Feasts and Spirits met with Taylor at the Glenwood Avenue Carolina Ale House location. Taylor is the Marketing Specialist for LM Restaurants and was incredibly knowledgeable about every restaurant in the group. LM restaurants is family owned and operated and manages 17 Carolina Ale House restaurants in addition to Taverna Agora, Vidrio, Oceanic, BlueWater, Henry’s, and Hop’s Supply Company. There are also franchises of the Carolina Ale House in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The newest Carolina Ale House is in Charlotte in the Waverly shopping center. LM restaurants is celebrating their 40th year and is growing very rapidly. We loved hearing about the history of this great restaurant group and learning about what sets them apart from so many chains. LM Restaurants is dedicated to using the freshest ingredients and does not use frozen foods for the vast majority of their menu items. There is a very clear dedication to freshness and quality and this sets LM restaurants apart from so many other chains.
The Glenwood Avenue location is great for events and other festivities happening in the downtown Raleigh area. They are great for corporate events which can be hosted in their Carolina Room. The Rooftop has a great view of downtown and the Glenwood Avenue strip and is a great way to take in the surroundings. They also feature garage doors on the third floor setting and retractable windows and roof that allow for an indoor feeling or outdoor feeling depending on the season. When this is opened up, it is a great way to soak in the lively Glenwood South atmosphere. They have an upcoming Kegs & Eggs event coming up for St. Patricks Day (get your tickets on EventBrite now!) and this sounds like a great way to kick off the holiday festivities which consume the downtown area. The Glenwood location features 96 beer taps which includes set taps as well as rotating taps to ensure their selection never gets old. Most Carolina Ale House locations have between 36 and 72 taps and feature local breweries depending on the restaurant location. Carolina Ale House has their own exclusively brewed beer in Mutu-Ale, which is brewed by the Lone Rider brewery in Raleigh. Feasts and Spirits was able to sample this and it is a smooth pale ale and a great complement to the many shareables offered on the menu. They also feature other great drink selections such as the Jack-a-Delic, featured on their current limited time Game Changers menu, and the Cucumber Spa Mule. $5 hand crafted cocktails are offered as specials each day of the week.
Chris is the General Manager of the Glenwood Avenue location and was a great host and clearly knows how to maximize the most of this location. From talking with Taylor and Chris the focus on freshness and quality was apparent from the beginning. This was evident from hearing about their Buffalo Tots, which are beer battered by hand and not frozen like any other chain restaurants tots, and the Pimento Cheese which is house-made on location every day. We also learned the difference between frozen and fresh chicken wings which made us appreciate the volume of wings the Carolina Ale House is able to crank out. The true giveaway is if the inside of the chicken bones are black when cracked open which indicate the chicken is frozen. They source many of their products from local partners such as Prestige Farms and Brookwood Farms.
The Carolina Ale House looks to rotate their menu options about every 6 months and loves to feature special menu options around big sporting events such as the Olympics or March Madness. This keeps fresh and exciting options available all year round. Their chefs also work with you to design special menus when hosting events for their locations. Attracting the family crowd is also important to them and $.99 kids meals are offered every Tuesday. These kids meals have health options such as fruit cups and fresh vegetables. The menu features many staples such as their wings and also the Pub Burger, which includes the owner’s special sauce and is a long time customer favorite.
Feasts and Spirits was able to sample many favorites off of the Game Changers menu as well as the standard menu and highly recommends all of them. We tried the Buffalo Tots, Steak and Cheese flatbread, the Grilled Chicken flatbread, Southern Fried Chicken Sliders and also their Asian Grilled Chicken Salad and the Pimento Cheese and Bacon Burger. The Tots, Flatbreads, and Sliders were a great start and are great options individually or to share as a group as you enjoy taking in a game, spending family time, or hanging out with friends. The sliders were amazing! We’re going to be sad to see them leave the limited time menu. The Asian Grilled Chicken Salad was incredible and the commitment to freshness was more apparent than ever. The Burger was oozing with the house-made pimento cheese and was also up to the high standards Feasts and Spirits has come to expect. The fries accompanying the burger are legendary and a frequent point of compliment to the restaurant.
Feasts and Spirits had a great time and can’t wait to visit the Carolina Ale House again with the entire family! We’re looking forward to exploring the rest of their menu and enjoying their high quality food and service.
Ale Yeah!
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