emelia's kitchen

i really enjoyed emilia's. we went before a show at the arts center. we had made the reservation two hours in advance just in case of slow service like i had been warned. but the servers were swift and the food was excellent. we were out with an hour before the show. shopping on dickson street kept us busy. definitely make this a stop on your own restaurant tour.

brunch was mildly underwhelming this morning. my husband and i both ordered the pork loin benedict special and were disappointed that all four of our poached eggs were so overcooked they might as well have been served hard boiled. runny egg yolks are essential to a basic benedict and we left ours set to the side of our dishes and requested more hollandaise (which was delicious and tasted made in house) to have in its place. the "caramalized onions" that topped the pork were at the most briefly sauteed and carried a bite associated with being raw. more upsetting was the fact that our server surely was aware of the situation and yet chose to ignore the entire thing..or perhaps he simply was oblivious which i would very much hope that not to be the case. the walnut pancake we split was delicious however but i think we will stick with bordinos' attentiveness to a properly poached egg and reliable wait staff in the future!


-----07 dec, 2010-----

good brunch.. this was our first visit to emelias after hearing good recommendations as far as brunch went. we had an excellent server that wasn't oppressingly attentive - despite the fact she couldn't see our table easily as we were parked in a two top next to a server station of sorts. great atmosphere - the music was a little loud, yet appropriate.
upon greeting us, we were told the specials, one of which was a crab cake benedict - i was in for one! this actually turned out to be a pretty good pick but there was sometimes an over-apparent taste of old bay(or a similar seasoning). my wife's dish, the salmon benedict, was a different story. her eggs came out cool to the touch and the salmon was dry - perhaps if we could get it cooked less next time it would be great. both dishes were served with potatoes lyonnaise, which was under-seasoned and had relatively few onions(my plate had 0 to be seen and the flavor wasn't really there - plenty of butter though), and a tabouleh salad, which was over-salted. as critical as it may sound, they are all minor points based on preferences - except for the cold eggs...
we'll definitely be back.

mother's day fiasco. with tickets for a walton arts show at 7:30, a mere 3-minute walk from emelia's, we made reservations for 6 p.m. the lack of service greeted us (or didn't) at the door, where we stood awkwardly unacknowledged for 5 to 10 minutes. once seated, we learned they were out of both lamb and chicken kabobs! the long wait for dinner began. most of the people around us were disgruntled, tired of waiting for their dinners, which came trickling out of the kitchen at an odd, staggered pace. an entree here, an entree there, but at every table someone sat hungry. when the right dinner but the wrong side appeared at a table near us, those customers let us know they also had reservations and had been waiting over an hour and a half. by the time we were offered drink refills we were beginning to panic; we told her we had theater tickets and she said our food would be out soon. the next time we saw her we were walking out the door, still unfed. maybe they were having a bad day, but good service and a simple gesture like some bread, an appetizer or an explanation, could have eased the situation.

the worst fayetteville has to offer. my coworkers and i went to lunch at emelia's because we had a gift certificate, and we were treated like second class citizens the entire time. there were three of us and we ordered crab cakes for an appetizer; the waitress never mentioned that it was meant for only two people. when we split them up, they were ice cold in the middle and the waitress was very rude about getting us a new order. the main courses were inedible, between the over use of pepper, sour cucumber sauce, and wilted salad, even the pita bread was stale! not once were we asked how the meal was, she just came and cleaned the table with full plates. good service is so important, and this is the last thing you will get at this establishment. emelia's is giving other dickson street restaurants a bad name...

i didn't like it that much. the waiter was rude to me because i didn't order alcohol and i am only 17. my napkin had food stains and i demanded for a clean one but the waiter gave me attitude about it. the food was bland and disgusting looking. the only thing i liked about my experience was the lemonade and nothing else.

they had a very good breakfast menu. i had the chili relleno special and my wife had brioche french toast. both our dishes were great. they also had a good selection of brunch drinks. service was attentive and the price point was right on for the food quality.

this place lacks both common sense as well as common decency. called in the early afternoon to inquire about dining at the restaurant. of all the exchanged information it seems the most important bit of information they should have conveyed was the necessity of a reservation. or at least they should have offered to make one rather than my wife and i find out that since i do not have a reservation i have to wait 20+ minutes out in the rain! i am a lover of mediterranean food and would have made a great patron. i guess it is back to kosmos for what so far has passed for greek here.

all of the staff was really friendly and polite. however, the food tells a different story. the food was overcooked and felt as though the chef had given up. could get better at 1/2 the price somewhere else.

i know everyone comes here for brunch cuz it's amazing. but i love coming for dinner. it's delicious and the wine selection and ambiance make for a wonderfully grown up meal on a street with college kids options.

if i could give 1/2 a star i would. i came here with a date for brunch. he ordered the special (pulled pork hash) which consisted of undercooked vegetables and some dry pork chunks, swimming in sugary barbeque sauce. it was so bad we ordered pancakes in its place which came out severly under done, like gummy biscuit dough. i had the crab eggs benedict which was just okay. the benedict part was barely seasoned and room temp while the salad was warm and soggy. we also had bloody marys which tasted like shrimp cocktail sauce and vodka. the tab added up to be around 65$ for a meal i could easily make better at home. overall a disappointment as this used to be our go to brunch spot. in contrast our waiter was very nice.

we ate at emelias and it was not good.  this was for dinner. service was slow at best.  we had reservations but that did not help.  appetizers and salad were terrible. some of our group had good dinners but some were awful   will not be back. also really overpriced

emellia's is a mixed bag. the decor is simple with black and white table settings. the servers are in black and white as well. i found them to be very polite and helpful. in fact, i would call them the highlight of the night. all of them were really nice. the gentleman playing the guitar was a pleasant experience.

the food fell flat especially against the pricing. the roasted pork loin was not very good. i did not enjoy it. the chicken piccata was okay, but the sharp flavor of the capers was too strong.  the sauce accentuated the sharpness rather than blend and tone it down. the grilled talapia was decent. i will not be making a return visit. my wife and daughter were not thrilled either.

tried brunch today. main courses were excellent. desserts ok. will certainly go back again.

we will never eat here again. we waited over 1 1/2 hours for our order. we left before we were served.

sunday brunch. great atmosphere for a sunday morning recovery. they have a wonderful guitarist, and the drinks are delicious. on the other hand, i ordered the pork loin eggs benedict special and was left wondering why the food here has been complimented so fervently by reviews and friends. the pork was cold and of the same flavor as the premade cuts at an unenthusiastic wedding buffet. the hollindaise appeared to be nonexistent and was bland. garnishes were well spiced and the eggs were poached perfectly. another sunday could see fairly different results in food quality.