the peculiar rabbit

the peculiar rabbit offers a uniquemenuthat incorporates internationally infused recipes of pork, seafood and duck; surprisingly they offer no dish of the rabbit persuasion. but, they do offer healthy portions of deliciousness! at the peculiar rabbit, an appetizer could easily satisfy as a full meal with dishes such as their zesty carolina poutine, a play on the traditional canadian dish, featuring braises short ribs, chopped bacon, and crispy onions smothered in beer cheese and peanut-butter barbecue drizzle placed atop of a heap of golden fries.   read more of the cuisine queens' review at  cuisinequeensnc.com

stopped by for a "working" lunch with some colleagues on a saturday. sat outside and it was quite nice out there. got there early and ordered a beer at the bar. was happy the price of the beer (5.50) was not outrageous for a craft beer. bartender didnt seem very knowledgeable about beer.  the wicked weed was a gose, and wicked weed makes a couple different ones. i asked which one and she didnt know. she just told me she "didnt like it much". food was not bad, but was nothing amazing either. it was the brunchmenuso i ordered biscuits and gravy with 2 eggs. i was asked if i wanted grits or home fries, i ordered grits...and got home fries. not a big deal, a fried potato is nice too. as a table we ordered the waffle pops. i would not have ordered this on my own. this is exactly the kind of kitsch-y crap i hate at restaurants trying to hard to be "hip". just give me awesome food. dont try to jazz it up. waffle pops were average. they would be below average, but the sriracha (more "trendy" stuff) syrup saved it to an average dish. our waitress was nice, but was a bit slow. slow to bring food, slow to check on us, never asked if i wanted another beer. i actually would have ordered one, but because i wasnt asked, i just decided to keep my bill cheaper and drink water. overall, a pretty average experience. they gave us some coupons at the end. because my wife didnt get to join, we may come back and try again.

went for lunch on labor day monday. we expected slow service after reading the reviews but we weren't in a hurry so decided to try it anyway. there were only three other tables on the patio outside when we sat down with our 9mo daughter. ordered a couple of drinks and a flatbread while we looked themenuover. our server was friendly and the drinks came quickly but she was obviously left to cover the entire patio by herself. more than half an hour later and the patio is filling up now. drinks are long since empty and still no flatbread. we asked for the check and were told our flatbread was coming out now and that the manager was taking it off the check due to the wait. at about the hour mark, we finally get the flatbread and the check, which includes the charge for the app as well. when i asked about that she apologized and took the check back inside, only to return with a $2 discount.  

two pieces of advice to the restaurant....

1) if you can't adequately staff your restaurant on a holiday, then don't open.

2) don't offer a guest a comp if you don't intend to honor it. it's insulting.

never again.

not worth the money and time.. as other reviewers have mentioned the service is slowwww. the servers don't move with any purpose and don’t help one another out. my visit was this past sunday, for brunch. when i finished my first bloody mary, it took the server a long time before she came by. after several minutes i sat my empty glass on the edge of the table so perhaps anyone walking by would notice and ask if they could get me another. no less than 3 other servers casually walked by without asking me if they would get me another.

brunch is until 3pm and we arrived a little after 2pm. there were only about three other tables in the down stairs area, so no excused for inattentive service.

the food sounded really delicious on the menu. but it tasted just okay. i ordered the gravy and biscuits, with eggs over medium. the eggs were over hard, the biscuit was kind of dry, and with only about two tablespoons of gravy. it wasn’t bad. it just wasn’t good. my girlfriend ordered the shrimp and grits, it arrived drowning in gravy. she really liked the grits but could barely taste them because of the overload of gravy. i had the same experience on my first visit for lunch. the food was ‘meh; it arrived as described, so you can’t really complain. but, it didn't taste all that great, especially for the price. themenuseems a bit ambitious based on the execution.


i expect they will be successful because of the location and the roof top dining. but, there is room for a lot of improvements, in my opinion.

haven't eaten here; most likely never will.... as the title says i haven't eaten at the peculiar rabbit, i probably never will. here's why; i called to make a reservation earlier but they were not taking reservations because they had a larger wedding party. fair enough it's a busy sat. night. i ask the girl on the phone what time the party was scheduled for & did she think i'd be able to get a table for 3 as a walk in guests, she said yes.

i had gotten a couple friend together to help me review this restaurant for amenuplanning project at the local culinary school. you know the one, no need to name drop. anyhoo, my friends and i arrive at 6 pm are asked by the hostess how many in our party and then told not so politely that they aren't actually taking any guest at this time because of the previously mentioned wedding party. now i am more than a little annoyed but we leave and have a fantastic meal at midwood bbq.

after dinner, on the way back to our cars, i decide i am going to stop back by the peculiar rabbit and speak to the manager. he is very sorry that we couldn't be accommodated, he would feed all of charlotte if he could. he agreed that perhaps the hostess needed to gently guide me over the phone to a later meal time. however what he failed to do is invite me back.

i assume he took one look at my dirty converse and listened to me say i am a college student trying to review your restaurant & decided this girl isn't worth my time because she doesn't have the money. in a way he is correct, i do not have the money to spend at his restaurant like the wedding party guest potentially have. i am glad that his restaurant is doing so well that he doesn't need to worry about the $50-60 dollars that i might spend there. i hope for his sake they have lots of wedding parties because one thing they will never have is my business.

getting there.... talk about a gastropub with potential. their shares + starters options on themenusurpass anyone else's appetizer list on that side of town, and their extensive list of draft beers compliment this perfectly. the entrees still need some work, with portion sizes and cooking levels iffy on things like the pork belly or pappardelle, but the sandwiches (especially the lamb) are on point for anyone looking to combine size + flavor with their meal.

the selling point on this location is the rooftop that will end up having a killer environment looking out over uptown once the bar construction is finished. i would definitely encourage everyone to try this place out for a group dinner or birthday (ambiance is far too loud for any date night), and certainly hit up the rooftop this summer!

pretty damn good lunch. came here with the mrs. on a cold friday afternoon. fairly simple decor and vibe, nothing interesting per se. the lunchmenucovered a lout of ground. nice take on some old classics, devils on horseback, chix and dumplings, burgers. the beer selection was okay, probably the only weak spot of this place. while a fair selection to choose from, it has the same 15-20 beers every pub carries. not a lot of consideration of food matching or global variety. still found stuff i liked.

we had the lamb burger, poutine, and the chix and dumplings. their take on the lamb was in a folded flatbread as the bun, unique, with your standard "greek" condiments and cheese. nicely cooked, tasty, and good portioned. the outine wasn't really poutine, but it was rather good. very nice depth in the oxtail gravy. this beast was really a meal on its own. the chicken and dumplings was the standout. hearty and full of flavor.

service was great, our guy was attentive and very knowledgeable. i really want to try their dinner menu. do try this new joint, i'll assume they have a live bar scene at night. great little addition to one of the best food areas in the city.

f you are looking for jackalope jacks its time to graduate from college. this is a sophisticsted barmenuthat is executed to perfection. no wing night at this place. you feel like your in a beer commercial that's how perfect the atmosphere is. the city makes the perfect backdrop which make this a place a great first date spot but also perfect for special occasions. if i have to offer advice i would say split a bunch of bar snacks everyone i have had has been awesome. for dinner i have had the scallops and pork belly and both were great. you will not be disappointed i can't wait to try the rest of the menu