Iron Hen Cafe
| Address: | 908 Cridland Rd, Greensboro, NC 27408, USA |
| Phone: | +1 336-617-7105 |
| Site: | ironhen.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 7AM–9PM 8AM–9PM 8AM–4PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 8
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Zac Goldstein
Iron Hen is yet another “looks good on paper” restaurant. The concept (fresh, locally sourced ingredients meets southern comfort food with an eco friendly twist) holds appeal, and several of the menu items look enticing, but the overall experience is underwhelming. For starters, this is not a particularly comfortable place to eat. Though the green décor adds a note of brightness, Iron Hen is small, loud, and crowds easily. There is little room between tables, and lots of bustling at breakfast. Of course, this would be forgivable if the food was worthwhile, but this is sadly not the case. Tempted by the prospect of corned beef from Giacomo’s, I went with the corned beef hash. The beef was almost overwhelmingly salty. The eggs, while cooked well, had almost no flavor (until pepper was added). The highlight may have been the sweet cinnamon butter served with the accompanying toast. At $9 this made for a somewhat pricey disappointment. Other breakfast items offered no greater value. Stacks of pancakes were available at $7 to 9 (depending on the toppings) with no sides save for fruit while something as simple as granola, milk/yogurt, and blueberries goes for $6 here. Iron Hen’s one unqualified positive is the service. Despite being absolutely slammed, the servers were polite and cheerful, food came out quickly and correctly, and everyone seemed poised to handle the volume. There are far worse places to grab a bite for breakfast or lunch, but the brisk business that Iron Hen does suggests an appeal that I’ve yet to discover. A good concept and hard-working staff can’t overcome inconsistent food and a lackluster experience. NOTE: As a dinner option, Iron Hen tends not to be as crowded. The food is still uneven, but its a better all-around experience.
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Greg Cutler
When we arrived today, the place was about half full. Despite this, we waited for about ten minutes before we were given a menu by a staff member. We knew what we wanted and ordered right away. Even so, it seemed like it took forever. The worst part was I watched our meal sit under a food lamp for in excess of 5 minutes while our waiter was sitting down with what appeared to be some of his friends. While the food is usually great, it tasted as you would expect, like food that had been sitting under a food lamp. Our waiter never came back to check on us, but instead, hung out for extended periods of time at other tables. My perception is that because we were a family with two well-behaved kids (and didnt have skinny jeans, tattoos, gauges in our ears, and a man-bun) that we werent welcome. Our waiter only returned to give us our check. Another female staff member (who was very friendly) came by to check on us, but did nothing to rectify the situation (such as adjusting our bill). We left extremely disappointed, which is a shame, because the food is typically great. I would like the opportunity to discuss this (and a few other things in a constructive manner) with management.
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Brittney Deese
Went to the Iron Hen today for lunch. Ordered the chicken salad with no bread, and corn on the cob as my side. On the menu it said that "one delicious egg" came with it. When I got my order, there was no deviled egg, the chicken salad looked fine, and the corn looked good as well. However, after the first bite of my chicken salad concoction, I gagged. There was a pink, pate textured filling with some sort of ground mystery meat in it. It tasted rotten and the texture of this goop made me sick. The waitress came around and I pointed out my concerns. She tried telling me it was bacon. I politely pointed out actual bacon, actual chicken and actual apples, compared to a completely different colored and textured pink paste with a ground meat (beef, sausage??) in it. Long story short I dont know if this was a mishap of mixing two different items together or if the chicken salad was rancid and was growing its own fungus. Either way the manager never came out or apologized. I will not be returning.
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Kyla Patton
I went in for dinner a few nights ago for the first time and it was awful. Clearly brunch is the winner here, because dinner was awful. The dinner menu is a small menu of soups, salads and sandwichs. I got the hamburger done MW and it was charred to a crisp. Hubby got the crab cake sandwich, which wasnt bad but also wasnt anything special. Both were supposed to come on Kaiser rolls but they were out so we had to have them on toast....gross. The fries were very good and the mac and chz was very bland. Also, everyone that worked there was just standing around and talking. They are a small place and they werent busy, so I have no idea why they failed to fill up our drinks until we were ready for the bill. Also, for the size of the places and food that we got it cost $27 dollars! Ridiculous. This is one of the worst dinner experiences we have had in Gboro. We will not be returning. :(
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Tamra Haggerty
Today Iron Hen blew me away with their food and their service!!! We waited for a table but only briefly. Everyone was delightful and quick on service. Our waitress was super friendly and even brought me an extra latte because she thought the first one had to much cream. I didnt quite catch her name but wished I had so I could give her a shout out on this review!! The food was amazing. I had blueberry buckwheat pancakes and my husband got the old mill grit bowl. both dishes were amazing!!! I have been to iron hen before and I liked their food but this time I was super impressed by both the restaurants ability to serve quality food, timely and with genuine smiles on their face. Ive worked in the service industry for 16 years and this place is worth the wait.
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A Private User
The food is usually ok. Way overpriced for what you get. But today was the worst. Ordered the Sweet Potato Pancakes... yuk. They looked awful. Not appealing at all. Then the taste was bad as well as the texture. It was like eating sweet potato pudding with a char on top and the char tasted like whatever meat was cooked on the dirty grill. We also ordered the Grits Bowl with a side of eggs. The eggs were placed on top of the grits bowl and then scrapped off and placed on the side. And the "sausage" on top of the grits bowl?? wow. charred, overcooked, very difficult to eat taste and texture wise. Weve been there several times, but if we are going to pay $25 for a simple breakfast, it better be on point! Seriously doubt were going back.
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Crystal S
I used to frequent the Iron Hen when it first opened and I loved it. However, over the past year or so something changed. The food just wasnt as consistent. But I went out on a limb and tried it a few weeks ago and everything was great along with the service. I went back this past Sunday with my husband and his parents and was once again pleasantly surprised. I had the Pomodoro omelet and my husband had the crabcake Benedict. Both were amazing. His eggs were cooked perfectly, I couldnt stop stealing bites. I also feel like we got our food a little faster than we normally have especially since it was a busy Sunday so that was also a nice surprise.
C.
C. Northern
This place is overrated. The first time, I went it took them 20-30 minutes just to take my order then another 10 minutes to cash me out. I excused my first visit and decided to give it another try because they were extremely busy then. I ordered ahead to skip the wait. The Mac and cheese is hardly a step up from Velveeta Mac in the box, even with the garnishments. The shrimp sandwich I ordered was a joke. It looked like a kids size sandwich. It was tasty but tiny and not worth $11. The staff is too busy to acknowledge you when you come in and they dont pardon themselves if they are walking by you when youre waiting at the door.
