The Mason Jar Tavern

I came here with my family and another couple during a soccer tournament. We arrived at 11 am and by the time we left it was full, so realize that this is a popular place. Even though it was crowded the staff were super attentive– clearing plates and refilling glasses. And everyone was super nice. It was a great family friendly atmosphere.
We started with the corn fritters and for lunch I had the burger sliders. The corn fritters were a big hit with my family and the sliders consisted of ground beef, pimento cheese, and bacon jam. They were super good. I ordered a side salad
and the greens were fresh and the tomatoes were ripe, which is often not the case for winter.
I would have loved to try one of their martinis it dessert because they looked delicious. They also had a Great Wall of beer on tap– always a plus.
If I’m back in town I’ll definitely be back!

Best place to eat and/​or drink in Holly Springs NC. Hands down. Not saying other places aren’t good, just this place is the best.

Great service. Cute concept for a restaurant. All drinks in Mason Jars. And they are good too. Food was also good, large portions. Was noisy inside, but then this is a family place, lots of kids about. My burger was taking a bit too long, but the manager recognized that and apologized beforehand, and paid for our drinks. It was worth the wait, the burger was cooked just right. This won’t be our last time visiting this little gem.

The burgers and fries were delicious. It can get a bit noisy with the live music but It was A-​ok!

It is about time that I updated my review for Mason Jar Tavern! I love this place, definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Holly Springs.
Appetizers — love the corn fritters, dip them in the honey sauce = divine
I also like the Pimento Cheese Dip but make sure you are with a party of at least 4 or more because this is A LOT of dip (plus watch out for the jalapeño peppers hidden within the dip, these could sneak up on you)
My favorite menu item — The Grilled Salad, I love how well the dressing pairs with this salad and I often find myself craving it. If I am feeling rich, I will add scallops but $ 15.50 is a bit steep for a salad so that is a special treat every once in a while (I also like the story of why Mason Jar has scallops on the menu). I always think that I am going to branch out but it is tough when you have an option as delicious as this. Mom on the other hand branches out during each and every visit. On our most recent visit she ordered the Steak Philly with a side of risotto which was yums.
Service can be hit or miss but that usually happens at most restaurants. Highly recommend if you are out in the Holly Springs area!

Trying the sliders. It was nice selection but the execution of food was not very good. The brisket was all fat and could have been better. Liked the pulled pork. Pimento cheese was bland. The service was very attentive but definitely pushing the drinks. Very noisy atmosphere when busy. Tvs are not in food location to watch. Don’t recommend for football outing

Had dinner last night — busy place — very fun concept. We were just 2 so before the 30 min wait for a table we were able to enjoy drinks at the bar (we went ahead and eat there as well). Big TVs going with football given thus time of year. Fun atmosphere, good drinks served in mason jars, and tasty food. Everyone around us enjoyed as well. Just a little bit loud.

Great food and service at a great price. The macaroni bites were delicious and the dessert is a must have. Highly recommend the Crème brûlée or the S’more in a jar.

I see a mix of reviews and to me an everyone in our party of five we thought it was just average; nothing to rave about, but nothing too terrible either. The service was exceptionally slow (getting our food, not the our server herself). It took over 30 minutes from the time we placed the order and the place was not full.
As for the food… we tried the fried mac & cheese bites and they were really good. They are made with pimento cheese and appear to be made on site (not some mass produced frozen appetizer). Everyone loved the fries. They are the homemade hand cut variety and were awesome! I ordered the hangover burger med-​medium rare and it barely had any pink — that was disappointing — and even the egg on the burger was overdone. The meat itself and the bun was good though. Two people had chicken tenders and thought they were just average. My wife thought the black bean burger was really good (although nobody beats Bad Daddy’s in Raleigh).
It’s nice to see a non-​national chain restaurant nearby and the food is pretty good so to me it’s worth checking them out at least once.
Oh yeah, one last note, their health dept. score was a 94.5 — unacceptable in my opinion. Note to management: people pay attention to those scores and little things like wobbly chairs and tables. We will give them another try and hopefully the service will be better, but it won’t be until that scores comes up.

Such a breathe of fresh air in the midst of all the chain restaurants popping up in the area. This place has a great local feel of a grill and bar all the while having a great menu. They have a southern theme (if you couldn’t have guessed by the menu).
We have ate here a few times now and had pleasurable experiences each time. The food is unique yet simple, fresh, and done well. I love the salads and my husband loves the burgers.
The servers have been good each time, some of them admit this is their first server position, but they are trying and care to want to do their best. They check on you throughout your meal and keep your water or beverage of choice full.
Their draft beer selection is mainly local brews or at least crafts brews. Their wine is reasonable and from what we have seen from neighboring tables, the liquor drinks are poured nice.
I would come here over any other food establishment in the shopping center because I like to support locally owned places that serve great food! I wish them the best and plan to eat here every time Im in Holly Springs!

Crazy this place has so many reviews, which goes to show how starved Holly Springs is for varied dining options. Their location is primo, and they certainly have a lot to offer, but after many visits, I still see a lot of things that could be improved. The food is overall pretty good, although the options are limited. Scallops are tasty, burgers are yummy but small, sides are good but sometimes soggy… overall this place could be so much more. The seats inside are very uncomfortable and don’t necessarily contribute anything aesthetically, so I can’t figure out why they chose those chairs. The staff is hit or miss, and the bartenders can be slow. Not sure where the snag is, maybe too high of turnover? Not enough communication between staff and management? Disgruntled employees? Whatever it is, the vibe definitely needs improvement.

I have no idea what some of the recent reviewers that gave Mason Jar 1 and 2 stars lately are thinking, I probably bumped into them at the Donald Trump rally last week in Raleigh because they lack some serious mental acuity and judgment.
So yeah the Mason Jar is next to a Buffalo Wild Wings which means that there is a clear divide between folks who want a local experience and those that want to eat at a chain. The only thing that might tilt me to Buffalo Wild is that there is live music at Mason Jar, at least on the weekends, and they play Coldplay. Honestly, I’m content not listening to a single Coldplay song until the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show. The fact that Chris Martin has a duet with Gwyneth Paltrow about their conscious uncoupling on their new album is not interesting or deep, it’s more of a play to piqué interest in an artistically depleted band.
So there are pitfalls of the Chris Martin variety if you step inside, but if you can avoid that and enjoy the atmosphere and food, this is a strike down the middle.
The wife and I ordered the buffalo chicken eggrolls, chicken and waffles and an assortment of tacos to try out. The eggrolls were crispy and a reasonably large portion, I haven’t seen them done better anyplace else. In my opinion, chicken and waffles is a touch crispier and more flavorful than what you would find at Beasley’s which get quite a bit of love. Meaghan G. loved her tacos and declared this an easy 5 star.
So there you have it, top-​notch food and a great beer selection round out the experience. Check it out, best bar food in the area.

We were a little concerned after reading the reviews about the noise, but the level was average for a restaurant this size.
We were seated immediately and the staff was both friendly and attentive.
We ordered the corn fritters to start and they were a huge hit.
My husband ordered the scallops, which were well cooked and flavorful. I had the pork tenderloin in molasses which melted in my mouth and wasn’t overly sweet.
The only one with leftovers was our 6 year old, because the kid’s portion was quite large. However the only kid activity was a coloring page, so if your kid isn’t in to that, you may want to bring something else to do for them.
We shared 2 desserts –the banana pudding and the s’more in a jar. Both were excellent, though you have to wait on the s’more so you don’t burn your mouth.
Overall excellent!

This place is top notch! I work nearby but live in Raleigh and I keep wishing there was one in Raleigh so I could go more often!
Corn fritters — all the heart eyes. So delicious.
My go to menu item is the sweet potato and black bean tacos — super yummy. The salads are delicious and FRESH as can be!
I’ve heard from coworkers the pulled pork sliders are awesome. Dad got the smoked brisket philly and couldn’t finish it! I’ve never seen him leave food on the plate!
Apparently this place also has live music?! Maybe I should just make the move to Holly Springs… AND they have a great patio!
Eat here! Eat local!

Very nice find. I expected this to be another franchise place with zero personality. A nice surprise.
From the pleasant server to the good food and really enjoy the patio. It was a great Saturday afternoon and the patio was a hit.
Back to personality. The server was very friendly but then the owner (female half) came over and introduced herself and was kind and caring. She was so friendly and it was nice to see a young couple taking care of their business in this personal manner.
I LOVE FAMILY OWNED PLACES.
The Mason Jar Fries were fantastic. Fresh jalapeños, tender brisket, they were a hit.
Good drinks, good service, and outside. Wow a great choice.
Will enjoy coming back. But agree it could be loud inside.

I really want to love this place. I do.
We need more choices to eat in Holly Springs but I can’t catch a break at TMJT.
We’ve had dinner here 5 – 6 times and each time we’ve been wholly underwhelmed. It’s sad because I’ll be honest and admit I wouldn’t invest this much time and effort in a place I didn’t like — but that should show you how much I want to like it!
Take, for example, our experience this past Friday at lunch. It was a 2!!! hour ordeal. We got burgers and a sandwich. The service was slooooooow (that’s been a common theme at each visit) and my husband’s
club sandwich was darn near inedible.
Food was cold by the time it arrived.
This just isn’t based off one visit — we haven’t had anything that just wow’d us here. The tacos were uninspiring. The Philly? Boring. The Turkey Melt — the bread isn’t just the right type of bread for these types of sandwiches — no reason to serve bread that’s as hard as rock!
I just can’t find a reason to love it here outside of the great rotating beer selection and the dessert.
So that’s what TMJT will be for our family from this point forward — a beer and dessert spot for the parents on a date night.

Came here for lunch with my mom on a Thursday. It was surprisingly busy, but we were seated within minutes of entering.
Firstly, «The Mason Jar Tavern» is aptly named; every drink is served in a mason jar. Even a little basil sprig at our table was placed nonchalantly in one of the jars. It’s cutesy.
I wish I could speak as positively about the noise level in this place, but I can’t. It’s LOUD, and this wasn’t even during a weekend or dinner hours. Noise is fine for a few beers, but not for a lunch with a relative. My lunch with my mother was made awkward by the fact that I was having to raise my voice in order to get a sentence across. The place is so confined, however, that I’m not sure if there’s much management can do about this issue. The service staff were a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people, and it seemed like they could have used an extra person or two. It took awhile for our waiter to take our order, and even longer for our food to arrive.
The food: My mom wanted a vegetarian option so we split an order of corn fritters and the vegetarian black bean tacos. The fritters were perfectly made, and the smokey honey sauce they came with for dipping was also delicious. Our tacos came with fries, but the tacos were not exactly what I was expecting. The description said that the tacos were made of a sweet potato «hash» yet it looked like the «hash» was really just broken pieces of potato that they were unable to serve as fries. The beans, red onions, and lime sour cream sauce did not do enough to break the monotonous taste of starch-​after-​starch. Perhaps if we were served our corn salsa, as it said on the menu, it would have helped but that was absent from our order. There was no cilantro present either, contrary to the menu description, as well. Did the cooks forget how to make their own dish? Either way, these tacos were sorely lacking a green (avocado, a pepper perhaps?) anything to give it more flavor than just beans and failure fries!
I’m willing to give this place another try, but I’ll definitely be ordering something else.

Was out this way so we decide to give this a try. It was very busy considering it was 2:00 on Saturday but we got a table right away. Restaurant is loud in general which bother my hubby. There was some outside seating tho so that’s an option.
I had the slider trio, trying one of each. Brisquet and pork sliders were under seasoned and the bottom buns were mush from the liquid of the meat I assume. Meat should have drained a bit more, I suppose. Pimento burger slider was delicious and well seasoned! I had a side salad with the bacon vinegrette which was delicious but I seemed to miss the bacon.
Hubby had the veggie kabobs with parmesan risotto. Veggies were tasty and risotto was a huge portion. Hubby thought it was salty but I didn’t think so.
I had debated getting scallop or shrimp tacos but after seeing the not good sear on the photos and in person, decided against it. I’d try this place again if I’m out this way bit I wouldn’t make a trip specifically for it. I did want to try the desserts tho. Lol

Mason Jar is cute & is decorated with artwork that showcases Holly Springs.
I ordered the Asian salad, and it was really good. The dressing is a bit spicy but I liked the mandarins, fresh greens, and wonton strips. They have a diverse beer list, including one I never tried before that was very unique and tasty! I definitely intend to come back and see what else MJT has to offer.

Charming little family owned tavern in Holly Springs. The whole family has worked together to make the restaurant a reality including Dad who made the beautiful mason jar lights in the dining and bar areas, and Sis who created the gorgeous mason jar photography. The cozy, friendly ambiance makes TMJT a great place to relax and enjoy a meal.
The noise level was a bit high when we visited last week but one of the owners, Maggie, who is an engineer by day, said that sound baffles had been ordered which should do wonders for the acoustics. It wasn’t difficult to carry on a conversation but they were busy on the night we visited and the conversations were subsequently a little loud.
Our server, Jessica, was excellent. She made recommendations and was attentive and efficient. Her suggestions were spot on. She was knowledgeable and seemed like a genuinely happy employee which was reflected in the service we received.
I had the grilled flank steak salad with field greens, blue cheese crumbles, walnuts, apple slices, and an amazing honey balsamic dressing on the side. The sharp, saltiness of the blue cheese complemented the sweet honey balsamic dressing. Perfect combination of flavors. The salad included a generous portion of steak. I expected thinner strips for a flank steak which probably would have made it melt in my mouth. The slices were thick, however, and although a little tough, the steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Overall, great service, delicious food and a nice local tavern addition to Holly Springs.