Carrboro is lucky to have Grata. Good food, good service, big menu, and classic diner ambience (with the Carr Mill exposed brick twist). Bottomless drip coffee, indoor & outdoor seating. I recommend the omelets or bowls if you're hungry. read more

Grata is a wonderful restaurant. We arrived to find handicap parking within about 100 feet of the entrance (close to the CVS). To enjoy your experience, it helps to know the dining room procedure. Wait in the dining room at the entrance door for a staff member to seat you. The menu is priced in whole dollars, usually without the $ symbol -- for example, an item marked "16" is $16.00. To order, go to the cashier, state your order, and pay for it. The tip is included in that price, and tipping is not encouraged. The cashier provides cups and glasses for the coffee and water, which you serve yourself and take to your table. My wife and I prefer lean meats and fresh veggies. That was what we got, cooked perfectly. I got the veggie omelette and my wife got the chicken thighs and veggies. Our food was excellent! My wife found the booth seat to be comfortable. During our meal, she did not remark on her comfort and did not ask to leave before I finished -- very unusual. Staff was courteous and helpful. Very clean. As of today, it has a sanitary inspection grade of 99.5. This restaurant is now our first choice for American style meals. read more

Yummy food and friendly service, but on the expensive side. I paid $26 for a drip coffee, tofu scramble, and side of tater tots. I will say it was a large portion but it's more than I typically like to pay for a brunch. Lots of vegan options and a decent location read more

Grata Diner - side tater tots, tofu scramble - Cafes Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Absolutely our new favorite breakfast spot. I appreciate the gluten-free options--even for waffles and pancakes! My husband loves the big omelets, but i would prefer the veggies a little less al dente. The service can't be beat, and the manager is seemingly always pitching in with the staff. The atmosphere is classic diner with booths, which is wonderfully nostalgic. We go early on the weekends, so it hasn't been overly crowded. My recommendations would be to offer some standard teas (like English Breakfast) and real cream/milk/butter with coffee and toast instead of wasteful individually packaged, single-serve containers (but perhaps this is due to COVID?). read more

I really want to like this place because of the space and location. But we've tried twice now and I'm done. The food is just plain bad. This most recent time it took 40 minutes for two sandwiches and a bowl of soup. My chicken parm was bland and the chicken was rubbery and gross. My daughter's sandwich was 75% bread and dry. My wife's soup was barely warm. And it was so expensive! read more

The food is great very authentic i recommend this place. I really enjoyed my food the flavors were pungent,

I wanna start this off with the service was amazing and everyone was friendly. You order at the front and then they bring it too you. My sandwich was mid it wasn't the best but it was okay they put the wrong bread I asked but for 10$ I guess it was okay for that price range. The salad was good but the croutons sucked. Anyways it was good but not the best so I'm giving it 3 stars read more

Grata Diner - Cafes Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

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We had breakfast on a return visit and I'd give more stars except for the following: coffee was lukewarm coming out of the urn, home fries were warm not hot when delivered, my omelet was crepe-like (egg very thin). Fix these and 4 to 5 stars because; Staff was very friendly and helpful, food arrived quickly, coffee was very tasty, home fries were excellent using redskin potatoes and mild seasoning (no onions- yea), I had the 'meat' omelette and it was chock a block full - a carnivore's delight. The portions were ginormous-we couldn't finish. That might be a negative since my DNA requires me to 'clean my plate'. We'll be back ... in a while. read more

It's a fine enough brunch place. The food was pretty clean - lots of veggies (seemingly steamed) but it wasn't delicious ya know what I mean? The polenta was fine but rather meh. The chicken salad was fine... a rather inoffensive piece of chicken breast grilled, sliced and place on mixed greens. Coffee okay... So why the 4 stars? Cuz the service was very nice and attentive. So food 3, service 5 read more

The cacio e pepe was TINY and tasted pretty bad. It was suppose to come with homemade focaccia but instead came with day old bread that wasn't even worth eating. I unfortunately won't be back! Giving the restaurant 2 stars because maybe the breakfast food is better??? Here's to hoping read more

The food is always excellent here. Especially the pumpkin, pancakes, and a messy, meatball burger! They are always super nice in here, and I love their commitment to paying a living wage. My go to place for breakfast and lunch! read more

Went for brunch/lunch and almost didn't go here because of the lack of reviews, but it was so good. You order at the counter, and the inside gave cool 50s schoolhouse vibes because the building used to be carr mill it said. Food barely took any time, and it was all yummy. At the time, the soda machine wasn't working, but they have coffee tea and juice. Seemed a bit short staffed, but it was a random Monday. Also, it was advertised all the staff is paid a living wage so that's nice read more

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I gave this spot a 2nd try and will not be back - the food quality was just not great, especially for what you pay for. I was deeply regretting not making breakfast at home or wandering over to weaver which I did afterwards for a chai. I too wanted to love it and enjoy a good breakfast like what elmo's offered but I can't make any sense in how i paid $20 bucks for two pancakes a bit of egg and some fried tofu. I also didn't get their ala carte menu - where are the sides of pancakes or french toast. For most of breakfast plates they come with meat and they should consider either offering lower price if you don't want or include all items as part of side menu you can order individually. I only got the tofu because it came with the pancake plate/egg and i couldn't imagine spending $14-$18 bucks on two pancakes and some egg scramble which weren't very good + tea. You could also drop price if NO protein. Other bits - I saw some other reviews of people not realizing it's a bit self serve (seating/ordering) it would be a good addition to have sign as quite a few people were not sure what the deal was. Also one note to management if nothing else, you may consider not running in and out the patio door when cold - like an arctic blast on the closest tables. If use the main entrance to mall you can try to keep some sort of coziness to the atmosphere - it is a lovely space. I'm sure will stay in business with transient university crowd but not for me. read more

I'm glad to see a new business in the old beloved Elmo's spot that has a good selection of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've eaten here three times and have tried a variety of dishes. The green salad is so good and the lemon basil vinaigrette is my favorite. I love the artichoke hearts and the squash in it and appreciate it's more than your basic salad you get most places with a handful of lettuce, an odd tomato here and there. The focaccia croutons are addictive. I tried one of the bowls with farro and vegetables. It was very filling and I had enough for a second meal. This had the same vinaigrette as the salad. Nice and tangy. The only dish I have my doubts about is the Carbonara pasta. This is one of my favorite things to get when I find an Italian place that offers it but it can be tricky to make. The eggs in this dish were scrambled and should just be cooked through so I didn't eat much of it. I appreciate they offer it since most places shy away from doing an authentic carbonara because of the eggs but I'm hoping this was just a one off and they'll fine tune it. I definitely need to try breakfast next! read more

Good gluten free choices and the food is very good. The atmosphere is good and I enjoyed it

The only reason I gave this place two stars is because of the location and outdoor seating. The food is not appetizing visually or taste wise. The tomato soup had way too much basil in it and was luke warm. Strangely all of our meals looked and tasted alike. My son had the garbage plate and I had the huevos rancheros. Both were enormous and my eggs were saturated in sauces and over seasoned meat and it was so overwhelming and not good. My mom had the art center salad and seemed to enjoy that. I thought it was strange to be seated by a hostess and given menus but then told to go back inside and order at the counter. And they never assigned a number to our order (they gave us one to put on our table) so we waited 20 minutes until I went to check on it and then the food came out luke warm. I won't be coming back. read more

The manager wouldn't seat us when we asked for a table even though there were plenty of tables available. And, he was astonishingly rude.

The breakfast , amazing . Lunch, amazing. Dinner, amazing. People are very friendly , loved to see that this place was opening up !! Food is always fresh , hot and soo good !! I would eat here every day 3 times a day if I could!! read more

My sister came here with friends a couple times and my family and I decided to come for Father's Day. Now we understood that there was Going to be a wait but we did not expect to be sitting there at our table for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The only reason I'm not giving it 1 star is because the food was AMAZING, so if you have time to kill and friends to catch up with then go the Grata Cafe. read more

I really wanted to like this place but a couple of really glaring issues made that difficult. I don't get the weird "self service" ordering schtick. It was just confusing and unnecessarily complicated. It puzzled everyone who walked in. If your cafe model wasn't successful and you've moved over to a diner experience that's great - then do it. As someone who has eaten in diners (including the one this building used to be) for decades here are a couple of suggestions. If you're going to be a breakfast/lunch diner then have condiments like ketchup, hot sauce, napkins, etc on the table. Dump the weird "serve yourself setup". Don't charge $15 for French toast and then give fake maple syrup. People who pay that price for their French toast (which was quite good) know the difference. Make it an add on for $1.00 and break even. Send itemized receipts through square. That's just proper grown up accounting. I have no idea if I tipped or not, nor what the final cost of what I ordered was, not if it was accurate. I can't bring clients in for working lunches because a receipt with just one unexplained number on it isn't acceptable for reimbursement. Loved the menu. Prices were a little steep but quality was mostly good. If they get out of their own way a little they might have a shot at really getting it going. With Elmo's and Crooks gone there is a big diner vacuum in the area and focusing on local produce and suppliers is great. read more

Food was delicious and service was great. I tried a grilled cheese which is simple but it was unique and delicious.

I have Celiac disease and an egg allergy and in general it is hard to find safe places to eat. Happy to report that this restaurant was wonderfully accommodating. They have a separate allergy safe area where they prepare their gluten free items. Their gluten free breads and waffles are also vegan, which is another rare find. (Most gluten free items contain egg.) The GF/V waffle was delicious. My kids and husband - who do not have allergies - all enjoyed their meals as well. We were greeted and waited on by the owner who was warm and friendly. I was taken aback by the no tipping rule and was overjoyed to learn they pay their employees a high living wage. It was an A+ experience all around and we will definitely be back. read more

Too bad. Has potential but disjointed ordering set up is confusing. The food is just ok. Maybe give them one more chance but I'm not holding out hope. read more

We absolutely loved the variety of menu and mimosa selections and friendliness of the staff and owner. All of us had very different menu items and they were all a hit. Great quality food and good prices. Look forward to coming back! read more

Excellent atmosphere and food. Great kids menu too. I was visiting from out of town and would highly recommend!

Just very average. Ambience is lovely but food was relatively average.the area, ambience, and service was excellent in comparison.

Outstanding!!! The food feels so healthy yet tastes out of this world. Make sure to ask for the homemade green hot sauce! The coffee is also great, comes from a local shop. The restaurant is always busy yet you're seated right away and feel calm. The staff are paid above a living wage and the owner is so friendly! read more

Grata Diner - Cafes Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

This was our second visit to Grata and it will be our last. We had high hopes for Grata when we first heard of it and stopped in for breakfast one day. We ordered waffles and they came out cold and tasted like a boxed mix. Very disappointing experience. Today, we wanted to give the biz another chance and ordered lunch. What they are calling cacio e Pepe is nothing more than undercooked pasta strands stuck together by Parmesan cheese chunks. A glorified Mac/cheese, and that is being kind. To make matters worse the food was cold again. My partner's chicken Parmesan was also tasteless and cold. We left both dishes uneaten. There is no ambience to the place and it has been practically empty on both visits. I hope they improve for their sakes, but after two unsatisfying visits we will not return. read more

Arrived around 5:30pm to a mostly empty restaurant. The employee who took our order was kind to us (only reason this is two and not one stars). Our order was simple, a sandwich and pasta. We were asked to wait and they will bring the order to us. We sat at inside booth right near main order station. We waited, waited, and waited in sight of employees. After 40 minutes of waiting, I approached the employee and they discovered our food was made and sitting off to the side. They had no idea how long it was sitting there. The employee said something to the effect of "I'm sure it will be ok." Not wanting to eat a cold dish that had been sitting out, we got our money back and left. Seems like Grata can't handle simple requests. read more

I will preface this by saying that my husband and I are REGULARS at this amazing place. Hands-down the best Gluten Free breakfast in the triangle, and the staff and owner are seriously kind, generous people. The kitchen is always down to experiment with new things and they are open to feedback to always try and improve. Look no further for the perfect little breakfast spot with something for everyone, especially if you are interested in supporting kind and hardworking local people. read more

Fabulous menu, great location in historic mill. Jay, the owner, gave us genuine, personal attention which further enhanced our experience. Highly recommend! read more

Good food ok very busy but they try to get you your food I love the breakfast menu close to home

So happy to have a new tenant for this awesome space! Their business model is excellent, but their food and service is even better. Ciabatta French toast was BEAUTIFUL - golden on the outside, soft on the inside, not cloyingly sweet. Their selection is really solid as well, with build-your-own options for folks who prefer customization. Got our meals fast (though they weren't super busy) and the employees we interacted with seemed "on it" which is impressive so soon after opening. Prices were good, the atmosphere is good, the food is good. Highly recommend. read more

Excellent brunch at Grata today. I had chicken on biscuits, others with me had pancakes, eggs, fruit salad, biscuits and gravy. In addition to the comforting, delicious food available here the staff and hands-on owner are awesome: friendly, helpful, attentive, speedy, competent, and ready to please. Living wage employer too! read more

This was my first time dining at Grata and I'll be back again soon! I had the day's special frittata (broccoli, mushroom, cheddar) and a biscuit - both were absolutely delish! The frittata was a generous portion, moist and packed with flavor; the biscuit tender and buttery. I also really like the ambience - lovely refurbished mill w/high ceilings, big windows, comfy booths, as well as the ordering process: order & pay at the counter, food is delivered (quickly!). I discovered they don't accept tips b/c they pay their staff really well - I wish more restaurants would adopt this model. read more

We were thrilled to have a new exciting restaurant take the place of the former greasy spoon! From having breakfast all day to always taking care of our specific dietary needs, we have been extremely satisfied with our meals. The food is always fresh, delicious and delivered with a smile read more

We always enjoy our dining experience at Grata. The food is excellent and the ambiance is very inviting. Jay and his team go out of their way to ensure the highest quality service, which is fast and efficient. We recommend this restaurant, especially for breakfast. read more

I was wary at first -- wondering what would replace Elmo's -- but Grata Cafe has proven to be a fine addition to Carrboro. Every meal we've had has been great. The service is excellent. And I have to admit, it's faster and easier to eat here than it was back in the day when Elmo's was here. And the food is better across the board. I love what they've done with the place and encourage everyone to check it out. read more

We had planned on getting breakfast here, but ended up ordering lunch, instead. The three white-cheese grilled sandwich was great and the Caesar salad was probably the best I've ever had. My husband's mashed potatoes were very good, and he liked the mixed vegetables. The chicken breast was a little dry, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. read more

My sandwich had a dry bun and was worse than it f I bought lunch meat at Harris Teeter next door. It was overpriced. It took 25 minutes. The porch tables were crowded together and anyone walking through had to ask the woman at the center table to scoot in. read more