Maybe it was worse because I'd heard the hype ahead of time, but I would definitely not classify this as one of the top restaurants in the area. First, the pros: 1) the bread was delicious 2) the service was fairly good 3) my husband had the thick pork chop and liked it a lot 4) the prices were not outrageous (mid $20's for entrees). Now the cons: 1) it was freezing in the restaurant when we arrived and I had to keep my coat on for the first 20 minutes 2) they had a grand total of TWO red dinner wines available by the glass and neither of them were cab, zin, shiraz, merlot or pinot. They were obscure. I described to the waitress what kind of wines I liked and she said, ""I will bring you such&such."" She brought it - a TINY glass - and then she never once asked if I liked it. I didn't like it at all. I don't see how a ""nice"" restaurant can get away with such limitations on red wine. 3) my meal was VERY uninspiring. I had flounder which was mushy and nearly tasteless. Seemed like the kind of fish that has been frozen too long. The sides were nothing special. 4) I picked the restaurant because of the menu posted on their website. Turns out that particular menu had not been available for a whole month, but they'd neglected to update their site.
All in all it was not a terrible meal, just a terrible disappointment, considering my expectations for a special night out. A few months ago we ate at Elaine's in Chapel Hill and that was MUCH MUCH better.
more