big ed's city market restaurant

don't waste your money here! overpriced lifeless food. hot cakes are huge...if that is what you are looking for. coffee tastes like dirty water. was not impressed with the staff, decor or the food.

top notch breakfast!. we were staying at the downtown raleigh marriott, and we asked a bartender at the bolt restaurant to suggest a good local breakfast joint. he said try big ed's, so we did. it was fabulous, and great coffee too!! i would highly recommend any one of their omelets, and baked apples!

yummy!!!!

i was in town with co workers to attend a trade show. we attempted to visit a year ago and we couldn't get in, crowd backed up out the door. this time we were successful and had a wonderful breakfast. food was good and plentiful. service was friendly, fast and attentive. highly recommended for breakfast if you're in town. you won't be disappointed.

after the many restaurants we ate at on our shot stay in raleigh this place really stood out. the line out the door moved fast so don't even worry about it. the service was excellent and the food was equally as good. i finally got to try red-eye gravy and it was great!!!

good food, good coffee, good value. locally sourced and prepared in southern tradition. don't pass up the biscuits! get there early and wake up with the city.

great little place in down town. great prices and local food. order the western omelette and you wond be disapointed


-----30 oct, 2014-----

omelets. western omelette with grits

poor customer service. i will never patronize big ed's ever again!! i went there with my husband and daughter today because i heard about how great this restaurant was and we wanted to try it out..bad choice! since this restaurant doesn't have a kids menu, i had to order my 4 year old daughter a hot cake and bacon meal at full price and i was fine with that because she really wanted a pancake. when the pancake came to the table it looked over cooked/burnt but i still let my daughter eat it because she wanted it. once she tried it, she told me she didn't like it so i let the waitress know that she didn't like it and could we get grits instead. she said ok and took the plate away but what happened next completely blew my mind!! some man(later i found out was the manager) came over to the table very upset stating, "you can have the pancake but this is not burnt!". he said it in a very angry tone and i said..my daughter doesn't like it. then he said,"i sell a thousand of these everyday and there's nothing wrong with this!" i stated again,"she doesn't like it!" now i'm getting upset because i've never heard of a "manager" argueing with a customer and i said again..we don't want it. he had the nerve to say, "she ordered it and i'm suppose to loose this pancake because she doesn't want it!!!" and now my heart is racing because he is now pointing and referring to my 4yr.old as "she." he walks away and i'm lived!!!!! the waitress kept apologizing for his actions but its not her fault that her "manager" doesn't understand customer service!! i will contact the better buainess bureau because it seems like this is the norm for big ed's as i have read other reviews where people were treated in the same disrespectful, demeaning and just plan rude manner. i will tell everyone i know and since i'm a manager at one of the popular grocery chains that understand customer service...i will tell my customers and friends not to patronize big ed's!!! i will keep going to briggs where they know what customer service is all about!!!

so southern. their biscuits are to die for! the food was delicious and a great price. our waitress was so sweet and kind. this is definitely a warm, and welcoming restaurant with some good home-comfort food.

"big ed's is what cracker barrel wishes it could be"

raleigh’s culinary scene has exploded over the last few years. new restaurants and specialty food shops have been steadily opening, sharing the stage with those that have been successful for decades. i recently spent three days in raleigh going from neighborhood to neighborhood, checking out the best of the best according to locals. this article is part 1 of a 3-part series. part 2 covers four more neighborhoods. and because there just wasn’t time to sample eateries in all the great neighborhoods in raleigh in three days, part 3 will follow after another visit mid-september. my don’t miss raleigh picks: city market – moore square big ed’s city market restaurant you can’t get more traditional southern than big ed’s. founded by big ed watkins, he claims some of the recipes were handed down from his great grandfather, a confederate mess sergeant. his grandfather might have also handed down some of the items hung from the ceiling? the time between ordering and eating (short) wasn’t long en

great southern breakfast!. what's not to like about a good, old-fashioned breakfast like your grandma used to make you? this place is great. go, take your family and proudly order your grriittts and a hot cup of coffee!

food is ok, nothing great. hot cake was huge, but flavor was ordinary. molasses is on the table, but syrup for hot cakes was not real maple syrup and did not have a good flavor. service was good and we did not have to wait long for our food. decor was interesting. next time we will go to cracker barrel.

great country cooking. this is a great place for a country breakfast, or a country lunch - and it is hard to say which is better - one can order breakfast, the other lunch, how could it get better - you do share, don't you?

there are the usual southern breakfast items here, with the biscuits, with or without gravy, being especially good. the pancakes are excellent, and really huge - the syrup is kind of thin and the taste is a little weak.

the chicken and dumplings and country style steak are real winners, as are the creamed potatoes. the barbecue chicken and the fried chicken are good, but not great. i have not been impressed with the blackeyed peas or the fried squash. go for the chocolate pudding if available.

this is a friendly, homey place with all sorts of signs, license plates, farm tools, etc hanging from the ceciling and on the walls. it gets crowded, and noisy at peak times, but the service usually measures up. this remains a nice breakfast and lunch spot, even though big ed has not been involved here for a number of years now. at one point, family members were associated with two other county cooking places in raleigh, pam's farmhouse and the farmer's market restaurant, good places in their own right, but big ed's heads the list.

horrid. extra small portions of overcooked food doled out here as lifeless as the institutional grade bowls they are served in. management is rude and uncaring. service is apathetic at best. there are far better places to eat and spend your money with.

hype. this place is touted as a landmark for regional memorabilia and country food, though it's a longshot from the best of either. soggy over seasoned vegetables, unimpressive meats, overpriced. breakfast is tasty, but that's about it. not gluten-free.