mary's gourmet diner

terrible service; horrible manager. my family visitedbreakfastof course as part of a mothers' day celebration. after waiting for someone to take our order for 30 minutes, my husband finally had to ask who our waiter was. we were among the first group seated. we ordered and after 45 minutes when we still had not received our food, my husband asked to speak to the manager. the woman who came over, who we gathered is mary's daughter and who we noticed had been yelling at the servers, was belligerent, loud and obnoxious. she shouted at us that the restaurant was not a fast food joint and that everything was cooked to order. she continued saying that today was their first day serving brunch. i found that excuse interesting since the place does, after all, purport to be abreakfastrestaurant and has been in business for quite a while. what is the difference between servingbreakfastand brunch? after all that commotion, when other diners were staring at her and having the same kind of wait, the food we got wasn't good. we could have lived with the poor food. we could even have lived with the interminable wait. what we can't live with is a manager who is unspeakably rude. we will never go back again and will tell others about our horrible experience.

after learning about this restaurant from the national news when the diner had to stop giving a 15% discount to praying customers due to a lawsuit threat, i put this diner on my must try restaurant list. being new to the area, we are always on the hunt for appetizing restaurants to try. months later, we finally got around to visiting last saturday. they are only open from 8 am to 2 pm everyday but saturday when they are open until 3 pm. they offerbreakfastand brunch and are located in downtown winston salem on trade street. free parking is available in their parking lot located behind their building or parallel parking is available on the street. read the rest on my blog, link below

food is ok. prices are high. we order gazpacho, they served beet soup with too much cumin. we sent it back. as we were finishing ourbreakfastmary, the owner, delivered the "gazpacho" in a brown to-go bag telling us to take it home or give it to friends, despite our dislike for it. the beet soup was on the bill and when we questioned it mary appeared pointing to the bag on the table. we reminder her that we didn't care for it and wouldn't be leaving with it. she shrugged her shoulders and retreated to the kitchen. we paid our bill ($43.00 for a half of the food we ate). after 20 years in winston salem and can only say this about mary's.
i will never, and i mean never, go back there again.

all politics and news aside. the food is fantastic. everything is fresh and gourmet. my waiter was extremely friendly, and the restaurant was able to run smoothly, despite the camera crews and other news outlets coming in and out of the establishment because of the ongoing story. (funny aside: i was aware of the situation, but didn't realize that this was the restaurant offering the discounts when i showed up. was completely oblivious to the 3-5 news crews set up nearby, thinking they were at a neighboring building or some big story was taking place downtown.)

anyway, i had a cherry cola to drink (they don't have pepsi or coke products), and it was given in a plastic cup but you receive the whole bottle at a very reasonable price. for my meal i had thebreakfastnachos, which at first seeing they cost $10 made me a little concerned. the portion though, was more than ample. the nachos consisted of eggs, cheese, olives, avacado, tomato, peppers, sour cream and artisan chips. there was definitely more there, and not only did i eat quite a bit, i took about half of my portion home for later.

the establishment is extremely clean and patrons have a choice of indoor or outdoor seating. it did take some time to bring out my food, but the business they were doing (and everything else going on) it was still done at a time that wasn't unreasonable. i'll definitely be coming back there again once all of the media has died down.

we went to mary's for sunday brunch as a family. the menu ofbreakfastitems was diverse with lots of local options, traditional favorites and spins on the traditional, if you 'd like. the food was very good and plentiful; the staff friendly, helpful and responsive; the atmosphere was relaxed and just a little eclectic. i recommend it!

check out mary's specials!. winston-salem just wouldn't be the same without marys. she uses the best fresh, local and organic ingredients humanly possible, and you can absolutely taste it in all of her dishes. the menu is a fantastic mix of brunch staples, but don't forget to try the specials, because they are inevitably creative, tasty and inspired by cuisine from all over the world. some reviewers complain about the prices and service, to which i would respond that a) the prices reflect the quality of the ingredients. if you want a cheapbreakfastsandwich, go to mcds.; and b) i've had great service on every trip here - and there have been many. don't miss mary's; there's a reason this restaurant is ranked in the top 5 brunch spots in nc!

worth a trip. really.. mary's gourmet is not your ordinary place for breakfast. the price is more but ihho worth very penny. food: mary buys local, cooks local as much as possible. if you dine frequently, you can taste the difference. simple the best (and largest) pancakes i ever had. my friend from georgia agreed. absolutely amazing. atmosphere: hippy, arty -- for my taste, fun. service: not speedy but frankly the place was packed. about what i expect at higher end establishments. i will go to winston-salem again just to eatbreakfastat mary's gourmet next time i am in north carolina. oh, i might add: parking was easy. right beside the diner.

i love the concept of a chic, local and independent high endbreakfastjoint but i have to say that after my tenth or so visit, i will not be back. i just paid 10$ (first i was told 13.69$) for a one egg on wheat toast with cheddar and tomato sandwich. i hate to give a bad review but the food is not good enough to warrant such gross overpricing. everytime i've been i've been shocked at the tab. i am not a cheapo when it comes to food either. i shop organic and local and shop restaurants the same way. i'm used to big tabs but i know when i'm getting ripped off just the same...

mary’s gourmet diner began as “ mary’s of course “, then grew into “breakfastof course (and mary’s too) ” at a new, larger location at the northern edge of winston-salem’s art district. they’re still there, in the once-upon-a-time bank building which underwent a complete (gutted) remodel and to which a wondiferous patio was added. mary’s is still serving breakfast, but she’s expanded the menu to include many favorites from her original mary’s of course. that’s not mary. mary supports local artists in a big way, though. she’s also a big believer in alice waters’ and the slow food movement. we hadbreakfastin the upper (up a few steps) dining room, which boasts a large garden of eden wall mural painted by local artist, jason blevins. service pieces are eclectic, adding to the fun. equinox eggs ($11.95) might be served on this plate any time during the year. a bed of can’t-believe-how-good-they-are corn cakes were first topped with steamed organic & local greens (chard, arugula, kale).

way underwhelmed.. i heard nothing but great things aboutbreakfastof course, and i have never been more disappointed. i went in expecting an amazing breakfast, but it was terrible. the service was awful and the food was even more awful. i haven't been back since. i wanted it to be a hangout spot, but it failed me. they have a great variety of food, but it's over priced and not prepared well.

omelets & french toast....breakfastof course is a great place if you're looking to build-your-own omelet with fresh and unique ingredients or have the best french toast in winston-salem. if you're looking for your standardbreakfastchain-restaurant, you're going think boc is overpriced and not worth the wait!

i prefer quality when it comes to my food and my boc meets that standard. you definitely get what you pay for a boc. although, my only complaint is that there is not veggie omelet on the menu (or your standard omelet combinations listed for a reasonable price). the build-your-own omelet is perfect for people that want this or that, but you will pay a lot for an omelet if you want it loaded with veggies.

i've never experienced any problems with the employees or customer service as stated in previous posts. since the food is prepared fresh and made to order, it's understood that it could take awhile before your food it served, which is completely acceptable to me!

extremely over priced. i went tobreakfastof course on friday april 22 with a few different orders for everyone in the office. i got the food and returned to find out that the 2 egg and cheese cost $8.50 each. i looked at the sandwiches, nothing special. regular size, grilled, normal. the french toast plate and omlet plates cost less than the sandwiches!! i even called to make sure i didn't get over charged. the lady told me that the price was correct!! in addition, it took forever to get the food out. we will take our business elsewhere. get over yourselves, its onlybreakfastfood.

best brunch in town. i get tobreakfastof course (boc) as often as possible. owner mary aways has great specials and the regular lineup is great too. my go to item is thebreakfastclub: a blt with avocado and a friend egg. it comes with a side of grits (i make mine pimento cheese grits) and you've got yourself the bestbreakfastfor miles!

i like it, but i miss mary's.. i'll start with the food - it's awesome.

i usually go with a build-your-own-omelet. the jalapeño pimiento cheese is to die for, and worth the extra charge, but be wary - a lot of things you'd take for granted in another establishment do come with an added price. they'll nickel and dime you well out of the "under $10" range.

the service is not so great but, to be honest, it kind of adds to the charm of the place. i don't think i'd know what to do with professional, skilled waitstaff.

the new place is nice, but i miss the feel of the old place, mary's of course, which seemed to match with the staff.breakfastof course is larger, with high ceilings and a 'cleaner' feel to it. can't do anything about it, though - i doubt they'll move back just to please me.

what a treat!. had the pork chop sandwich with orange jalapeno marmalade. my wife had thebreakfastclub. both were fantastic. the spiced cake with cinnamon icing was great too.