Cooley's has gone downhill. Â When we first moved to Fuquay, we enjoyed it well enough. Â The food, for the most part, was pretty standard with the exception of a couple of standouts like their she crab soup. Â The prices were reasonable and the service was friendly. Â Since moving to the new location, however, things have changed for the worse. Â Prices have gone up. Portions and policies have gotten stingy. Â For example, our kids could have juice with their kids meals, but milk would be extra. Something the server pointed out with a bit of attitude. Most notably, the service has become awful. Â Our first visit or two we figured we just got unlucky. Â However, the poor service has been consistent over several visits now and seeing other recent reviews shows that it isn't just us.
During our most recent visit, the server made a mistake on a piece of fish that we ordered cooked differently than the menu called for. Â When we pointed out the error, her retort was that "this is the way it comes". Â When we reminded her of the special order she said, "ok, we can fix that." Â No apology or acknowledgement of her error, but not a huge deal yet. Â Over 15 minutes later she stopped by to tell us it would "just be another minute". Â 5 minutes later it still hasn't arrived. When we complained that it shouldn't take that long to cook tilapia, she replied with a bit of snark," Well, I want to make sure it's cooked all the way. Â You want it cooked all the way through don't you?" Â We all looked at each other wondering if we'd actually heard her correctly. At this point we told her not to bother as most of us had finished eating. Â No apology was ever offered for the original mistake or the long wait. Â While this was an extreme case, it's indicative of the service we've received since they moved to the new building. We won't be going back to test this again any time soon.
I had been wanting to try Cooleys for awhile, but every time I mentioned it I was vetoed and we went elsewhere. Now I know why. While the food is ok, I've had better. Â I had the steak and cheese wrap (it was sot of bland) and the person with me had soup of some sort and potato salad, which she really liked. Â I also had a small salad and fries, which were good.
The service was fast and friendly, which was a plus. I was expecting more of a bar/fun atmosphere, but it is nothing like that. It does remind me of where people go to eat dinner at 4:00pm like a previous reviewer said. That description was spot-on.
I would go back again and try something different so I'm not totally ruling Cooleys out... yet.
Eh, Cooley's was OK. The food was decent, but the place itself was strange. One of my son's remarked that he thought we were too young to be eating there, and I think he hit the nail on the head. It felt like a place senior citizens go for a 4:00 dinner special. Â And the waitress, the waitress really had an attitude. We tried to, "kill her with kindness", but she was having no part of it. Servers who act like they'd rather be anywhere but serving my family really ruin it for me.
Review Source:Dinner on a weeknight. Â Place was not busy; service was slow and strange (husband asked for more tea, server walks away, returns with a tea pitcher "can I get you some more tea?" like it was her idea.... tea glass refilled either way, but the exchange was just odd - - - and there were several other similarly quirky comments from the waitress). Â
The old building downtown seemed to have character, personality.... this place is just a dud. Â And yeah, there is a distinct smell when you walk in........
The food is good enough but not great. Â
We live in Fuquay and we NEED places like Cooley's to succeed. Â Unfortunately, my most recent visit is consistent with the poor service / low quality (for the money) that has been my experience in the past 2 - 3 visits. Â On this particular night, we only ended up there because of a wait @ the sushi place. Â Next time, we'll probably just wait.
Wow, people are hating on Cooley's! Â I've only been once for lunch, but I really enjoyed it. Â I ordered the open faced roast beef with mashed potatoes which was delicious. Â I tried my friend's french dip (the same friend that convinced me to try Cooley's) and it was delicious as well. Â Service was great. Â Was it the cleanest, fanciest place I've been to recently? Â No. Is it a good value for what you get? Â Absolutely. Â Check it out for yourself. Â If you're from a small NC town & appreciate Southern food (like me), you can look past the lack of fancy decor & enjoy some good food and prices...but, if you're accustomed to the finer things in life, you're missing out on an awesome open faced roast beef & mashed potatoes.
Review Source:Again, you either have it or you dont...and, to be honest, I do not know what it is here in Fuquay...Everyone RAVES over Cooley's...But, every time I have been in this restaurant, it looks dirty, the food is okay at best, and the waitresses are rude, nasty, and just plain NOT waitress material...More like waffle house material (just like the food)...
The first time we went to Cooley's was when we first moved to Fuquay. I ordered their hamburger with french fries...The burger came out on a bun that looked like they had just pulled it out of the food lion bag and placed a burnt patty on top (no cheese, when I had wanted cheese) and they sent a little packet of mayo so I even had to garnish the burger myself...The fries were cold and looked as if they had taken them off of someone's plate that didnt eat them, and I kid you not, there were only 10 fries on the plate...That's it, no garnish, nothing to make it look pretty...Nothing. (and, for all of this, the price for the burger and fries was $7.99)
If you are thinking of going here I would advise you go to the local Waffle House, you will get better service....
The food is always fine, not great always but fine. Â The carpets can use a monthly cleaning along with base boards, doors & more (yucky). Â Tea & Water pitcher sit out in the open (not just minutes either) for dust, germs & flies. Â Menus need daily wipe downs on all pages as they were sticky and dirty too. Servers are not always professional or fun during my visits. Â Hometown place so you want it to be great but it needs maybe an outsiders view to see things they may not see.
Review Source:Let me preface this review by stating that I have grown up in fuquay and remember the days when the downtown cooleys was one of the only places to eat in town; as such, I really wanted this food to be good. I really, really wanted to have a quality meal that I could enjoy with my friend, but,sadly, this desire was simply a figment of my imagination.
Let's make this quick...
1- place smells terrible; kind of like a wet shoe
2- waitstaff is rude and acts as if you are a burden
3- two orders of chicken tenders took 25 min and only three or four other groups were eating there
4- the AC duct was leaking fluid on our table
5- did I mention this place smells terrible?
I wouldn't suggest this establishment to anyone, sadly. Next time, I am going to just settle for some fast food.
Get this place together or fuquay will beg for the return of a Chinese buffet!
I made the mistake of going here for my Mothers Day Brunch with 4 adults and 1 child. The so called hash browns really should be renamed. They were mushy and not at all what you expect when ordering. The omelets were good, but my daughter specifically ordered hers with egg whites only and NO cheese. She got an omelet WITH cheese and eggbeaters. She brought this to the servers attention who made no apology and put the order in again. We had all but finished our meals when her second omelet arrived. My pancakes were not quite cooked, still moist in the middle and the maple syrup was pretty poor quality. The bacon as also pretty bad. My grand daughter who LOVES bacon did not even eat it after the first bite :( I also had the bacon which just did not taste "right". One last thing I would like to mention. I had looked at the menu online before chosing them. The menu was changed a bit when they moved a year or so again. The menu on the website NEEDS to be UPDATED. I had seen fried apples as a side online and it is no longer on the NEW menu.
Review Source:I stopped by here out of curiosity yesterday after seeing reviews online. I was ever so surprised at my meal. It was AWESOME!
First off, the wings were not so spicy that they were like a knife going through my esophagus. Lots of meat on the bone- Delicious! The tea was awesome as well.
I ordered a chicken tender plate, and the tenders were huge! There were only 4 but it was so filling, I couldn't finish all of them. The fries were really good as well. I am beyond impressed with this little Fuquay Varina jewel and I recommend you stop by and get some awesome food.
We went to Cooley's after they switched to their new location. Â We made a bad choice! Â The place had no character and still smelled like the Chinese restaurant that was in the building previously. Â I had a cheeseburger and potato crisps which looked on the menu to be thick sliced homemade potato chips. Â My burger was very dry and the chips were cold and stale. Â My husband's burger was not as dry but nothing to write home about. Â Overall the food was mediocre at best and it was WAY overpriced! Â Won't be going back anytime soon.
Review Source:I love Cooleys. Â They seriously have some of the BEST hotwings you will ever eat. Im not sure if they still have a weekly wing special, but even if they dont... it's STILL worth ordering. Â And the homemade chips! mmm.
The service can be a bit slow sometimes, but thats to be expected at a place that can get as crowded as this one can, but order an app, and enjoy that in the meantime.
Every waiter/waitress Ive had there has been friendly and welcoming, its something that I really miss having moved out of the area. Â You dont get this level of attention at many restaurants anymore, and that's sad.
and there's a huge menu with plenty of options for anyone, from bar food, to steaks and seafood.
Good stuff!
Cooley's was a decent spot to visit while in the area. It is definitely a local's place that appears to have been around for a while.
Atmosphere - Small town, green (as in vinyl), Hodgepodge of booths and tables, dated, friendly, many a local.
Food - I had the burger and "Chipsters." The burger was delicious and tasted liked it was made in house and not brought in frozen. It was thick and cooked as ordered. The accompanying bun was a perfect complement to the homemade taste of the burger. The "Chipsters" like Joe K mention "...homemade potato chips that can be awesome...if they're crispy and hot still, they will make you change your religion". Well my order was and dipping them in the requested ranch was religious indeed.
Service - It was an excellent mix of attitude and humor. Everything we ordered came quickly and hot.
Price - Burger, Chipsters, and Ice Tea - $8.68 + Tip
Overall - I can see where this place could be hit or miss. On my visit, it was a hit.
The staff is friendly, which is nice. Because honestly, the service is terrible. When I say terrible, i don't mean, they are rude or something like that, i'm just saying that the food took forever, and all of our glasses ended up empty. their menu is ENORMOUS, like everytime i'm in here i think of Gordon Ramsey's kitchen nightmares. You know, how he always cuts the menu of the place in half? This place needs to do that. The food here is good, typical of like bar food. not great, not bad. good.
i always get some kind of sandwich, and it's always about as expected. they come with homemade potato chips, that can be awesome, or can be meh- if they're crispy and hot still, they will make you change your religion. if not? meh. bottom line, it's a decent place here in the 'quay.
My favorite place to eat! I'm confused about some of the negative reviews and can assure you that they use homemade products-- the dinner bread actually comes from a bakery in Cary. Â You must try the desserts...my fave is the peanut butter cup cheesecake. Â Cooley's is so much better than the chains!
Review Source:I've been here in the past, and it's been better. Â The place was packed, there wasn't anyone "greeting" customers. Â Once we were seated, we waited 15 minutes to get the drinks. Â The older lady serving us was waiting on a lot of tables, and not doing it well.
We ordered, and waited again. Â Not an extremely long time, but a while. Â The Chili was cold, but she replaced it with a fresh hot bowl. Â Then the food came. Â She came over with the tray, and stopped at the table next to us. Â Now, this is why they are getting 1 star:
She took the "DIRTY" dishes from the other table and put them on the tray, "WITH OUR FOOD". Â I watched very closely, because if they touched I would have walked out. Â But, still!!!!!!!!!! Â You don't do that!
oh the joys and perils of living in a small town...i feel like it's my duty to lay out the truths for all those who are continually fooled by the false 5-star ratings on the net that promise high quality food and good service.
after entering, the "hostess?" ushered us to a booth and with only one word spoken from entrance to seating, Â she peered at us expecting an answer: Â "tea?" Â Â ... "i'm sorry" i said... Â Â Â Â Â Â "tea?" she again asked. Â no thanks i said as i thought it was an offer for hot tea. Â typically the "hi, welcome, what can i get y'all to drink" required too much effort for the older woman and she opted for a more uniform and direct questionnaire.... Â "tea?" Â Â 10 minutes past as the only waitress in the place finally made it over and was surprised that the older woman, who was now indulging in a romance novel up front, couldn't even manage to get us a beer/wine menu nor get us drinks...
hey, not a great start, but our server was super nice and definitely juggling many tables - no harm done - nice local atmosphere, place smelled good, my lax mood couldn't have been broken that easily.
we looked over the sides offered on the menu - 4 different kinds of potatoes, a side-salad, and a daily vegetable. Â still didn't shake me, i was in the mood for a salad and steak, which i ordered medium and my wife ordered a chicken dish.
the salad was straight from a bag - no way around it. Â the bread they brought was straight from a large rack that they must buy everyday from a large bakery. Â the "mixed vegetable" side that my wife got was also out of a large frozen bag *(amazing....) so far my dinner was off the shelf at food lion for quadruple the price.
then it came, my steak - oh how i wish i could upload a picture of it. Â properly marinated but ya see, i mean i, could see right away, and the server saw, i noticed the grimace deep in her eye, and the cook MUST have seen it, as it was hard to miss. Â my steak was more than half gristle. Â more than half was completely uneatable.
why does this warrant a 1 star rating - it's because  this monstrosity passed through the hands of three people to get to me.  all it took was one person to care enough about their job or the restaurant to stop that dodgy meat train.  but it just wasn't there.
that's what this place lacks, effort. Â it's the local applebee's run by clock punchers owned and operated by money-counters. Â
pic of my steak in my photo gallery.
It has been a couple of years since I have been to Cooleys and not much has changed which is a good thing. My dinning experiences here are almost all centered around lunch, the sandwiches are great. The staff here is either all related or have been together long enough to act like a family - you get the small town hospitality when you dine here.
Today I went with a BLT on white and a cup of she crab soup - great portion size and just like I would get it at home. My dining buddy had the French dip and some spicy fries. I snatched a good portion of his fries as they went well with my beer.
As Eric M. mentioned, the burgers here are excellent - it is a definite faithful standby item if I am in a bind for choices.
This place has been open in Fuquay ever since I first moved to the Holly Springs area around ten years ago. Â I'd guess that I've eaten here a half dozen times and always enjoyed myself.
They serve a menu which is a step above Chili's of TGI Friday type places, but nothing that's going to break the bank. Â Before I stopped eating meat I swore by the burgers here, they're probably the best burgers I've had in the area short of Barry's in Cary.
I know most people don't go out to Fuquay too much, and if you do you're probably more likely to visit one of the newly opened chain restaurants, but you would be well advised to get over to this little Fuquay institution and enjoy something a little better.
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