Coquette Brasserie

(see explanation of ratings below) Average dinner entree price: $17. I think this place has gotten even... more

4.5 of 5 stars (excellent, fine dining). (see explanation of ratings below) Technically, yes---- it's fine... more

THIS PLACE TO DINE CONTINUES TO HANG ON, THOUGH SOMETIMES I AM AMAZED WHY! FOR SOME REASON RALEIGH HAS A VERY HARD TIME WITH FRENCH RESTAURANTS. THEY ARE EITHER TOO EXPENSIVE OR THEY CANNOT GET THE FOOD RIGHT! COQUETTE SEEMED TO HAVE A HANDLE ON IT ...OR ALMOST FOR A WHILE, BUT THEN IT BEGAN TO SLIP. ITS MENU AND ITS STAFF- FROM CHEF TO WAIT STAFF ARE TOO UNPREDICTABLE. ONE NIGHT A GOOD TO GREAT MEAL, GOOD SERVICE; THE NEXT, POOR SERVICE GOOD FOOD OR VICE VERSA. THE LOCATION, THE IDEA, THE CONCEPT IS SO GREAT AS HAVE BEEN MANY OF THE MENU ITEMS. THEY JUST DO NOT SEEM TO BE ABLE TO GET IT ALL TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME!! WE SO VERY MUCH NEED A GOOD, REASONABLE, FRENCH BISTRO IN RALEIGH. WISH II COULD BE COQUETTE!! MFLYER RALEIGH more

nothing more to say but go to the restaurant that replaced it Coquettes. This restaurant never did well and considering the other restaurants they own kinda of surprising more

Please, please don't close this restaurant!! The food is excellent and so is the service. Love, love, love, the vegetables, the fried chicken, the crab cakes, the pimento cheese begnets, the goat cheese raviolis, seared sea scallops, etc. etc. How can you even consider changing the menu there? I hate French food by the way. Please keep this extraordinarily good restaurant just the way it is!! I'd eat there every night if I could! Pros: Quality of food, service Cons: Parking (sometimes) more

My sister and I made dinner reservations for her birthday, but arrived early so we could have a margarita at the bar first. Nice atmosphere and good margaritas. Our table was waiting for us, the server was busy, but very good and made some recommendations at our request. We shared the fried pimento cheese appetizer - which was different and very good. It was like an upscale cheetos! My sister is a vegetarian and there were enough entrees on the menu for her to make a satisfying selection (fish) and I choose the beef special. Both entrees were presented attractively, had depth and flavor and there was plenty. The next time I go to South again I will probably order the fried chicken as it is a customer favorite at the restaurant (our waiter told us). It will be a while before I go back as the dinner was expensive, but well worth it. Pros: food more

Recently a buddy of mine and I had dinner at South. We were in North Hills and stumbled upon this resaurant. Wow! what a find. The staff was great, especially the bartender I think her name was Grace. She was very informative and could really make a good martini. For dinner I had the special that evening which was rockfish in a red pepper broth with white beans and celery hearts. A flavorful dish and nicely presented. Grace told me that the menu is about to change and that this dish will be on the menu, a good choice I think. My friend had hte blackened tuna over succotash. He said it was the best tuna dish he had ever had. Both of us dine out quite a bit and can't believe we have not been here yet or for that matter even heard of South. I can assure you we will return. Nice job Pros: The staff more

Recently my wife and I went to South for the first time. Our friends have recommended we go and we have been frequenters of the Urban Food Group's other restaurants. When we arrived we were greeted warmly and were told the wait was 30 min. We sat in the bar while we waited and had a chance to try the bar menu. We had a sampling of meats and cheeses. Great presentation and cool choices. The bartender told us that the veggies are all pickled in house. The cocktail list is a must, I had a Southern Sophisticate and my wife a lemon fizz which she really enjoyed. We were seated and our waiter arrived he was very knowledgeable and had good recommendations. For starters we had a country pate (to die for) and fried oysters. As entrees I had the flounder with the white bean puree and brussels sprouts awesome, and my wife had the roast which was awesome, better than mom's. The way they used braised short rib as the roast was a great update to a classic comfort food. For dessert we split a rice pudding made with local rice from South Carolina river rice. What a finish to a great dining experience. We can't wait to thank our friends for recommending South and will return soon. Our waiter said brunch is great too, does anyone have comments on brunch? Pros: warm staff more

My husband and I went to South last night for dinner. I had the deviled eggs and po t roast. If you are a true Southerner, you know that the deviled eggs are, at minimum, have the entire hole filled in, and are usually over-stuffed. These supposed deviled eggs had just a little squirt of deviled egg inside the whites. The holes were no where close to being full. The server never did ask me how everything was. She was always there to interrupt conversation with our friends, but never there when I was appalled at the eggs. The po t roast was GREASY. I have never in my life had greasy po t roast. My husband had the rib eye steak and detested it. It was thin, overcooked, over-seasoned and stringy. They smothered with some kind of awful sauce. If we had not been with very dear friends, we would have sent the entire meal back. The server was so rude and interrupted conversation several times, but never asked if we liked the food. She knew we were paying with credit card, yet she picked up the tabs after they were signed instead of leaving them on the table. Rude rude rude. She was young, had dark hair that she wore in a bun on top of her head. The only table decoration was a cheap clear votive with a white votive candle. Cheap decor, cheap awful food and service, but prices are astronomical for what you get. We will never return. The owner should be ashamed of himself for allowing this awful level of service to continue. Cons: food, service, overpriced more

Don't believe the bad. I've been there three times in the past couple of years, each time glad I went. Portions aren't huge. It's open and airy, so it can get loud if lots of people are there. Every restaurant is going to have a drawback, so go, dine, enjoy and go to Starbucks for a coffee after. Pros: Food Cons: Not cozy, if that's what you want more

I went to South for brunch and enjoyed every minute of my experience. The atmosphere was lovely and the service was great. My favorite part of the meal by far was the grits, however. As a lifelong Southerner, I'm quite picky about my grits, but the chef at South has mastered the dish and I've been craving more ever since. The entire meal was great -- I enjoyed the home fries almost as much as the grits. We also had an amazing dessert of warm huckleberry upside down cake that was such a unique and delicious treat. I can't wait for my next visit to South. Pros: Creative, delicious menu Cons: Can't afford to eat there as often as I'd like! more

South definitely satisfied on our visits. We've been twice now and really enjoy the Fried Chicken platter. I was a little dubious of a $16 Fried Chicken dish but it really is worth it. Not sure what the meal actually comes with as we substituted mashed potatoes with gravy and mac and cheese. The Chicken is boneless as well which I personally appreciated. The first time I went I had the garlic chicken pasta option which was also good but dordn't really match the fried chicken. You should try it, I bet you won't be disappointed. more

The ambiance is excellent, but the food is just ok. We went for lunch, which is much more affordable than dinner, and we all concluded that we'd not go back. My sweet potato ravioli were good but nothing really 'popped' about them. A friend ordered a Caesar salad with chicken and commented that it was no better than at a chain restaurant. Another friend had the seared tuna and when I asked what he thought he just shrugged his shoulders. We all split the brulee for dessert and, to me, it was way too sweet. We couldn't finish it. If you're curious about this place, go at lunch so you don't have to spend a fortune to find out that their service is good but their food is just average. Pros: Good ambiance, good service Cons: below average food more

My friends and I went to South on a Saturday night. There was no wait, several open tables. The lady at the door told us she could seat us at a table if we were in and out in an hour because she had that table reserved. We said no problem. Our waitress was rude from the start. She came over and simply said, with no greeting or no ask of drink orders, ""Are you ready?"" We were just sat at the table so we requested a few more minutes and she ran off before I could put in a drink order even. It was a cold night, soup sounded good so three of us got soup and one of us got an entree. I suppose if we had each ordered an appetizer, a steak, desert and a bottle of wine our waitress might have been nicer. But instead she asked us to move it along within an hour of sitting and dropped the check while my dining companion had a full plate in front of her. The restaurant never filled up in the hour we were there. Isn't it better to be making SOME money than to have an empty table? I have never been treated so poorly in a restaurant in my life. I am generally easy going and forgiving for poor service, but I will NEVER return there. And would never recommend someone else to go there either to support such a place. Cons: poor customer service more

I have been there some time ago and promised that I would never be back again, but my friend had a gift certificate so we decided to give it another chance. While the arrangement might try to fool you for a nice place, is so boring and there is nothing going on.In addition, the food portions are small and very overpriced. The drinks are an awful value. Let's not forget our waitress dear Lord, who treated us badly. Apparently she is intimidated by beautiful girls. Don't bother with this place. If we go again is just for revenge! We tried talking to the managers, but that night he was too busy, so we decided to review the place here which can be more effective. Never going back there! more

I was just in South yesterday, and unfortunately experienced what I considered to be poor customer service. I was at the door at 11am and the first in. I asked the hostess for a gift card. She told me I needed to wait for the bartender. Ten minutes later I was still standing there. She did nothing other than seat two parties and never went to retrieve the bartender during that time. After nearly 15 minutes she went to the back to get the bartender. I was sitting at the bar beside the hostess station. As the bartender made his way across the restaurant, another customer walked in and stepped in front of me. Just at that time the bartender asked her if she could be helped. The hostess saw all this and never said a word. She knew I had been waiting patiently. She was not occupied with another customer, nor was she on the phone. I guess I could have said something, but felt uncomfortable with the situation and relied on her to clarify. She did nothing. I sat there for approximately five more minutes and the customer that had walked in front of me decided to pick up several gift certificates. She had many questions for the bartender, so I realized this would take more time than I had. So, after at least 20 minutes, I walked away with nothing. I contacted the owner via email and explained the situation, but his staff were not honest with what had occurred so, while I got an apology, the hostess that should have been professional and taken care of the situation by getting the bartender much earlier in the first place, actually told the owner she was busy on the telephone and also assisting other walk-in customers. This just wasn't true, but the owner had to pick a side and he took up for his people. I respect his loyalty, but the situation was just unacceptable. I will not be dining with South and cannot recommend them for service in any way. Cons: Slow and very poor customer service. more

South is certainly a decent restaurant. How it receives two dollar signs for price doesn't seem quite logical. It is just too pricey for what you get. The food is good, but there are many more restaurants to be found that offer better food AND service at that price. Service can be good or bad. That depends solely on which college student you get and if they have exams or not. If you want to receive top notch service AND consistently great food for the money, spend a bit extra at Bistro 607, VIN, or Sullivan's. You'll get what you pay for at these locales every time. Pros: Good food Cons: Poor customer service more

South didn't completely win me over but the food is definately better than average. I went for lunch and there was no crowd and service was prompt. I got salmon cakes, they were very dense and I prefer mine to be a little crispy and these were not. The mustard sauce really added a lot of flavor, but it unfortunately overpowers the dill creme fraiche. Mashed potatoes were excellent and I liked the crisp french green beans sauteed with bacon. I tried my husband's crab cakes, I liked the flavor of the crab cake as well, but again it was a little too soggy. The house salad disappointed me, I couldn't taste the viniagrette at all and there was very little blue cheese. The pecans were also mushy. Could have used some more seasoning all around. The restaurant is nicely decorated, I liked the dark wood and leather and the vintage art. They have a nice big bar as well. Not bad for dressing up Southern cuisine but it wouldn't hurt to pump up the flavor a little more. more

The defining aspect of this restaurant is LOUD. The music dominates the experience--LOUD with a pounding beat. The loud conversation of family groups and parties was actually a relief to mask the music. This was canned music early on a Friday evening, not the live music that starts later. Our party could not enjoy the food or our own conversation--the noise was just oppressive. If you are seeking a loud dining experience, or perhaps to dine with young children who make a lot of noise, this is the place for you. But if you want to enjoy good food and the people you are eating with, please go elsewhere. The food seemed OK, although the portions are very large and some will find that to also diminish the experience. The point of this restaurant is not the food, but rather it seems to aspire to offer a community party atmosphere to its patrons. That's not the reason I go to restaurants, so I won't go back. I do enjoy the other restaurants run by this group (some of the best in Raleigh), but potential patrons should know that the concept of South is radically different from those other quality restaurants. Cons: noise more

Well, I read the reviews so I decided to visit. I must confess that my friend & I were highly disappointed. Our waiter significantly lacked people skills and whoever was in the kitchen significantly lacked cooking skills. I ordered fried chicked but it was in fact a fried cornish hen. It was absolutely the worse chicken impersonation that I had ever seen. The green beans were oily and crunchy. My friend had a Buffalo chicken sandwich that was dry and she was not impressed. Neither of us ate our food. The manager walked by and asked us if we wanted boxes. We both said no. He took our very full plates and didn't even inquire as to why we hadn't eaten our food. I can assure you that I will not eat there again, ever. Don't waste your time. Pros: Location Cons: Food was overpriced, Food was not good at all, Service was horrible, Manager was rude more