To be candid, I arrived with modest expectations. After reading several reviews, I wasn't particularly optimistic, but my wife wanted to celebrate an early Father's Day dinner with our family, and we decided to give it a try. Having recently relocated from Los Angeles, we've been fortunate to dine at many exceptional restaurants throughout the United States and abroad. While we have thoroughly enjoyed our move to Fuquay-Varina, finding a memorable dining experience has proven somewhat challenging. In fact, we have yet to find many informal restaurants that stand out, let alone a true fine dining destination. That is why this evening was such a pleasant surprise. We were warmly greeted and our server was very friendly and attentive. The restaurant was decorated very well- not over the top but inviting. Our table enjoyed the New York strip, pork chop, filet, salmon, steak appetizer, and two orders of the shrimp cocktail--which was easily my personal favorite. Every dish was expertly prepared, beautifully presented, and thoroughly enjoyable. Naturally, there are always a few individual preferences that can be adjusted on future visits, but those are minor details. Most importantly, we left genuinely impressed. It appears we may have found our new "special occasion" restaurant--and perhaps even a regular dining destination. The intimate booths in the bar area add a warm and inviting touch that makes the experience even more enjoyable. We are already looking forward to our next visit. read more

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A solid 4.5 stars (if Yelp allowed). Great date night spot with a creative Library themed menu and space. We had the ribeye and filet - both were cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth. Love that the steak comes with a potato. I started off with a cocktail, Tulips at Twilight, and it was ok. Next time, I'll go with wine. Service was great! read more

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My husband took me to The Library for my birthday. What a terrific experience. The ambiance, my filet mignon medallions with fingerlings and broccolini was excellent. The wine Cabernet was delish and for the finale our terrific waitress, Brittany brought out an ice cream sundae I. Honor of my birthday. Fuquay, if you have not visited The Library, I highly recommend you go!! read more

The Library Steakhouse - The Library. - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

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Great atmosphere, great cocktails, decent food. A bit expensive but worth it for the atmosphere! I have no complaints on the service.

Had a family night here and will definitely be bake when we are in town. The restaurant is a former library and has vedy cool books/library themed decor. We went for an early dinner and the place was already starting to fill up, but it was a well organized machine. Our server was very attentive in keeping our drinks full and frequently checking on us. For my drink, I got a Flowers in the Attic. This drink is dangerous. Very refreshing lemon taste to go with the rich meal. For a stater, we got the glazed pork belly and crispy Brussels sprouts. The pork belly was super tender and came apart with a fork. The crispy Brussels were cooked to perfection and nicely roasted. For my meal, I got the lamb shank with a loaded baked potato and the cucumber salad. The lamb shank was so juicy and tender, I would definitely get it again. The baked potato was a classic potato, nothing special. The cucumber salad was very tart/vinegary to me, which didn't go with the rest of the dish, but not a huge detractor from the meal. Overall though, great meals and drinks! read more

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We had a great experience and this restaurant. Steaks came out great, wine selection was good, enjoyed the atmosphere and service as well.

Service was a 10/10, food came out quick. My steak had so much potential, but it was loaded with salt. Potato's were great. read more

The Library Steakhouse - Ribeye with garlic mash, with onions and mushrooms. Cowboy steak. - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

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The food was ok, service on Sunday did not seem busy but the staff was a bit slow, went with empty water glasses for a while before I could flag a server down for refills. The vibe was a new experience, I loved being surrounded by books and old phones. We started with appetizers, and I tasted a few reds I was curious about and their wine selection did not disappoint. On another note, perhaps they should cut their tomatoes thinner, they were a bit too thick for a normal bite‍. And while the colossal shrimp were colossal, yet the sauce was not it, although the steak teaser was a hit!!! The lobster Mac and cheese is something I will be coming back for next visit and I simply loved the special touch at the end with the complementary ice cream scoop for my B-day. read more

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The library steakhouse is an old converted public library. Saw them online. Decided to come for a birthday dinner. Let me tell you. This place is incredible. The service was outstanding. Super friendly. They had our party of 8 table ready right on time. The atmosphere is great! Library books on the shelves. Huge bar section. Drinks naked after books. I had the Godfather old fashioned. It was the best old fashioned I've had in a while. For dinner , our waitress right away asked if anyone was having the prime rib because she wanted to make sure they still had some for us. They serve it until it's sold out fri-sat 5pm to close. I wanted the prime rib so this was much appreciated. One at our table ordered the crab dip. So tasty. Definitely get it if you go. Our table ordered the prime rib, NY strip, steak and fries. Every steak and prime rib was cooked to perfection. Make the trip here. You won't be disappointed. We will definitely be back. (Lunch for one of their huge burgers is next!) read more

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Excellent Ribeye and New York Strip steaks- cooked a perfect medium rare, so flavorful and tender! Sides were great and Caesar Salad was delicious. Service was awesome! Server was prompt, polite, and our drinks were consistently refilled without us asking! We will be back! read more

Place is cute and good for taking book lovers but you leave there feeling like for the price the food wasn't quite that great and the service was just ok. I had the beef Wellington which was overcooked. (I asked for it medium rare and they told me that they didn't cook it to temp but that it was always served medium rare. I would suggest it was cooked at least medium well). I had a gone with the whiskey which is one of the weakest drinks I have had in a long time. I really want to like this place but have trouble recommending it. read more

We had a lovely anniversary meal here. The atmosphere is warm and romantic. Love the decor and color palette. I recommend a reservation and coming earlier in the evening. They get very busy later in the evening. The food was amazing and the service was top notch. read more

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I do love how calming this place feels. The green is so beautiful here! Our server felt like she was one of my girls when we all went. I loveee the food here. Unfortunately I went I guess when there was a different chef. I notice a few mention food issues & early on I never experienced that. I went a few times and enjoyed each meal. read more

The Library Steakhouse - A Perfectionly cooked steak (2024) - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

Coming here the night before Thanksgiving has become our annual tradition. We are from out of town and our friends always make reservations to come here. This place is definitely up scale compared to majority of the restaurants in the area. Which makes this my favorite restaurant to eat at when visiting. So apparently this building used to be a library, which I couldn't even imagine what this building would share if you could speak. You won't be disappointed when coming in because you still have some sort of library design that fits the theme. So my go to meal is always the filet mignon, medium rare. I do like my side sauce but tonight I opted for the butter. This meal never disappoints and is always perfectly cooked and just melts in your mouth. The service has always been fantastic and of course the company we bring makes this place the idea restaurant to go to. You won't be disappointed. read more

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I celebrated my birthday here.It was a great dinner. Everything from the drinks to the food was amazing. Our server was great! Myself and my family will be back !!!! We all recommend!! read more

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We received a gift card for Christmas and used it for a Valentine's date night. I love the theme being a book lover. They were already out of the prime rib when we got there at 7:00, so if that is what you have your heart set on, get there early. We shared the ribeye. It was good and certainly big enough to share. The brussel sprout side was delicious - worth the extra charge. The mashed potatoes were good. Another table got the mac and cheese side which looked yummy. The sticky toffee pudding dessert was worth every penny and calorie. read more

From the moment we walked into the Lobby and throughout our time at The Library we were met with friendly, courteous associates. The vibe inside is friendly and following the library motif. Our server, Brittany, is a rock star! She was knowledgeable and professional. Her attentiveness throughout our dining experience was perfection; present and checking in on our needs without being pesky. I consider that the hallmark of professional waitstaff. We ordered a flank steak, a filet mignon, and a New York Strip. Each steak was very well seasoned and cooked to perfection. Each steak was accompanied by an expertly baked potato. After dinner we decided to try a couple dessert selection ordering a chocolate lava cake and carrot cake, both with a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream. The lava cake was appropriately hot. The carrot cake had a spiced flavor and a crispy top edge; delicious! Everything about dining at The Library made it a memorable experience. I give The Library my highest remarks and it has been added to our regular rotation of the best place to dine in Fuquay! read more

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Visited The Library on a Wednesday night and was seated immediately. Took a few minutes to be offered water and take drink order. Complimentary bread with honey butter was offered. There are choices of steak, fish, chicken and couple other items on menu but was surprised to not have a couple more options for beef and a steakhouse. The side choices seem to be adequate. There is quit a menu for specialty drinks. Once our order was taken the ceasar salads arrived in good time. The dressing was not very creamy and heavy of anchovy flavor. It seemed to take a bite of time for our mains to arrive. My wife ordered the rack of lamb with a sea salt potato and I ordered the rib eye and sea salt potato. The lamb was a good size and cooked ok. My steak was cooked as ordered and tasted good. Both our backed potatoes were good and served with butter and sour cream on side. My wife would not order the lamb again. read more

In addition to the super aggressive treatment I received one of their employees sent me a nasty message on Facebook after I left a negative review. This wasn't even the person I complained about but apparently you don't know how to act either. 1. I am in fact almost 50 and not trying to hide it. 2. I am entitled to good service and quality product when I'm paying $50 for a piece of meat that cost your boss $5. More bullying by this establishment. If this concept doesn't work for you maybe check out the "Dicks" franchise. You seem to have a talent for treating customers like crap already. read more

I took my father here to celebrate his 77th birthday and couldn't have been more impressed by the food, service, and atmosphere. The Beatles were playing when we walked in and given that's my dad's favorite band, it was off to a great start. I'd made reservations and the hostess seated us promptly. There were several large parties seated as well, but Kristina, our server didn't miss a beat. I ordered the Murder on the Orient Espresso, and dad ordered a Woodford on the rocks. Both drinks came out quickly along with some fresh bread and what had to be house made creamy butter. The drinks were perfect and the bread and butter also tasty. The colossal shrimp cocktail included plump juicy shrimp with the best cocktail sauce I've ever had. I asked the waitress if it was made in house as the horseradish was pungent, and she confirmed it was. My ribeye was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was seasoned with the dry rub. I also ordered a side of creamy green peppercorn sauce and it added a nice spicy flavor to the meat. The garlic mashed potatoes were hot and delicious! My dad ordered the mushroom Swiss burger and decided to eat it with a fork to avoid making a mess. He loved his burger and the steak fries that accompanied it. For dessert they brought out a smores ice cream dessert with a candle in it. We had an amazing dinner and are already planning our next trip back. Kristina is amazing and took very good care of us the entire time. read more

Went to the Library Steakhouse last evening. Overall was a nice experience. The atmosphere is neat and good for dining as the tables are spread out. I got the queen filet Oscar style and it was cook to a good med-rare and was very tasty. The side of garlic mash was also very good. Would not recommend the lobster Mac as it tasted like a can of Old Bay which is overpowering and I am from Maryland and grew up putting old bay on everything. Also the bar service was pretty slow. Will be back. read more

The Library Steakhouse - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

Came here for the first time recently. The overall design and idea behind this place is fabulous. It has a modern/clean design to it yet has elements of class. This would a be great date night spot or place you want to take someone important to dinner. This place just opened up a few days ago so it seemed much of the staff was still ironing out kinks and learning their menu and bar items. The portion size for price is smaller than expected. Our waitress needed some hosting etiquette as she kept coming to our table asking to take orders when we were trying to enjoy conversation so we felt rather rushed which was a turnoff. Overall good place, just needs fine tuning. read more

The staff and food has never let us down. This is one of my kids favorite places to eat. We do family date night's here and it never disappoints! read more

Visited with friends for a Sunday night dinner. Food, service, and atmosphere were all great. We had a mixture of steaks, linguine and sides. All were delicious. The ambience 5star. read more

The Library Steakhouse - The Library steakhouse. - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

Service was extremely slow. We sat over 15 min before we even had water or a server take a drink order. I was not impressed with the steak - cooked properly but not much flavor. Likely won't make the drive there again. read more

Fun experience! Super cute theme and great cocktails! Perfect spot for a work dinner as well. Great service!

We went to The Library for the first time last night to celebrate our anniversary. The restaurant decor and ambiance was beautiful. Our server was so friendly and knowledgeable of the menu. We started with the candied pork belly, which was to die for. For our meals we had the prime rib and wagyu steak. Everything was so flavorful. We highly recommend The Library! read more

The Library Steakhouse - Wagyu steak with lobster tail - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

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At at the Steakhouse for a weekend dinner and it was a mixed experience. There are a lot of things they're doing well but a few glaring mistakes keep it down. Spoiler, we won't order the prime rib again soon. The decor was great, they've reused elements from the old library and it gives a unique atmosphere. For the bill, they bring it tucked inside an old book instead of a typical plastic folder. The noise level is a little loud and if they turned the music down or off, it would improve. People talk louder when the background noise is loud and that just makes it worse. We were able to carry on a conversation. The service was acceptable, maybe a little longer than we wanted but it gave everyone a chance to relax. Overall, the food was good. I had the boneless short rib and it reminded me a lot of a beef bourguignon but with a tomato sauce instead of the rich wine gravy, but still super tender and excellent. I liked the brussel sprouts, they were crispy without being burned with a sweet honey sauce. The baked potatoes were perfect and one day I'm going to have to back for just dessert because there just isn't room. I'll note that they have upgraded their wine list recently, but the prices seem excessively high even for a restaurant. More wine by the glass would be good with better parings for dishes. Oh man, I'm starting to sound like a wine snob, enough of that! The prime rib, which is a signature weekend dinner dish, is well cooked, but they have to do better with the beef choice. There was an unforgivable amount of fat on it, a section half the size of my hand. Upgrade your meat vendor or butcher and trim this better. There's no excuse for serving that, you should say that you're out already. This is either a choice for low quality or not caring. We understand the kitchen gets busy, but your expediter needs to keep the standard up. A warning on the green beans. For them, "southern style" means well cooked, with vinegar and a bit of spice; think your grandmother's green beans seasoned with an eastern NC BBQ sauce. I liked them, but others did not care for them. read more

Having spent a fair amount of time in this location when it was a library, I was delighted to hear it was going to become a library themed steakhouse and the end result is fantastic! From the decor, the details and of course the food, our experience was great! Our server was attentive and made great recommendations. Our wine was perfect - a bottle for the table and everyone enjoyed their generously sized entrees. Loved the steak Diana, loved the roast Brussels sprouts, loved the mashed potatoes. Definitely coming back! read more

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The trouble with some of these review threads is that you're always gonna get a 'Karen', or somebody that didn't think the service or food was to their standard. Some people are never satisfied and delight in tearing someone down. That being said, this place is fantastic. Don't listen to the naysayers. The food was spectacular, the service was on point and the ambience was quiet and romantic. I highly recommend this place. And Gordon Ramsay has nothing on this chef and their staff. The unsung heroes are the line cooks and their support. I loved every moment of this experience. read more

I enjoyed the environment when I went. My steak was overcooked but they happily remade my meal and it was great.

Had a rehearsal dinner here the night before a wedding and the staff were great, friendly, and attentive. The food took a while to come out but considering the size of our party, that was probably to be expected. I ordered the blackberry mojito to drink and it was sweet, fruity, and delectable. For entree I chose the crab cakes with a side of sweet potatoes and both were delicious as well. Big thanks for The Library Steakhouse for hosting our event and making this evening run smoothly!! read more

The Library Steakhouse - Crab cakes - Steakhouses Near Me - Fuquay Varina, North Carolina

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This was my first time here. I went with DH and two friends. One of us ordered the ribeye and the rest of ordered the queen prime rib. Firstly, my whole dinner was cold and the other two were not cooked right. The server had the manager come over and she told us that all the prime rib is cooked to medium rare and they couldn't help that. My DH was rarer that one of the others steaks. The manager offer to get my table mate a new prime but it came out the same. They replaced my potato but just put au jus on my rib which didn't help it. The prime rib was also very thin. I think the food was overpriced. I'm not sure if I would go back. read more

The owner of the restaurant messaged me privately and explained the situation in a very nice and friendly way. He assured me that I can have the Mashed Potatoes with the Prime Rib for an upcharge, and that they are swapping the southern green beans with creamed spinach. He also informed me that he was the man who brought out the new burger after the first one was over cooked. Super nice guy! The way he responded is top notch and therefore I have upped my rating and will be back again for a prime rib (with Mash Potatoes of course!) Thank you so much for your reply! read more

Great restaurant with delicious food! Emily is an absolute wonderful server! Makes the restaurant experience even better! A favorite in Fuquay-Varina! Will be back for sure! read more

We had been there one time before, relatively soon after opening so I wanted to give it time. While OK the first time, we were not super impressed. This time, all very good. Food, service, ambiance all what one wants in a steakhouse. We had a party of 10, 5 couples. Dinner ahead of a Beatlesque show. Steak I had was excellent. Prime Rib others had looked good. Moral: if first experience was OK but not great, give it another chance. read more

This is by far the best Resturant in the area. The food was absolutely delicious everything cooked to perfection. The server was amazing. The little details were a nice touch. We celebrated a birthday and they had a little sign on the table that was great for a picture moment. The check came in a library book and you could write something in the book as a memoir. This will definitely be my place to bring visitors and for special occasions. Loved it! read more

First off, The Library is a great concept and that's very nicely executed. A warm cozy library feel with bookshelves that are not overly stuffed with books but just enough to evoke the feel that you are in a well stocked library. The wait staff is very polite and good at remembering your order which is something Could never do without writing it down. The food is great, with steaks cooked exactly as ordered. I like the c complimentary bread and the wine selection is decent. I will mention the black and blue burger as a good selection if you want a great burger at a reasonable price. Time of food delivery has varied but this is not a fast-food place so plan accordingly. I haven't tried their desserts, but they looked delicious. All in all, a very nice addition to the Fuquay/ Holly Springs dining scene. read more

First time at The Library, for early dinner. Excellent service. Great menu for steaks to burgers and salads. Loved the openness and "book" displays for keeping the library theme. read more

The server was top notch, and the ambiance was really nice. The short ribs were very good. The prime rib (I had the larger portion) was the worst I've ever had in my life. Other than perhaps 15% of the portion, the rest was tough like shoe leather. I left more than half of the steak! I told the server, who said he'd see what he could do. The manager never came over to the table but told the server to offer me a free dessert. I told the server I was diabetic, but apparently the manager didn't care. I looked at previous reviews and found them to be like a roller coaster (who knows how many of those good reviews were filled out by employees). So if you want to gamble with your money, go here. Me? I work too hard for my money to go to a hit or miss restaurant!!! Chris Hanly read more