I'm torn between 2.5 and 3 stars, and here's why:
A group of 6 of us stopped by for the first time at 9 pm on Saturday night for a very late dinner. Â As we approached the hostess in the near-empty restaurant (maybe 1/3 full at most), she snootily asked if we had reservations. Â We didn't, and after much deliberation between her and another hostess, she basically made us feel as if sitting outside was our only option. Â I thought "okay...well maybe they have a whole lot of people coming soon or a reserved area for a party taking place shortly".
Outside was decent, but the rocking wrought-iron chairs were seriously uncomfortable to me. Â Our waitress was okay, but seemed really ditzy and kept flirting blatantly with the 60 year-old man at the table next to us. Â We laughed about how creepy her quest for a tip was with him. Â We ordered hash browns and fried pickle chips for appetizers. Â The hash browns were a weird cheesy concoction I could take or leave, but the pickle chips were phenomenal (and I don't even like pickle chips!) I ordered the "award-winning" mac 'n cheese and while good, it definitely wasn't great. Â For nearly $10 the portion seemed small, and I had to load up on the salt and pepper to make it taste much like anything. Â The reviews from my friends ranged from "great" for the wings, "okay" for the burger, and "pretty bad" for the crab cake sandwich.
Our waitress did a decent job of taking care of us, but nothing stellar. Â We had to hunt down salt and pepper at another table, and after food was served she essentially left us pitchers of Pepsi outside and we refilled our own drinks. Â However, I was surprised to see an automatic 20% tip added to our bill. Â I hadn't noticed anything on the menu regarding that and in my mind our waitress did a 15% -ish job, not 20%. Â As we walked back into the dining room to leave we noticed it was even more empty than before. Â I guess reservations were clearly NOT needed that night.
Overall, our first visit to Spirits was lackluster, but not horrible. Â Food taste seemed to vary with the items ordered and the service was okay. Â I was pretty put off by the snooty demeanor of the hostess and the automatic 20% gratuity. Â Since my husband and I just moved 2 minutes down the street I think we'll give Spirits another shot and hope our next experience is a bit better.
I work right around the corner from Spirits and this has become my go to place for a nice lunch. I will be honest, the first time I went to Spirits I was a little "rowdy", having just come from a Hurricanes game. Spirits was about half way in between where I and my friend lived, so we figured that would be a good place to end the night. I am pretty sure I only had a beer or two, but I do remember talking to the Bar Manager that night.
I ended up returning to Spirits for lunch a few weeks later and ran into the same Bar Manager and he remembered who I was, or at the very least where I worked. He recommended a few things on the menu, and the food I ordered was great.
Since I have been here so many times I have pretty much settled in on my go to dish. I always get the Southwest Steak Salad. I love this dish as they actually have grilled to order steak put on top of the salad (and when you order Medium Rare they make it Medium Rare) as well as a few Onion Rings thrown on top. I also recommend the Shepard's Pie when it is in season (Winter season) and it will fill you up in no time.
The beer choices here are good, but just short of great, which is why I did not give them a full 5 stars (they get more like a 4.5 from me). They usually carry a good mix of local craft beers, as well as your usual suspects.
Spirits has never let me down in the past, and that is why when I have someone come into town, especially a beer drinker, I usually bring them here as it is a little classier then the usual bars I frequent.
After hearing good things about Spirits Pub I stopped in one afternoon around the holidays for lunch. Â I decided to sit at the bar to order food and finish an email for work. Â The bar area was pretty crowded and only the bartender was taking food and drink orders. Â After taking my drink order twice I was able to order some lunch. Â I had the buffalo chicken strips. Â They are good. Â The buffalo sauce was a little over powering not so bad I could not eat. Â I will have to go back again to see if the service is any better. Â The beer selection was pretty good. Â Did not have a change to sample much but there was a wide variety.
Review Source:Great beer selection, food was pretty good. Â It was a few months since I've been but I'm pretty sure I had the lamb burger and it was top-notch. Â I've written reviews for other places with lamb burgers, and they didn't come close to this. Â The beer was a little pricey, and the service was slightly above average. Â Waited a while on napkins and one of the others in our party waited a long while and never got mayo. Â No biggie though.
Review Source:it was my youngest daughters birthday and given that she like mac and cheese I naturally searched on Yelp and found that Spirits has several renown varieties. Â First off the location is strange since the building appears to be an office with the entire front 1st floor consisting of the restaurant, more on how this factors into this review later. Â We were promptly seated and we the hostess (manager or owner) took our drink order, then the waitress came by and asked what we wanted to drink, first warning sign. Â In any case we ordered 20 wings and waited. Â The wings were good, meaty and tasty, good precursor for the food. Â Meanwhile waiting for refills to no avail, wife got up and went to the bar to get refills, hostess took over and delivered them. Â Food arrived shortly later, minus my wife's order (the server obviously forgot, later the owner said it was on the house when it did arrive - a nice gesture), I had a greek chopped salad and a bowl of chili, both very good. Â Chili was meaty with no beans, salad was fresh with a nice lemon infused dressing. Â Our mac and cheese expert also agreed her dish was a winner. Â Wife had a chicken parm hero which was a very nice portion (half which she took home and I later ate) again very good, served with fries which were essentially quarter cuts of a baked potato. Â Don't quite remember what my son and other daughter ordered but they said also very good. Â Bottom line the food here is very good, the service for some reason (possibly the unique layout of the restaurant, if you at are at a far end, the server loses sight of you). Â I also think on a Sunday afternoon during football season they would have a larger staff. Â Overall Spirits serves above average bar food, but with poor service. Â Suggest you sit towards the center of the restaurant. Â BTW: my wife said the women's bathroom wasn't the cleanest.
Review Source:I like this place the building is pointy like the Flat Iron Building in New York and the patio seating is decent. Inside has good decor and plenty of TVs to watch a game. Â I do like to drink here and the bar food is very good. Last night we had buffalo chicken wontons which were like egg rolls with shredded buffalo chicken and tater tots (homemade from mashed potatoes) and they both were good. Â They also have a cheesy-sausage dip that is a pretty good appetizer.
The main courses  here looks good when described but I it seems I am usually a little disappointed with my meal. Their award-winning burgers (The Firecracker burger is a little dry and tasteless IMHO) are just okay but when you read the description they seem like they would be awesome.
I really like to come here to watch a game and have drinks (their strong suit is a good beer selection) and watch a game but for dinner it's just average.
Great food and great service. We sat at the bar and had the Salmon and Fish tacos.. I love the combo with the black beans and rice... wish there were bit more rice than the beans... everything was so tasty.. including the beers we had... I will definitely be back! I heard the mac and cheese is incredible!
Review Source:I've been to Spirits half a dozen times before, but mostly just for drinks and apps. I finally took my husband and son there to try out the menu. We went on a Sunday night so it wasn't very busy, and there were a lot of open tables and plenty of seating outside.
I got my usually drink order, the "Beer Flight", which is 5 small cups of beer samples. The managers choice tonight was a bunch of IPAs, not my preference, so instead got a sampling of wheat beers and Red Oaks. This is one of the few places I can find Red Oak beers, and I love the Hummingbird. My husband got a beer from the Carolina Brewery, and my son had a pink lemonade.
This is a very family-friendly pub, and they had a decent kid's menu. My son got the spaghetti with the sauce on the side, as he's a bit picky about that. He actually ate all the spaghetti, which is saying something.
I got the french onion soup for an appetizer, and the Chinese chicken salad. The french onion soup had too much cheese, and it wasn't Gruyere cheese (yes I can tell the difference). Too much bread, not enough onion and broth. I probably wouldn't get it again. The Chinese chicken salad was okay, but again, I probably wouldn't order it again. It was rather bland. Could have used something sour or salty or spicy to add a little kick.
My husband got the Wolfpack burger with the sweet potato fries. He said he really liked the burger, though it was huge, and the sweet potato fries are always awesome. He ranked it on top of both Tribeca and Tyler's as far as pub food and drinks goes.
Personally, I love the drinks and service here, but I don't think the food is as good as Tribeca. I'll certainly continue to come here on a regular basis for the beer flight and sweet potato fries, but I don't think I would come back for meals in the near future.
I have driven by Spirits Pub many times and have always wanted to stop in and grab a drink. Â I finally got a chance a few days ago and I was impressed. Â The placing is very inviting and they have a cool outdoor area as well. Â I stopped in for a drink and had a chance to look through the menu. Â From what I read the food seems to be really good as well and I hope to come back and try it sometime. Â The service was good on the night I went and they have some great daily specials. Â Kudos to a great pub.
Review Source:my 5 star review is about 90% based on the sweet potato chips topped with jalapeno marmalade and bacon infused danish blue cheese sauce. let the drooling commence.
their local beer selection and drink specials are a big plus. i've had great burgers and wings here, too... one day i tried their special flavor which was spicy pesto... what a yummy surprise!
I highly recommend this place if you're looking for some good, unpretentious, well-executed bar grub.
Let me start off by saying the only reason I didn't give this place 5 stars was because they have limited parking (although I was able to park across the street). That's always a drag.
That being said, you HAVE to go to Spirits for their mac n' cheese menu and their great beer selection. I went for the first time this past Thurs and discovered it was pint night. They have around 20 drafts, all $3.50 on Thurs. I found out after the fact that wings were on special on Thurs as well, but that's ok because the Mac I had was awesome. Eastern BBQ Mac. Mac, BBQ pork, slaw and hush puppies. The vinegar in the BBQ was the perfect compliment to the Mac. Â My buddy had one of their burgers, and he said he'll definitely be back for another.
Looks like they have plenty of specials to offer (food and drink) no matter the day you're there. I also found out they do trivia for gift certificates on Wednesdays.
All in all, one of the better bar experiences I've had in Cary.
I was in Cary competing in a major tournament, and was very very hungry when I came to Spirits Pub & Grub. Spirits did not disappoint at all, I left full and very happy! This was definitely the best meal I ate in Cary during my 4 day trip there! Next time I'm in town, I'm definitely returning!
We started out the meal with firecracker shrimp tacos, which were so delicious! The shrimp was fried perfectly, and not overcooked. It had a sweet and spicy flavor to it, and came in warm tortillas with a fresh slaw on top. The textures of the dish mixed well together - crunchy/spicy shrimp with soft/cold slaw in a warm tortilla.
My boyfriend and I both ordered burgers, although their mac and cheese menu looked great too. I got the "Baaaah-d Burger" which might be the best burger I've ever had. It comes with goat cheese and apricot chutney and applewood smoked bacon. The sweetness of the chutney, mixed with the tangy-ness of the goat cheese was really amazing. The bacon added nice smokey crunch to a perfectly medium-rare burger. I couldn't put it down after I started eating it. Although the menu says that their firecracker burger has won awards, I would definitely go for this one if you want to experience something delicious and unique!
The servers were fast and very attentive. My water glass was never empty. The server gave great beer recommendations, that paired well with the burgers. I can't find anything negative to say about the food, ambiance or service at this place. I am giving them 5 stars for an outstanding meal!
This was my first visit here. Â I met a friend for some NFL football.
I love the decor and look of this place, it's not a trashy sports bar like many places I have visited.
The beer selection isn't huge, but it is sizable and very solid overall. Â They have a lot of local choices which I was a fan of.
The food was really good and timely. Â My friend has eaten here a number of times and said it is all really good. Â He knows food so I value his opinion.
The staff was super nice all afternoon.
I plan to come back for some more football. Go Browns!
Prior to my gf's return trip back to Jersey we decided we needed some grub and a few drinks to relax. We stopped into this place not knowing much about it. Once we sat down in the bar area we were greeted by a friendly bartender who gave us some recommendations for grub. After debating I opted for the Wolfpack Burger and she opted for the fish tacos. My burger was topped with pulled pork...a little over the top for me. Too much different meat flavors and didn't really go well. Her fish taco's (after a sample) would have been the better choice. Their menu is extensive, especially their burger toppings. We didn't try their wings but supposedly they are the reason why people go here (I found out after the fact). Their prices are higher than most places in the area but the quality of food is decent.
Review Source:One word... BURGERS!!!!!!!
One bite.... Â JUICY GOODNESS running down your face and arms!!!
  (for you folks that think that its to messy, that's one way to tell the burger is good)
and of course BEER! Â
You can also order your burger from Rare to Ruined.
Would give 5 stars but it was just after lunch so no telling what the service might be like through out the restaurant. The bartender was great and very helpful though.
Great NC beer list. Great long bar to hang out at. Excellent outdoor seating. Food brought to you by the owner of Daniel's Italian restaurants in Fuquay and Apex.
This adds up to a great dining experience in Cary.
The menu is mostly burgers and sandwiches, but they do have a few dinner items.
Great appetizers and i do like their wedge cut potato 'fries'.
I would recommend the fried fish sandwich if you're tired of burgers. And be sure to try a side of their plain mac-n-cheese.
Came here the first time probably a year ago. I remember it was the day Spirits was reviewed in the N&O, so they were incredibly busy. The night was pretty much a disaster and the food was below average.
Gave them a second chance this week and it was better, but still just OK... My food was relatively tasty, but it could have been fresher and wasn't worth the price. Same with my friend's meal. The service was great though!
Great service on a Sunday afternoon. Â I had their veggie/pita point/hummus appetizer. Â The veggies were fresh, the hummus was pretty good and they loaded up the plate with pita points. Â We had plenty to take home. Â I then ordered their ahi tuna appetizer as my entree. Â It was, as expected, small and delicious. Â I really like that they didn't make the common bar food mistake with the tuna and add too much of the wasabi mayo. Â Overall good experience. Â Will definitely go back.
Review Source:Came here during one of the NFL playoff games. Â Had lots of tasty chicken wings, buffalo and Thai red curry, but the star was the house made sweet potato chips smothered in blue cheese with a sweet glaze. Â That was different and definitely yummy. Â Also had a light refreshing lager from a local brewery.
I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere and when I come back I'd like to try one of their special burgers.
I've always wondered why clothes didn't come in extra medium. As I see it, there should be some designation to indicate a size that is not only in the middle range but is remarkably equal in distance between large and a small. Alas, however, no such designation exists.
But now, thanks to the Smoky Burger at Spirits Pub & Grub in Cary, that mythical place between extremes not only exists, it comes with your choice of cheese.
The burger wasn't unpleasant, mind you, but the beef wasn't especially flavorful, the bun not especially fresh, and the overall taste experience did not distinguish the burger as exceptional in the annals of history.
We've been to Spirits twice now, tucked away in that funny corner of Cary next to the Circus hot dog place and across the street from the Indian restaurants.
The atmosphere is all sports bar with a million tvs that I think you can see from almost any seat. It's not overly loud or obnoxious though. The servers we have had were attentive and eager to please. No disappearing servers here.
The menu has a little bit of everything from tasty burgers to yummy mac n cheese in different flavors. Yesterday we had fried oysters ( a special) appetizer. The oysters were really good, but I would have liked a few more for the price ($9). We shared a Smoky burger which had bacon, bbq sauce, and an onion ring on it. Delicious! Very good burger, juicy, and tasty. We opted for the sweet potato fries too, which were great.
They do have a kiddo menu and it is a fine place to bring the kids - though I've only brought mine for lunch, so dinner time might be different. The beer selection is good and they have some interesting drinks listed on the menu too. I noticed a specials chalkboard with a drink special for each day of the week.
I'll definitely go back, and I can't wait to try out the sizable patio when the spring weather is here!
Well, after tonight's meal, I have to bump it up to 4 stars. Two words: veggie burger. I'm not a vegetarian, but I do like to go meatless from time to time. The description of this burger sounded fantastic -- black beans, corn, jalapenos and onions with special spices on a bun from Roma's down the street. It also came with a special mayo, not even sure what it was, but it was tasty. I also got to enjoy a side of potato wedges that were really well-seasoned and sprinkled with sea salt.
The veggie burger was amazing -- super flavorful and had an awesome texture. It fell apart a little towards the end, but I gobbled up each bite. Our service was excellent, and they even gave us some seasoned freshly-popped popcorn to snack on before our food arrived, which was great because I was starving!
The mood was fun and they were having trivia night; it seems they have a lot of different events/specials each night of the week. Can't wait till the warm weather stays and I can enjoy eating outside.
Ordered a chicken sandwich as a takeout. Â Got it back to the hotel and realized not only did they not include the honey mustard I asked for, they also didn't include a condiment of any sort. Â Great... nothing better than a sandwich without mayo, or mustard. Â Even IF they thought it was ordered without, wouldn't it make sense to throw a pack of mustard, ketchup, and mayo in there for good measure? Â That my friends is restaurant retardation, and highly annoying.
However... the sandwich was very good once I got some honey mustard from my hotel's restaurant.
Having used the folks from Daniels for a lot of office catering over the years (note, Daniels has delicious $10/person drop off italian catering with some amazing chocolate chip cookies), I had been meaning to try their offshoot sports bar in Cary.
Spirits has lots of TV, lots of outdoor seating, and they're conveniently located on the way home from bike rides in Cary. Â The food was good, with a highlight being the salt and pepper laced onion rings. Â They've also got good beer specials and a good selection of NC beers. Â My only beef was a server that complained about having been overwhelmed an hour before and who proceeded to get lost during our meal...we got beer through the host.
We were in the mood for burgers one night and I've heard great things about this place having "never frozen" burgers.
When I have my burgers, I want it to be juicy and greasy. I got the chili slaw burger. I can definitely tell that the meat was fresh, and it was "hand-formed". The flavour of the meat was good, but it just wasn't juicy enough for me. (I ordered medium rare). The bf thought the burger was really good though, he got the heart attack burger.
The onion rings on the other hand was delicious. The batter was seasoned but was little bit too salty.. but the onions were sweet and chunky. YUM.
The service was great though. When the music outside was too loud, they turned it down for us w/o eye rolling or question. =)))
I'd come again for a casual burger dinner.
My first visit to Pub & Grub was a couple weeks ago: "Thursday night: pints of NC brewed beers on tap $3" is what the sign read as I walked in the door and thought this is starting out well. There are about 9 NC beers on tap with selections such as Red Oak and Lone Rider in the mix. There are also many other beers on tap from other parts of the US and the world. The service was so-so but the beer and food were good enough for me to come back for second chance.
The menu has a variety of pub food choices, I have sampled the Scotch Egg, Potato Wedges, Burger & Mac-n-Cheese - they were all great accompaniments with the beer.
Chance number 2 was very disappointing. On both visits there seemed to be plenty of staff, but only a few working. Â On both occasions my beer glass was dry and several waiters walked by (including the one for our table) without offering a refill. Visit #2 we sat at a table that was dirty with a glass from a former patron, I think it might have been part of the decor as it was still on the table when they cleaned up our stuff. Bottom line is I really do not want to have to make an effort to get a drink, a menu, food or my bill, all of these tasks were challenging at Spirits Pub & Grub.
Spirits (formerly Triangle Grille) is a cool bar/restaurant. Â As you approach the place you can't help but to notice that the building itself has a unique shape and pleasant character. Â It just looks a lot different from everything else you see in Cary. Â I guess the only downside is that it is next to a creepy looking clown hamburger joint that looks, well...scary. Â
Daniel (of Daniels on 55 and Daniels in Fuquay) is the owner of this sheik sports bar, and he brought to it the thing that he is famous for, his food. Â The food is outstanding, the service is good and the bar is very nice.
Spirits keeps a good number of craft beers on tap, so I highly recommend it to anyone that prefers beer of the microbrew variety.
The only knock I have on Spirits is the location, it is not in the nicest part of Cary, but it definitely excels and delivers on atmosphere, food quality, good beer and service.
We've been to Spirits twice, both before and after Canes hockey games. It's only about 5 minutes from the arena, so it's convenient for any sporting event.
We've been very happy with Spirits. Food, services and drinks all good. We've had a variety of dishes from wings to scotch eggs to Turkey Bombs, all very good. We like the variety and creativity of the menu. Have had regular buffalo wings and also  Thai red curry wings - again both good.
The couple of times we've been there it has not been crowded, which is a good things; but we would like to see the place stay around.
What a surprising experience. My girlfriend and I sat outside and had this delicious lunch. I had a burger topped with braised short rib and she had the best steak and cheese she had ever had. 21 beers on tap and fantastic drinks. She had a martini with Pama and it was delicious. This place is definately one of Cary's secrets. They are open til 2 and they serve food til then as well. Awesome hang out or dinner option.
Review Source:
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