Weathervane Restaurant

We were new to the area, and a nurse at UNC recommended this lovely restaurant. We choose to go a bit early having missed lunch altogether, and was pleasantly surprised to have a menu for late afternoon.
Our wait person was Kristen and our meal was expertly prepared by Luis. I asked before ordering whether I could actually get a medium rare burger and was assured that I could.
I was still cautiously optimistic that I would received it cooked as ordered. (So many recently have just given up on us who want it medium to medium rare). It was cooked perfectly, just a little pink inside and so nice and juicy.
My husband had the «sweet tea glazed salmon» was again perfectly prepared medium as ordered.
The presentation of each plate was very pleasant, only wish I had thought to take a picture of our plates, sorry, by the time I thought of it, they were empty…:-)

I came here with three friends for a Friday night dinner during Restaurant Week. It did not seem like a busy night for them.
TLDR: underwhelming and not worth the cost. Maybe we got a poor experience due to Restaurant Week? But we won’t be back.
First the two good things: service was attentive and speedy (unlike the previous time I came here for afternoon tea, when our waiter never checked up on us and we had to hunt him down to get our check, upon which we were charged a mandatory service fee) and an appetizer special of raw tuna and sweet potato was lovely.
Three of us did the Restaurant Week menu. My tilefish with tomato and salami chips had a strange off-​putting taste (one friend joked that the bit of broth it came in was dirty sink water). It was also overcooked, as I was unable to cut my dry filet’s flakes with my fork.
One friend had the gnocchi, which was tasty and gorgeous, but a too-​meager portion. I felt bad when he had me taste one of his gnocchi because there were only around half a dozen on his plate.
Another friend got pork shoulder with a biscuit. It was fine but basically just a giant portion of pulled pork.
Finally, another friend got the bistro filet off the regular menu. It was also overcooked for the medium-​rare he requested and came with a giant pile of curly shoestring potatoes that looked impressive but just tasted like a pile of salt and deep-​fried.
I had thought that Weathervane was supposed to be one of the best fine dining restaurants in the Triangle. Either they’ve slipped tremendously or they never deserved that honor in the first place. For $ 30+ per person, spend your money elsewhere.

Took the wife for Restaurant Week. We were pretty excited about the menu they listed online, 3 courses for $ 30 per person can be a pretty good deal.
Big issue #1: The menu choices at the Weathervane did not match the online one at all. Fwiw, this is a big no-​no because most people make their choices of places to visit this week based on the menu options. That’s the whole point of the event, right? Try new places, get a good deal on a specialized menu available only this week.
Well, we went ahead and gave it a shot, but…
Big issue #2: The food itself was not any good.
The wife got the buttered lettuce salad. It had about 4 bites of lettuce and was as bland as we can remember a salad being.
I started with the Shrimp with biscuit in sauce. It was ok, probably made better by the lack of taste in other options we tried. The shrimp themselves were as overcooked as could be, almost rubbery.
I got the pulled pork entrée that had a fancied up name. The pork was, like almost everything we had, bland as can be. There was a lot of it, so at least I had some to take home and decide it was not worth reheating. It just surprised me that any decent restaurant could make pulled pork so flavorless and dry.
My wife got the Tile Fish in sauce topped with sweet potato purée and bacon. That was actually pretty good, if a bit small.
The dessert course we took to go, but again it was surprising to see just how small the portions were. My wife got the carrot cake — it was 2 small puck like cakes. She said they were ok, but she likes any cake she can get!
Only reason for the 2^nd star is our server was pleasant enough and the tile fish was good.
But for the money and the time, we won’t be back. And for the switching of the Restaurant Week menu, a hearty «BOO» for the Weathervane.

I’m just not a North Carolina food fan. Call me spoiled but this was supposed to be upscale and original, and I was utterly unimpressed. White table cloths, so 90’s; I needed to salt my Benedict that came with little to no hollandaise. The plate was heavy, cheap, and way too large for the portion they served. The «hash brown casserole» was actually a risotto with potatoes instead of rice which threw me off completely. Overall, for NC this is decent but it’s nothing special or creative at all.

Nothing negative to say. Great food, excellent service, upscale atmosphere. Menu was broad and interesting. I was able to modify an item into a vegetarian option and it was delicious. Good spot to take your parents or have brunch. It’s a shame it’s in a shopping center but once inside it really doesn’t feel that way.

Seriously great experience here for brunch, and I’m admittedly picky and critical. The menu doesn’t offer really any healthy options so I learned that quickly looking at the menu. I opted for the grilled asparagus eggs Benedict and it was really memorable.
The fried chicken or chocolate chip pancakes — purchase immediately. The service was top notch. Id come back here in a second.

This review is for 3.5 stars + 0.5 for good service.
I came here with some colleagues on a business trip. We were seated quickly on the outdoors patio, which was kept clean and shaded. The waiter came and checked on us quite a bit, which is not always the experience I have when seated outdoors.
I do not eat southern food frequently, but seeing as I was in town, I figured I should try the shrimp and grits! It certainly wasn’t the most healthy meal in comparison to my friend’s kale caesar salad with dressing on the side, but that wasn’t really the idea. The shrimp was yummy and the grits were buttery and filling.
Particularly, the waiter and kitchen were very accommodating to my colleague who had specific food restrictions. Overall, a very pleasant experience.

I must say the place is nice looking and the food is good BUT the service was down right awful. Very slow, could never track our down waitress, never offered water, coffee and tea refills. The restaurant wasn’t busy but our waitress seems so be preoccupied with other things then the guests.
I doubt I’ll be back. I wasn’t wowed.

Based on two visits. The first was very nice. Good food and service and nice atmosphere. The second was on the other end of the spectrum. They don’t serve between 3 and 5 pm. Which is fine. What isn’t fine are the two employees who walked past us while we were waiting at the host podium. We found a menu that mentioned service hours. I don’t expect royal treatment, just an acknowledgement.

We came here as the restaurant was approaching closing time. We didn’t feel rushed but knew that the kitchen was closing within the next 30 minutes. This may have been a reason why our food turned out the way it did.
THE GOOD: The pimento cheese fritters are highly recommended. They are melt in your mouth and served on a bed of a sweet pepper jelly. The burger was really well made and topped with gouda and crispy onions. Service was excellent and our waiter was attentive and accommodating.
THE BAD: The shrimp and grits. Other Unilocalers have come here and loved the shrimp and grits. I had a pretty bad experience with it. It was salty beyond reason. I’m fairly certain the chef must have made a mistake, because there is no way that the dish should have tasted that way normally. It was unpalatable. The waiter offered to bring us something else, but it was getting close to closing and we didn’t want the kitchen to have to remake a dish. He did provide us with complimentary cappuccinos after our meal to make up for it, though!
Overall, I would definitely come back to try some of the other dishes, but I think brunch would be better in terms of menu selection and pricing!

Came here for their $ 5 Monday Martinis after a night shift with some co-​workers! The martinis were ordered all around and were pretty tasty, with some unique concoctions such as a Thin Mint martini (which straight up tastes like a Girl Scout cookie)! A fellow coworker had a Bloody Mary, which I did not try but she claims is great.
Our waitress was pleasant and I have nothing negative to say about the service. As for the food, I ordered their French Toast, one of my favorite breakfast dishes, and was underwhelmed by it. The presentation was not existent, everything seemed to just be placed on the plate, and it tasted just okay. However, the side I chose, the hash casserole, was delicious! Melt in your mouth cheesey!
My boyfriend had the chorizo quesadilla with salsa verde and he thought it was good. Again I did not try and cannot attest to this.
All in all though, I enjoyed my food enough to return and try other dishes. Also $ 5 martinis is always great!

Shrimp and grits were spicy and quite tasty, but also had a pool of oil on top that I could do without. Fried okra was very good. Shrimp crostini also quote good though a very small portion.
The beer flight of 4 beers for $ 7 was a great bargain and a good way to taste a nice quantity of different beers.
Overall, fine food but overpriced.

This review is for the afternoon tea experience, which looks like it happens once a month.
My girl friends wanted to treat me to afternoon tea for my birthday, because I LOVE British style tea and scones and clotted cream. Weathervane at Southern Season had posted an event about afternoon tea on Tuesday the 14^th, so my friend made a reservation for 3 on the Friday before. At the time of calling, the hostess said that not many people had signed up (even though the Facebook event description said «Reservations not required»), so they might cancel it – if they did, they would call us by the end of Sunday.
Sunday rolled around and no phone call from Weathervane, so we assumed we were still on for tea, yay! On Monday morning, my friend called again to move the reservation back 30 minutes — no problem. But then Monday evening, Weathervane called to cancel our reservation… even though their Facebook page was still advertising the event! So confused by this business model. By this point we had already planned to take Tuesday afternoon off to celebrate, so my friend asked if they could still do the tea anyway. Weathervane said yes. (??)
So on Tuesday afternoon, we went to Weathervane and were taken to a back room where one other table of 4 ladies was having afternoon tea. Our waiter (Hector?) came out to get our tea order (Sighting #1), brought the tea and our three-​tier stand of sandwiches, scones, and pastries (Sighting #2), and we literally didn’t see him again for a solid hour — even though we wanted to ask someone about the ingredients (one friend is allergic to nuts :-/​). Yes, it was 4:30pm on a Tuesday, but to have no wait staff whatsoever? My friend ended up skipping any nut-​potential foods.
The tea was fine, and the finger sandwiches were actually pretty hearty, but the scones were tiny (4 little scones for 3 people?) and the pastries mediocre. But the real downer was the absolute lack of service. Not even checking-​in to see if we needed more water for our little teapots. We ended up having to flag down someone from a different room to ask for our check. Yes, Hector brought it out (Sighting #3). And while the event advertisement did say «gratuity included» for afternoon tea, the automatic 20% tip for terrible service was undeserved.
Overall, I wouldn’t come back here — for any meal, honestly. I expected better from Weathervane.

My friend and I came here for breakfast on a Friday at around 9:00 am. It was very empty and relaxed. We stood around awkwardly at the «unofficial waiting area» between the Southern Season store and the Weathervane restaurant until someone came to greet us.
The service was very laidback — I don’t know if this was because it was morning and a Friday, or if that’s how they usually are. It kind of offset the fancy restaurant setting. But I liked it.
We ordered the breakfast quesadilla with a side of grits, and the chicken and waffles with a side of hashbrown casserole. Heavy for a Friday morning, but who cares — they were both delicious!
I had my reservations with the chicken and waffles because I’m partial to Dame’s. Weathervane’s didn’t quite meet the standard, but it was still pretty damn good. Their fried chicken’s seasoning reminded me of Korea’s fried chicken, not the traditional southern fried chicken. The hashbrown casserole was super cheesy and probably one of the heavier dishes that morning. But still good.
The quesadilla had a perfect crunch to it and the stuffing was cooked and seasoned well. And the grits — oh lawd. Coming from LA, it was really weird that I was craving grits at all (AM I A SOUTHERNER YET?!), but this more than satisfied my cravings. Weathervane’s grits definitely makes it to my unofficial, unwritten list of top ten best grits.
The prices will hurt your wallet. But hey, I’d go back.

I showed up here for a brief «ladies who lunch» kind of event (a one-​hour lunch with 4 hour drive both ways from/​to Asheville). A Southern Season is legendary among gourmands who like to hand out fancy hostess gifts, so I expected that Weathervane would know precisely how to handle fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and collard greens with a reduction of Texas Pete. Truly, they did not disappoint.
Situated in the unromantic University Place Mall in Chapel Hill NC (not too far from the bizarre looking Blue Cross building), Weathervane dishes out very acceptable southern cuisine with no hipster flare whatsoever. Fried chicken is just fried chicken. Collards are just collards. Prices are reasonable.
Savory comfort food in a pleasant atmosphere, guaranteed to remind any NC native of lazy evenings on the porch with aunts and uncles.

I went here for breakfast and I was very satisfied.
The ambience is nice and it’s a overall very nice and clean restaurant.
Service was great! Our waitress was very attentive and helpful. Not sure if that’s because I went on a Thursday morning and there weren’t that many customers.
I got the Crispy Chicken Biscuit ($ 6), which came with cheese and bacon. It was very delicious and very affordable. The chicken was tender and not dry. For my side, I got the hash brown casserole.
Their juice is kind of expensive ($ 3 w/​no refill), but I think their apple juice is one of the best apple juice I’ve ever drank.
Highly recommended. I want to definitely come back for lunch!

Ok so I am updating my review yet again!
This is my third time eating at Weathervane with their new menu– so far, I have been unimpressed and really missed the old items (shrimp hush puppies!!)
Tonight, however, I ordered the shrimp and grits and lawd have mercy they were amazing! By far the best shrimp and grits I’ve ever had– and no, I haven’t had Bill O’Neal’s at Crooks Corner but to be honest I find it hard to believe they could beat these. Cheddar grits, buttery shrimp, perfectly cooked Andouille sausage, savory gravy– a masterpiece of flavor. It was enough to redeem their new menu entirely.
My husband, as always, loved the pork chop, and we got our usual appetizer of pimento fritters (but still miss the shrimp hush puppies!!) Our server was attentive. We will be back.

Went to this place b/​c it was near my hotel and had good Unilocal reviews. It did not disappoint! Wow! The butternut squash soup was stuff dreams are made of. So yummy. And even though I’ve had a spinach and goat cheese salad at every restaurant that offers one (you can never have too much goat cheese in your life), this one was maybe the best I’ve had. Very generous serving size and everything was super fresh. The kale Caesar salad was equally generous, delicious, and fresh. The only thing that was marginal was the chicken and waffles. Great presentation, great flavor, but the waffles were a bit soggy.
They also have some fun and yummy signature cocktails. I thoroughly enjoyed the namesake drink, the weathervane.
To top it all off, A+ fantastic service. Our waiter was fun and funny and attentive.
I found the prices to be very reasonable for the food and service offered.

Oh brunch, how I love you! For Unilocalers who enjoy brunch, you should check out Weathervane which is located in University Mall next to Southern Season.
Don’t let the price factor scare you away. I would say that brunch at Weathervane is pretty comparable to other nicer places with dishes within the $ 10 – 15 range. They have bottomless mimosas for $ 16, but these aren’t just your standard mimosas as they have different flavors and bellinis which can be substituted at no additional cost! I did not participate in the bottomless mimosa deal, but my friends did and throughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately my throat was bothering me so I ordered a Hot Toddie and boy, did that do the trick! Seriously, I was a skeptic but the warm brandy, honey and lemon concoction really helped my throat and I was able to eat real food instead of the soup I had planned to order! Yay!
Their brunch menu is large which is nice and caters to different palates. I ordered the Classic Eggs Benedict and was part of the clean plate club! It was so delicious, I would definitely order it again. I ordered the grits as my side and was equally happy with my decision. My friends ordered the chicken salad sandwich, the quiche of the day, and the house made chorizo quesadilla and they all throughly enjoyed their meal. I had the chance to taste the quesadilla and it was very good, definitely a plus that weathervane does all different types of dishes well!
The best part of the meal was that we were never rushed out despite staying for hours. Typically, most servers can be annoyed if you stay so late but our server never seemed to be annoyed. I will say that it was definitely a slow start when we were ordering drinks and waiting to order but after that, it was pretty smooth sailing. I am sad I did not see that they had a blood mary bar though. I will definitely return and try out that bar since I love bloody marys!
Overally, I really enjoyed my experience at Weathervane and cannot wait to return again for brunch! I may also branch out and try them for dinner as well. I also noticed that they have outdoor patio seating so this may be a popular brunch spot when the weather gets nicer!

We just came to have coffee and chat — if you come in winter — BRING YOUR COAT! It’s freezing: either they have bad insulation or the heating was broken. The cappuccino they serve could be better considering that they have direct access to a great coffee selection at the specialty grocery next door. I also ordered a soup considering the freezing temperatures, but also that turned out to be a disappointing experience: the butternut squash soup with cinnamon was too sweet for my palate.