Spanky's is fine. R&R Grill has much better food, but terrible service over there. Spanky's is a cute local pub, caricatures of famous UNC folks on the walls. If you just want a good burger for a good price with a decent variety of toppings, Spanky's is your place. For the sides, chips are OK, fries are fine, the fruit cup is surprisingly fresh and delicious.
Review Source:I've eaten here quite a few times over the years and twice since moving back into the area after 4 years away. Â This is an overall good place I think. Â It's not a place where I ever really crave or anything. Â It's a great place for lunch around Chapel Hill and for a simple dinner with some friends. Â I've only tried options off of their burger section. Â I usually got some sort of chicken burger/sandwich, and it's usually really good. Â Some of the other options are likely good as well, but I just usually go for a burger when I come here. Â The staff are usually very friendly, and I really like the atmosphere.
Review Source:I ventured here for a large group dinner a few weeks ago where we had the entire top floor reserved. It was my first trip to Spanky's. I wasn't sure what to expect...for some reason with the name, I thought it would be bar food but was pleasantly surprised when I saw that our options included a nice italian style meal.
The wooden floors resembled a hundred year old building which made me feel as though I was in a historic place. I have no clue what the history is on the building but it felt that way and that is fine by me. We had a bar upstairs with accommodating bar staff who were experienced and super friendly. Our servers were on it, not letting our drinks go empty and clearing out our plates when we were finished...a wonderful task to complete when you are with a large group and want room to converse a bit without having to maneuver around dirty plates.
Our buffet which was pre-planned included a rotisserie style chicken, a veggie based lasagna, salad greens, mashed potatoes, and haricots verts.
A pleasant experience indeed. I look forward to another visit to Spanky's. I hope that the service and food is just as great when you are not in a large group.
Spanky's is a good ole American bistro, with good food and classy casual atmosphere. Â We were recommended to stop there for good salads.
At lunch on the Friday of homecoming weekend, two of us were immediately seated. Â They have a lot of items that sounded great, but I focused on the salads, since I was planning on gluttonous tailgating for the rest of the weekend.
When we asked the server what he recommended, he said the Thai Noodle Salad was one of his favorites. Â I went with that since it was one of the ones that I'd been eying on the menu. Â J went with the Cubano with fruit.
Meals can quickly. Â The salad (minus water chestnuts as requested) was excellent - simple but tasty. Â Grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce, soba noodles, and crispy noodles over assorted greens with light dressing. Â Nothing all that fancy, but the flavors and textures complemented each other well. Â J offered me a bite of his Cubano, but I wasn't interested - not that it didn't look good, but I was so content with mine.
Not a bad stop for good food on Franklin street.
Awesome food, and awesome prices for the nice atmosphere on Franklin Street. The location is great, with a view of the corner of Franklin Street. The burgers and BBQ are some of the best around, but always go for the specials if you see one you like. I have never ordered a special that wasn't on point. This is the place I like to take my parents before games or when they come to visit. A good sit down restaurent that provides excellent service.
Review Source:I ate at Spanky's again this week and the sandwich was so sloppily made... the portion of fries was A JOKE. A FREAKING JOKE. There were maybe 10 fries max. My husband had a few more.. totally strange. When she brought the plate, I was like seriously? Â I know as Americans we are eating larger and larger portions of fries these days...but even in 1980...this would have been like a kids meal fry. Not cool. I was not happy with spending $30 on food (no alcohol) and getting that crappy of a meal. Oh and it was dead in there, wonder why. I wouldn't say that it's just because students have gone home...because the over-priced drinks and tiny portions of fries lead people to crappy places like Applebee's (I prefer Bun's) to get their fix.
Review Source:We stopped here to have lunch while exploring the UNC campus. There was 8 of us, and when we arrived there were only about 3-4 tables occupied (it was about 2:30 in the afternoon). We were told it would be a 15 minute wait, unless we wanted to sit separately. We were staring at an empty table for 6, so we asked if we could just push a table for 2 next to it. I'm not sure why WE had to figure this out, it seems that being a restaurant you would know how to accommodate parties above 6.
The waiter was fast and attentive but unfortunately couldn't make up for the miserable food. A couple people in our party had chicken tenders. They all said they were bland and rubbery. The house made chips that several of us ordered were completely void of any seasoning-even salt. The vegetating chili I had was OK, as well as the Reuben sandwich. But that's the best you can say about the food-some if the items are OK. Everything else is miserable. Someone at the next table ordered wings, which looked and smelled good. Maybe that's how this place stays open.
I asked for a refill on my Coke, and the waiter brought over a pitcher. The pitcher had been sitting out for a while near the front door and obviously had ice in it at one time, because after he refilled my glass it was nothing but brown water.
After leaving, we all agreed that Spanky's had done nothing more than fill a hole in our stomach. We definitely will NOT be eating here ever again!
I don't understand why people would actually goto this place.
1. Food is not good
2. Food is not cheap
3. Staff isn't that friendly
4. Menu is mediocre
I had a drink ($5 for a draft in Chapel Hill? I think not..) and a beef nacho that was missing beef. Â I knew what I was getting into after reading the previous reviews, but the meeting host had to pick this horrible place.
Save your money, save your time, go elsewhere.
And I have NO idea why DJ would recommend Nachos.
I know Spanky's is a Chapel Hill staple, but I've only been a couple times for lunch and dinner. Â It's never WOWed me, but it's location and variety of selections has brought me back. Â The menu includes a bunch of different things: nachos, sandwiches, burgers, BBQ, interesting salads and pastas, etc. Â
Most recently I had the beef nachos (good, but we could barely find the beef), the chicken avocado wrap (might have been a special - again, pretty good but not very much avocado in there...) Â The people sitting near us at the bar got the chips and they looked GOOD however our wrap came with fries which were mediocre. Â Good beer selection! Â The bartender was nice enough but after we had our drinks and our food was dropped, it took her twenty minutes to come back and see how everything was. Â Overall, not my favorite restaurant but definitely not bad! Â The type of place I'd come after a game or for a casual meal and a beer with some friends or parents.
Spanky's is, to sum it up not a, Oh My God the Food Just Blew My Mind Awesome sort of restaurant. It's an okay sort of place. Really well spaced out and there are two levels so you can get away from the noise if you want to.
The food is just not that great. I remember having this huge craving for BBQ and despite being North Carolinian raised I couldn't get over the vinaigrette they used. I had to ask our waitress to bring over some bbq sauce in order to actually eat the meat without wanting to order something else. If you're looking for the melt in your mouth sort of pulled pork I would not suggest coming here. However, most of their "specialty" pastas are pretty good (Except for their marinara/spaghetti type dishes, which you really shouldn't be ordering anyway since you could easily make those at home) I wouldn't mind coming back here for their pasta dishes.
Their waiters/servers are pretty much the saving grace of this place. You go try to find a server willing to run up and down the stairs to fulfill all of your little bitty wishes and you've got a team that deserves a raise.
Nothing really special about Spanky's, I just went because it seemed like everyone else went to Spanky's. Â I was neither disappointed or amazed by the food. Â
I had the Fried Okra, and the Guacamole Burger and both were pretty good, but they weren't the amazing dishes like I hoped. Â The guacamole burger is what the name suggests including a pepper-jack cheese. Â There is the obvious mess that can occur when you include a nice amount of guacamole on a burger but I didn't mind where I found the the topping a nice addition but it still lacked that punch or wow like I hoped. Â The okra is hard for me to judge considering it was my first time trying it, so I do not have anything to judge it against but it seemed like nice quality okra. Â Â
The service to me was pretty good, the server we had was really nice, served with a real smile, and didn't mind dealing with our indecisiveness.
Yeah, it's the typical bar and grill place. I managed to sport my Duke blues here and not get ostracized. :) (It's was a little incognito, in scrubs.)
The burger special of asian pears and blue cheese, was interesting, but not exactly the "wow" type combo I was looking for.
The space is open and clean. It's a good hang out, great for large groups, casual but not dumpy. It's convenient, on the corner, close to parking, good fallback if you can't get a table at Top of the Hill.
PBR as the drink special of the day, speaks volumes itself.
Just watch your bill. I noticed my hamburger totaled a hefty $21... I was a little suspicious, but the rest of the bill was correct. The waitress apologized and claimed they never seen it happen before. Probably a computer error.
Oh man, where to start? Â
1. Nachos. Â Get them. Â Definitely. Â Two thumbs way up.
2. Chipotle Chicken Wrap: super tasty, two thumbs up.
3. Tex-Mex Burger (pepper jack and a fried egg): One thumb up, one thumb sideways. Â
I've tried other things here, all of which were decent. Â The waiting staff deserve above-average tips here, though -- anytime you want something like ranch or extra whatever, they happily oblige and, depending on where you're sitting, might have to climb up or down stairs, and back, to satisfy your mundane request. Â But they do so with a huge grin. Â
An extra star for the chill art on the wall. Â Can you figure out who all of 'em are?
"Skip the food, just come for the booze"
Granted when I came to this institution, it was during the UNC game for a spot for the elIte eight against Marquette (I believe they crushed them). Ordered a bowl of chili and a turkey club. Sadly, my bowl of chili was lukewarm. My turkey club did not resemble one. Untoasted, no mayo, soggy bread and wet cold cut...I am surprised I ate it. The only saving grace was the beer, there are certainly alot of micro brews on tap. Just don't except food to compliment it.
Only if I am in desperate need of a growler of micro brew, will I ever make an appearance here again.
The mozzerella burger is literally the best burger I have ever had in my life. I eat it when I have had a really hard week and can get someone to go with me (this isn't a place for eating alone).
The bun is perfectly toasted and seasoned, they are generous with pickles and vegetables, and the burger itself is super tasty. Drool. But do ask for condiments, otherwise you will have to ask for them later and look like a fool. I think its mayonnaise that they don't put on.
Besides that, the menu has many other offerings that look equally as good, although I never really stray from my burger. The things I have tried that other people eat are delicious, too. Their shrimp and grits was excellent, and I don't like grits.
Watch out--- if you get fries or fruit, you might pay extra, which sucks if youre poor. I stick with chips unless I am feeling particularly extravegant. Seating is nice, especially on the second floor, and service is good. Love this place.
Ah, Spanky's. You might be a local institution, but I'm betting there are 'institutions' out there that serve better food.
The best thing about our Spanky's experience was our peppy waitress, who did everything we asked promptly and with a smile. And it's moderately fun to try to figure out who the Tar Heel caricatures are on the wall (Mia Hamm should sue - hers is not very flattering).
As for the food: to be fair, Joel's burger wasn't bad. If I'd ordered a burger, this might have been a three-star review. Alas, I went with the Carolina BBQ plate. While the barbecue flavors were fine, the pork was tough and stringy, like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for days; the cornbread was stale; and coleslaw was lacking in oomph.
I might go for drinks again, since it's got location and those caricatures on its side - but next time I'll be eating elsewhere first.
I took some family out to eat here last night wanting to show them the caricatured pictures on a happening corner of Franklin Street.  I had looked at the menu ahead of time and liked that they had a nice variety that we could all  find something we liked without compromising.  Plus they had a really nice kids menu with more than a few token choices so both my kids could find something they liked.
As usual, I ordered two entrees to get a better sampling of the food. Â On my quest to find a good veggie burger worth repeating I ordered that plus the special butternut squash, blue cheese penne with walnuts. Â I totally scored with both!! Â The veggie burger isn't as good as Buns but it is much better than Carolina Brewery and Elmo's which are both too spicy for my liking. Â It came with a nice side of coleslaw which was just crisp enough with a nice sweet tang to it. Â
The butternut squash entree was my favorite though. Â I don't know why I felt compelled to order this because I don't like blue cheese. Â I guess I was wrong. Â It has a nice soft sauce underbelly that was baked onto for a crispy finish. Â The walnuts just added to the incredible medley of tastes and I ate beyond comfort it was just that good!!
My husband had the pasta primavera which was pretty standard by my tastes but he enjoyed it immensely, along with the salad and bread. Â My kids got the butter noodles and chicken strips with fries and both ate heartily.
My mom got the pumpkin chipotle soup in a little bread bowl with side salad which she liked and my brother a-oked the burger. Â Desserts were ordered and all three were beyond excellent. Â The chocolate souffle is good enough to please the serious chocolate lover, the apple cobbler was comforting and had just the right spice/sweetness ratio and the Peanut butter brownie was sinful. Â I am never a saint when I go out.
The only two things I didn't like was the volume of the music. Â It is a bar so I understand to a certain degree, but we were there at 6 pm and maybe they need to wait until us early bird old fogies clear out because I couldn't have a comfortable conversation or hear the waitress very well.
Service was friendly but kitchen took a while to get the food out so that would be the second improvement. Â Otherwise a very well done meal and overall experience.
A little slow, though the food is okay.
Spanky's has the feel of a college-type institution. Â The walls are filled with caricatures of UNC figures beloved (Dean Smith, Michael Jordan), reviled (John Edwards) and crazy (LT). Â It also has the main advantage of prime Franklin/Columbia real estate, right around where the UNC campus would go crazy during March Madness.
As for the service, this can be a little bit haphazard. Â We waited about 30+ minutes in a relatively empty restaurant for food recently. Â Yes, people were always coming by and filling up our waters/sodas, but it seemed a little excessive.
The food itself is okay: Â I had a huevos burger (so a burger with a fried egg on it). Â It was a decent burger, but considering I paid about $9-10 for the entire meal, I felt like I could do better elsewhere on Franklin.
Overall, it's a nice place to sit down if you're looking for a good ol' American meal, but there are other cheaper options on Franklin as well.
Refined and attractive, yet uninspiring at the same time. This place looks the look but doesn't deliver. You couldn't ask for a better location though!
This joint might be ok for a poor college kid to take a date, but otherwise I'm not feeling it. The menu is boring. I read over it a few times and nothing jumped out at me. Burgers, sandwiches, a few salads and pastas. That's about it. I settled in for a Cuban panini. It bore little resemblance to a Cuban sandwich or a panini for that matter. More like a club sandwich on warm bread. It was still pretty good, just not what I was expecting. The fries were right out of the food service frozen bag and disappointing.
Given the variety of dining options in downtown Chapel Hill, I would avoid this place.
I lived in Chapel Hill for a few years and this is one place a really miss... their burgers are AMAZING. Whenever I am back in town, I am sure to come by at least once.
Top 'O has a better view but the food and service is way better here. I've also been to events where people rented out the second floor - it's a really cool place with a great view of Franklin St.
P.S. the name doesn't really fit this place... I think it was named after a dog? Anyway, it's too late to change it now - this place is a landmark and Chapel Hill tradition.
Despite the swanky name, Spanky's is a solid upstanding restaurant. Â The exterior had me thinking upscale steakhouse but the inside reminds me much more of TGI Fridays. Â Not a big deal and in fact it means that the prices are not through the roof. Â
In spite of that, I ventured onto the menu. Â They have several local bears and I tried the one made by a brewery right down the block - I forgot the name - but it was great. Â A lighter beer but very easy to drink and very tasty. Â
I opted out of the regular menu and went for the special - Argentinian flank steak with a sort of chopped olive garnish. Â It comes with a side of string beans and mashed potatoes. Â I ordered it rare. Â
It was great - not perfect - but great. Â Considering I had just had an amazing steak and a relatively authentic Cuban restaurant, this was very surprising. Â The meat was tender and well cooked and the chopped olives went VERY well with the meat. Â The peas were cooked with fried onions - they were perfect. Â
I would go back to have this meal. Â Spanky's you have a fan.
I've been to Spanky's for quite a few occasions, ranging from dates to business lunches, and while it's always been decent, it's never really spectacular. The food isn't bad - I particularly like the French onion soup and Cuban panini - but it's a little expensive considering the quality.
I guess you pay for the atmosphere, which is quite nice. There are big windows looking out on Franklin St.'s busiest corner, and the upstairs area is nice and spacious. They also have a great bar area, even if it isn't open very late.
I can see why Spanky's is so popular with visiting families, since the menu is broad enough to appeal to pretty much any palate. And like a lot of restaurants in Chapel Hill, they're completely non-smoking.
I get salads here. Â Let me rephrase that: The salads here are good enough that I get them. Â As a man who normally does not so much as look at salad, that's saying a lot. Â They're inventive, filling, flavorful, delicious, and affordable. Â One of the best salad places I've ever been to.
Naturally I go for the burgers as well. Â It takes a lot for a burger to impress me (since I fancy myself something of a burger chef), but these are very credible. Â Tender and big, two major checks.
The atmosphere is good, but not great. Â The caricatures on the walls are awesome and I love the location on Franklin for people watching, but the construction of the place sometimes feels like a greasy Pittsburgh diner than a nice bar and grill. Â Also, the prices (except salads) seem a little much for what you get).
It's rare for me to order a salad when I'm out because I'm not the biggest fan of greens, nor am I a fan of ordering something that I feel I could easily whip up in my own kitchen. But the pear/walnut/cheese crumble salad here was an exception to the rule. (Sadly, haven't seen it on the menu in a while.)
Otherwise, the food is pretty so-so. I'm not a huge fan of the 'bar&grill' food or atmosphere, so that probably colors this review. I've had everything from burgers to pasta here; it's good, but with no 'wow' factor. I think it's an ideal place for a sit-down lunch (as other reviewers have said, great for people-watching, and a large 2-story space that keeps it pretty un-crowded during the day); but for dinner, there are certainly better options.
Spanky's is an old reliable - good for a tasty, reasonably priced lunch or dinner, good for having a party (big, rent-able second-floor party rooms), and good for a sociable, semi-casual drink out on the town. The pine nut noodle salad here is, I think, the only thing I've ordered in years, because it's so darn perfect, but before that time, I also used to like the club sandwich and the rosemary chicken pasta. When the okra is on the specials board, you must order it - it's crispy and tempura-ish, not encased in a breaded ball like something straight out of the freezer.
The atmosphere is a major draw - it's located right on Franklin Street and the upstairs tables have a birds-eye view of the action. The tables downstairs, in front, also have great views for people-watching, but are very close together, so you can feel a little squeezed in.
Spanky's has the best ribs in Chapel Hill and some of the best I've ever had anywhere. While Spanky's is a bar/grill mix and not a steakhouse they do ribs extremely well.
This Franklin Street staple is in a wonderful spot at the busiest corner in Chapel Hill. The dining area is surrounded on all sides by windows looking out onto the bustling college community of UNC. Spanky's walls are lined with caricatures of all of the Carolina Athletic greats which is a really nice touch for any Tar Heel fan.
All in all the menu is pretty good. They have a really good salad with walnuts, apples, and Gorgonzola (I believe), their burgers are very good, and the ribs are to die for. The ribs are slow cooked and covered in a brown-sugary crust, accompanied with house barbecue sauce for dipping. Each entree is accompanied with your choice of tasty sides.
Spanky's also has one of the nicest bars in Chapel Hill for casual socialization, in my opinion. The whole restaurant wraps around the bar which is well stocked, and has lots of TVs for viewing.
Not only is Spanky's a great stop on the Carolina trail, but it's also a really solid restaurant.
Spanky's is conveniently located in the center of downtown Chapel Hill. Â The burgers are decent. Â The atmosphere is nice. Â Any time I order other menu items I am disappointed. Â The wraps, the salads, the French dip.... nothing seems to be great.
The location and bar area carries the restaurant. Â Most businesses near UNC have to cater to the sports/student crowd (namely, Tarheel Basketball). Â So, enjoy -- have a burger, drink a beer, and watch a game.
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