09/23/09

great Southern food!

by missotisregrets

One of my favorite restaurants in the Triangle area! The atmosphere is contemporary and quiet, as well as warm and polite. The crab cakes area heavenly - any seafood there is, really - and the appetizers and desserts are always worth the money. It's expensive, so we save it for special occasions, but we've also gone once or twice and just split the Kobe burger at the bar. And you can't beat ACME for Sunday brunch. Their homemade biscuits, strawberry butter, delicious coffee and diner-style potatoes make this the place we always take a weekend guest.

11/12/07

not worth it

by sciencegirl

First time to Acme, will not return. Service was not at all personable, like he was doing us a favor by waiting on us. The food was mediocre at best. I had the pecan encrusted fried chicken, topped with mushroom gravy, with mashed potatoes and butter beans. However, the fried chicken was like a very thin small chicken tender from a greasy bar menu. I could taste or see no pecans. There were no mushrooms in the gravy, which tasted like greasy flour. The mashed potatoes were watered down or something? And the chef doesn't know the difference between lima beans and butter beans, I like both but serve me what I ordered please! And everything was so bland, I had to add a lot of salt to bring some the flavor of the food. My money would have been better spent on chicken tenders and fries from a greasy bar.

• Pros: nice atmosphere, aside from the snooty servers
• Cons: bland unworthy food

07/15/07

Interesting food, but not wonderful

by nyctochapelhill

Three of us went to Acme for the first time last week. It was a Wednesday evening and about half full; the service was adequate. Two appetizers, three entrees, one dessert, one cappucino, no beverages, with tip, came to over $105. The fried oyster salad (6 oysters) and fried green tomato with fresh mozzarella napoleon were small but flavorful. My crab cake entree was the biggest disappointment of the evening. The two large, well-seasoned crab cakes contained only claw meat! - no lump crab meat! I do not recall ever being served such low quality crabmeat in a decent restaurant. Another entree, the grilled hanger steak was good but the sauce was way too salty. The savory bread pudding that accompanied the steak was very dense and unappealing. The third entree, a red grouper with rice and vegetables in a seafood broth was subtle and delicious, although the others did not enjoy it as much as I did. The dark chocolate terrine was very rich and dense; however, the cinnamon whipped cream was unsweetened and had a sour note, as though it was about to go bad. The cappucino was good. Overall, the food was ok but we are in no rush to go back.

• Pros: Fried Oyster Salad, Pan-seared Red Grouper
• Cons: Crabcakes

05/24/07

a great evening

by marcyo

Acme offers really good food in a pleasant environment at reasonable prices. It's nice to sit out in the back in warm weather. Enjoy.

05/07/07

BRUNCH A BIT SPOTTY

by higgypop1

Although I have had good brunches there before, this trip to Acme was a dissappointment. My food was barely warm, so I asked for a heat up. Microwaved bisquits, YUCK! My friends Bloody Mary was too hot, no one asked in a timely manner. Seventeen dollars for a pretty mediocre brunch with slow service and not enough coffee!! Won't get my $$$$ next time.

04/24/07

This Acme is the peak of perfection.

by pozer

I'm blown away by the all bad reviews for this restaurant, as it was the finest dining experience I've had in quite a long time. The service, the food and the drink selection was outstanding. I'll be going back to try every dish on the menu.

03/09/07

all the way around a bad dining experience

by betht1958

I only wish I'd know about this outlet a month or 2 ago! Table for 12, with a reservation, and why oh why did we get the new guy? Service: horrendous; Dishes: several were messed up; Wine; very slow in getting our order to begin; And the Bill? A nightmare; I even tried to communicate these problems via the postcard that asks for feedback, with no attempt on their part to reach me and make good on this nightmare. I won't be going back, sorry. Train your servers on smaller tables or better yet, send them elsewhere for training!

• Pros: nice atmosphere, decent menu variety, ok value
• Cons: service, not a good place for a large group; don't ask to split the bill even if they say they can do it!

02/25/07

Service is really inconsistent, as is the food.

by rlf1029

I love to go out to brunch on Sundays. I particularly love to Acme because it is just short walk away and very reasonably priced. However, last weekend I had a pretty terrible experience that is going to keep from going back there for a while.

First of all, my friend and I were sat at a table that should not have existed. It was too close to other tables and almost impossible for our server to get there. The service was pretty much terrible. Although our waitress was apologetic, she was very slow and forgot basic items, such as the mixed greens with the Acme breakfast. Our food was cold and fairly lousy. That was the real disappointment. Regardless of how slow and terrible the service is, I always feel that the food is good. Yet, the food has become inconsistent.

I always feel that waitstaff is not prepared on Sunday for how busy and hectic it gets. Yet, they have had a busy brunch for over 2 years and the service keeps getting worse. My advice, if you go to Acme prepare to wait forever for simple food such as eggs and for inattentive service. Very inconsistent.

• Pros: Food can be delicious, good value
• Cons: Inconsistent food, service.

02/25/07

Terrible Service

by jfischoff

This used to be my favorite place to have brunch. However, the last two times that I have eaten at ACME I have had terrible service. Today, after an hour of watching other customers come in after us and finish their meals, we decided we should talk to the manager. The manager, without checking to see if there had been a problem with our order, told us that it was brunch and that we were going to have to wait. Her demeanor was not rude, but was entirely unsympathetic and showed a surprising unwillingness to help. I guess when you?re that busy you can afford to lose some customers. Well you've lost this one.

• Pros: Good Food
• Cons: Slow, Rude waiters, Terrible Service

12/10/06

ACME is supposed to mean the ultimate, more like "delusions of grandeur"

by wrstaves

ACME looks and is priced rather fancy, but nothing actually tastes that good.

My girlfriend and I stopped in there for an evening snack.

The service was pretty good, it was a very crowded Friday night, unfortunately the food was not.. It looked like they spent a lot of time arranging things on the plate to look interesting but the flavors were awful. We ordered fried green tomatoes which tasted like nothing but grease. We decided to order dessert anyway and ordered the chocolate terrine. There was so much sugar I literally could not taste the chocolate at all. No subtlety at all in the food.

We noticed that the waiters seemed to be scooping up the plates almost before they were done, and no one asked us how it was. Probably because they knew...

• Pros: nice decor
• Cons: food