Went on a dinner with business associate/friend. He had the fish (mahi) tacos and I had the trout. He reported the tacos were very good and the trout was excellent. Tender and crusted perfectly. Smaller dining room and could be felt a bit crowded is all tables were full. It was a busy night (a Wednesday) so plan accordingly with reservations. I have Alpha Gal, tree nut allergy and am diabetic. Server was helpful and friendly with my issues. Good for business meals, date nights and meals with friends. I would not take small children to this restaurant as the close table set up might cause distractions or even uncomfortable situations. read more

Delicious and dependable. I had the salmon nestled on top of those famous herb potatoes. Ordered a side of bread and butter. Dessert - vanilla bean gelato, creamy and sweet. Great service. A bit noisy for conversation but that is part of the charm read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - Salmon on herb whipped potatoes - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

See all

Great food and attentive service! The Banh Mi and the truffle artichoke dip are a must try.

Holy smokes you have to eat here. Menu is varied, but not too big. Scallop Ceviche was to die for. read more

Excellent food, service and cocktails. I adore this place. And it's clearly lit very popular with locals.

The atmosphere was terrible. We were sat outside on their "patio" which is nothing more than an unheated walkway when there were ample tables inside. The food was fine but overpriced and under seasoned. $13 for a sangria, are you kidding? Soup was bland and the bibimbap was an ok imitation. Their menu should pick a lane for a type of cuisine because nothing stuck the landing. The service was good though. Our waiter knew we needed to be somewhere quickly after. And, to be frank, we didn't want to sit outside any longer than we had to with the temperature dropping. Would be hard pressed to eat here again. read more

Made a reservation here for Valentine's dinner. There was a slight hiccup with locating my online reservation, but got sorted out fairly quickly. But from the time we were seated until we left, the experience was awesome. Very nice, attentive waitress. The cocktails were excellent. I got the best Sazerac I've ever had, so ordered a second. Ordered the fresh bread side with salted butter as an appetizer and it was right from the oven, it's a must. I had a tenderloin special cooked and seasoned to perfection along with au gratin potatoes that must've been made by the most sublime tender hands in town. Huge portions all done supremely. read more

Good food , attentive service and nice ambiance . I had the chanterelle mushrooms with polenta for a starter and the Chèvre salad for main course. The salad portion was hearty with plenty of beets and goats cheese. For dessert the chocolate with hazelnuts was delicious. read more

Picked up catering for work and they checked my order twice and missed nothing. Thank you!!!

I had lunch with a friend at Venable today. Service was fine, friendly and efficient. But I unfortunately ordered the lettuce wrap appetizer. I substituted the beef for the chicken and they gladly made that happen. But having had many lettuce wrap appetizers from various restaurants, this was clearly the worst rendition. It came with a molded clump of petrified rice, green lettuce leaves and basil leaves, maybe 6 tiny pinky finger sized chicken strips. And a trio of aioli, hot pepper sauce and ground peanuts. Hard to eat, no other additional vegetables. Not satisfying at all and the rice was inedible. read more

Had an excellent lunch, especially as what I ordered did not sound that exciting. I got there early and decided to get the calamari. I had just assumed it was fried calamari, realized it wasn't after I ordered it and was resigned to getting a dish I would just work through, as I am not a huge calamari fan normally outside of fried. Turns out it was fantastic. The calamari was not at all chewy, usually my big complaint, and the tomato/red pepper sauce was incredible. I easily ate all the pieces and was dying to lick the plate it was so good. I decided to go healthy with the main and went with the Cobb salad, also excellent. All of the ingredients were fresh and the Green Goddess dressing excellent, did not overpower the salad but also made it flavorful and interesting. The menu is not huge but what I had was done perfectly. read more

Ordered the fried chicken topped with arugula and a side of whipped potatoes--chicken cutlet was crispy, arugula was topped with a handful of parmesan, and potatoes were smooth and creamy. Food was served quickly, but the flavor profile seemed one-dimensional. Restaurant seemed adequately staffed, and servers were friendly. read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - Venable Fried Chicken - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Made reservations for dinner , since we know it can be super busy . We were seated promptly, given menus and water. The restaurant was partially full at 6:30. Our server read us the specials and offered other drinks besides water. The scallop special sounded divine ; blackened scallops over coconut curry butternut squash with brussels sprouts, finished with a balsamic drizzle topped with frisée greens. The orecchiette pasta with broccoli rabe pesto, fennel sausage, chili flake with shrimp on top. Were the two dinners that we ordered. While we waited we ordered bread and butter. It can be a loud restaurant, no acoustic panels to help the noise level. There are some neat pictures on the walls to look at while you wait for dinner. The bread was hot and crusty- delicious. Our dinners came out . The scallops looked amazing so did the pasta dish. The scallops were cooked perfectly, a nice sear on them , wonderful flavor and no gritty sand to be found. The coconut curry butternut squash had plenty of spice , but not overpowering . The brussels sprouts were tender but needed a touch of flavor , they were a little bland by themselves. The frisée was an interesting component to the dish . The orecchiette pasta was cooked nicely , the shrimp added a nice taste . It was not overly garlicky at all. It was two delicious dinners. The restaurant started to fill up and the servers were very busy. It took a while for the server to check back with us . A second glass of wine took a long time to get but it eventually arrived. It would have gotten 5 stars if the attentiveness was present by the waitstaff. All in all I would go back again. read more

See all

Venable is consistently perfection! The atmosphere is wonderful, every dish is phenomenal, and the service is top level. You can't miss! Elle, Jake, and Michael are especially great servers! Jake remembered us (and our order!) from a couple of months prior, and makes every visit special! Just awesome! read more

See all

Once again, an uneven performance by Venable. Our server was fine, but our order was not delivered correctly. Two plates of fish tacos were proffered, when we had ordered only one. When it became obvious that our second meal had not even been started, my dinner companion ate his very good tacos while I waited (and snacked on his fries). When my long-delayed bibimbap arrived, I know it wouldn't be very good. It was in a china bowl, not a stoneware bowl, so there was no chance that the rice would be toasted. The beef was average at best. The shredded carrots were supposed to be pickles, I guess, but all that came across was vinegar. They should take this off the menu. It was a complete disappointment. I should have eaten the tacos that I didn't order. read more

SO, I ordered the fried chicken. INEDIBLE flattened piece of dry white meat chicken covered with tasteless batter..ONE tiny teeny bone on the whole thing. I took two bites and the rest was ingested by my dog, Awful and perhaps the menu could have specified what to expect..see photo. read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - NOT THIS!! - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

My friend brought me to this place for lunch. The ambiance was super cute and appealing. The server was extremely kind and helpful and attended to us a few times. The food and wine both were delicious. I wanted to eat light so I had the Chevre salad and she had the Venable Fried Chicken. I would have gotten what she had since it looked delicious, but I'll save it for next time. read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - Chevre Salad... delicious - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

See all

Excellent food, service and ambiance. Nice cocktail selections, good wine selection.

Do a search on "restaurant noise" and you'll find multiple reports of restaurants getting louder. This place is an example. Going to a restaurant, we're paying for more than just the food, it should be a pleasant, relaxing experience. If I cannot have a pleasant conversation with my companion across the table without shouting and straining to hear, I don't care about the food selection, its quality or the service, a social occasion becomes a tiring, irritating experience. We were both pleased to escape it, we ate quickly, asked our (very good) server for to-go boxes and departed. We won't return. It isn't hard to reduce ambient noise levels, no new inventions are required. Some places do, some don't. I prefer the former. read more

The selection was solid- things you want to try just the way they are described - and the taste matches the description except I would put a few more yummy and yummies in them! read more

Do not give business to this restaurant or any other in Carr Mill Mall unless you want to get your car towed by the property manager. This business did the bare minimum in providing information about an insane policy on towing, resulting in over $300 in tow charges. People are being robbed everyday by this crooked practice and the businesses should be telling everyone that walks in what is going on. See this article if you want proof. https://triangleblogblog.com/2023/11/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-predatory-towing-at-carr-mill-mall/ read more

I had a lovely brunch here with a couple of friends. We sat in window seat which was a bit warm on a bright and sunny day. We shared the croissant plate, light and fluffy pastries with an assortment of jams and butter. Delish! I had a build my own breakfast with eggs, grits and biscuit. My niece and a friend had the tofu chaat salad and said it was delicious. And my bestie had the pork stew. Everyone enjoyed their food and I also very much enjoyed my jubilee beverage. The space is light and airy. The service was great with waters refilled quickly. read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - Jubilee: prosecco and branded cherry juice - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Went to Venable this weekend for brunch with friends; hadn't been in a really long time so was curious to see if things had changed here. It was just as I'd remembered! Super cute, rustic vibe with an interesting menu ranging from a chaat to a lox plate, waffles to Benedict of the week. I got a grapefruit mimosa cocktail and the Gravlax Plate which I was expecting it to be a deconstructed Lox plate per usual, but it was plated beautifully (like the picture below). My only complaint was that maybe the potato pancake was a tiny bit too oily in the middle, but the outsides were perfect and crunchy and delicious. Our waitress was sweet, and let me know that this plate wasn't with smoked salmon but lemon cured salmon, which I loved even more, and it was well balanced with the salad and dressing. Definitely will be going back for future brunches! read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - Gravlax Plate- Lax, potato pancake, crème fraîche on greens - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

My partner and I sat at the bar for a Thursday night dinner. The bar seats were crammed together like sardines. A bar that could maybe seat 10 but had 15 seats crammed around it. New customers sitting down had to squeeze in to even sit on these terrible trash chairs. Dirty sticky menus. Staff was all over the place. Food is lack luster. Owner gives off just rude rude rude. read more

Dinner at Venable was respectable but not great enough to warrant a return. My friend and I were reaching hangry levels upon our arrival to Carrboro, and I was randomly craving spinach and artichoke dip. A quick look at their menu online said they had it available, so we walked over from our hotel. We didn't have a reservation, so we sat at the bar. They employ oversized menus, but the darn dip wasn't listed on the printed version! Even the other dips from their online menu were omitted; in their place: truffle artichoke dip. Too bad I don't like truffles. You'd think they could make a spinach dip upon request, but nope. Please update your website? If we weren't so starved, we probably would've moved elsewhere after a gin cocktail each, but instead we placed food orders. I chose to start with a small ceasar salad. The portion size was more than fair, but it was topped with anchovies. I obviously realize what is in the dressing, but when it comes to itty bitty fish, I don't like to see them dead in perfect form. My friend took them off my hands quickly. The salad itself was good but a tad on the fishy side. I eat ceasar salads all the time and this one seemed exceptionally heavy on the anchovies. Just something to keep in mind. For my meal, I ordered the fried chicken with arugula and added a side of fries. It came topped with a mountain of greens, which were tasty but impossible to finish. The chicken itself was pounded thin in a really tasty breading. My only complaint? It had a fishy after taste...as if it was cooked on the same surface as fish without it having been adequately cleaned ahead of time. I'm really not a fish person. The fries were delicious but also an exceptionally large portion. We didn't have a fridge in the hotel, so we couldn't take them with us. I requested honey mustard but they didn't have any. I also requested anything beyond ketchup for dipping, and the only option they had was some sort of peppercorn dressing. It was okay but didn't elevate the fries or the chicken in any way. I'd recommend they offer some sort of mustard dressing moving forward. My Tom Collins cocktail (requested off the top of my head) was good, but the berry gin drink on their menu was unavailable due to lacking key ingredients and their beer list was meh. In 2018, it's really important to have better local drafts and bottles, in my opinion....but then again, maybe they do need to focus on the food quality a bit more first. read more

See all

My daughter and I came in for a bite before a show - it's located walking distance from everything and parking was easy. I knocked 2-stars for two food related reasons. The server seemed unknowledgeable of gluten related questions (even though the menu seemed to go out of the way to label items as available as GF) or at least did not give me confidence in the meal that I ordered being gluten free. I ordered the tamales and they were nearly empty on the inside (it's a vegetable tamale but almost zero vegetables inside), I ordered it with chicken (an up charge of $6) and while it was hot they were served plain on the side of the tamale. I expected them inside the tamale or at a minimum drizzled with green chili sauce. So, it was an unexpected and underwhelming meal. Some minor things: the service was friendly but several different servers kept coming to the table to see if they could clear my plate; the attentiveness was disruptive. Seems like something that can be fixed, though. Honestly I'd probably go back if someone could tell me what the best meal is that is gluten free. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing which is an unfortunate thing to do when visiting a restaurant for the first time. I'd encourage servers to learn more about allergy restrictions (ie, what would change in the recipe if someone is made GF, is the sauce GF, is there mole in the tamale that is not GF, etc.) read more

Excellent in every respect - outstanding food produced by a chef and kitchen that attend to all the details and appear to really care about what they're doing. Have had one wonderful meal after another at this low-key, warm and welcoming restaurant. One of the best places in the Chapel Hill / Carrboro area, hands down. read more

Service was friendly and efficient from start to finish, including the simple online reservation process. Bibimbap and Venable fried chicken were as described and tasty. The restaurant is located in an old cotton mill, so the ceiling is sky-high, and the tables are mostly spaced widely. Ours, unfortunately, was just a LEETLE-too-close to the table of an animated nonstop talker with limited volume control, which took a little of the pleasure out of the meal, and a star out of our evaluation. But we certainly hope to return for a quieter and equally excellent meal. read more

We love sitting at the bar enjoying cocktails and brunch. Fantastic menu with a very good mix of breakfast and lunch items. They have a delicious house made Bloody Mary and the brunch fried chicken and gravy is amazing. read more

Mary, one of the owners, was the hostess on the night we tried to go to the B side but there was a private event. Mary set up a table in the tent as we did not have reservations. Sam was an exceptional server. Everyone went above and beyond to ensure we had a great evening. Food was excellent too! read more

Food was decent but not amazing. We tried a lot of different apps and entrees. They ran out of a special dish but the staff and restaurant are very nice overall. read more

A strange mix of classic bistro items and Asian inspired dishes. Artichoke dip was creamy and good; Cobb salad was not memorable; fried chicken was terrible - too thin and breaded with no seasoning. Outdoor seating is cute, indoor is dark and there are large TVs at the bar. Service was polite but extremely slow. Appears to be struggling with what the identity of the restaurant is - revamp of the menu may help. read more

Venable has great food. We got several appetizers and everybody liked their food quite a lot. The food presentation was also pretty fancy overall and visually appealing. We did think it was a little on the expensive side even for this area but there were a few things we ordered that were definitely worth it. I would go again and try more of their dishes as it looks like they do rotate their menu a bit overtime. The restaurant is also a bit understaffed likely due to Covid so the wait for your food might be a little longer than normal at peak hours, though we didn't mind the wait especially with yummy appetizers. read more

Have had decent meals here in the past - however will likely not eat here again due to the new parking enforcement in the Carr Mill lot. The management of the parking lot now watches a camera that is fixed on the parking lot. If you park at Venable (or any of the restaurants in the Carr Mill property) and your table isn't ready or the rest of your party isn't there yet, you cannot step off the property to walk around the block, get a drink somewhere else, meet the rest of your folks across the street etc., as the towing company will tow your car. Most nights, they actively have 1-2 tow trucks circling the lot, which creates for a very tense and stressful experience. Unless this changes, I'll just be opting to avoid the trouble and stress and find somewhere else in Chapel Hill or Carrboro. It is not worth the mess that is the parking situation. The Carr Mill businesses should stand up against this enforcement -- worrying that one's car will be towed, or that it could be dinged or scratched from another car being towed, will hurt local businesses. read more

My wife and I both like Venable and have eaten there several times. I typically get the bibimbap, but the last time I ordered the tuna special. It was also very good. We had the sticky toffee pudding as dessert. The ambiance is good, the service was good and so is the food. read more

Waitress was very attentive, food was delicious as well as the desserts. Great recommendations made by staff.

Sorry, but when ordering a salad with the word CHEVRE in the title, there should be more than literally five nickle sized dollops of goat cheese. And the beets ... from a can. For $14? The pad thai was tasteless with absolutely no spice, the noodles cooked entirely too long and there were absolutely NO peanuts anywhere in the dish. For $20? Not sure how to categorize the type of cuisine this place serves, but maybe the owners should spend a little more time figuring that out. Tamales and pad thai on the same menu? For what reason? On the bright side, service was friendly and efficient. read more

Came here for my bday dinner and liked everything we ordered. Probably one of the best restaurants in downtown Chapel Hill. Am surprised by how well they do the Asian inspired dishes. For appetizers had the Korean bbq which had excellent flavor. For dinner split the ramen and the fish tacos. The ramen was excellent and (albeit ramen options are limited in the triangle area) the best I've had in chapel hill. The tacos were just okay but I'm a sucker for good fries and those were delicious. For your bday you get a free dessert and I had the chocolate mousse - I'm not a huge dessert person but loved this! Service- excellent. Ambiance - hipster. Casual with a flare. Price - on the pricier end averaging $15-20/entree but worth it. Overall recommend and will definitely be back! read more

Venable Rotisserie Bistro - Ramen. Delicious would def recommend - New American Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Great place to go to if you want everything to be fresh ! Strongly recommend for brunch an order of their French Toast or Shrimp and Grits! You will not be disappointed ! Sangria Bloody Mary read more

I had the weekend Benedict it was good but I wasn't blown away by it. I also got French toast it was alright a little too moist for my liking. I guess I would go back to try more things on the menu. read more