forgotten pool hall). The drinks were, however, stellar and if it weren’t for those, I don’t think I would have come back a second time. However, with what I can only describe as an elitist-style brand of cuisine, which does not mesh with its location at all, I think I will be, against my better judgment and preference, stick to restaurants with more widely-known reputations for having both good food and ambience, and not a place in a sketchy part of town that purports itself to be “high-end”!

By {screen_name} 02/06/11

Pros:  allegedly good food (and the only reason they earned a second star)
Cons:  Where to begin…
  * Rude, self-important management
  * Poor location (unless you like parking/eating next to a dangerously-congested main traffic artery across from a Firestone tire dealership)
  * Selfish owner-focused operating hours (Wed-Sat dinner only)
  * No printed menus, either on web site or in restaurant—you have to strain to read chalk boards on one wall.

I have tried three times to eat here, twice during their Yelp-published operating hours.  However they are now open just four days out of the week, and only for dinner.

Not knowing about these strange hours, my second attempt was on a Wednesday for lunch and hallelujah, their door was open!  However the two ladies who presumably run the restaurant gave us a dirty look and didn’t otherwise acknowledge us for quite some time, after which they rudely asked “can we help you with something?”  They then dismissed us, informing us unapologetically of their limited hours, and sarcastically bid us “good luck.”  I stopped back this past Saturday for lunch and again they were closed, even though Yelp indicated they should be open—strike three.

The only thing that intrigues me about this establishment is others’ reviews of their menu selections, although other than that their entire way of doing business is a complete turn-off.  Any establishment that doesn’t serve dinner at least 5-6 days out of the week is simply lazy, or perhaps just self-important.  Their web site offers absolutely no details on what one can expect here food-wise, and ordering from the handwritten chalkboard menu opposite the bar (they have no menu books) is quite inconvenient.

Given all of the other great choices nearby, I find it unlikely that I’ll try Poole’s again.  I wound up going around the corner to Jibarra and was treated to wonderful food and fantastic service which further confirmed my decision to eliminate Poole’s from future itineraries.

By {screen_name} 01/23/11