Cozy, sophisticated, and friendly. Wonderful place for brunch with family, friends, or a date. We had chicken and biscuits, mushroom omelette, croque madame, and waffles w/ apples snd chantilly. Absolutely delicious! read more

I chose this restaurant because I wanted to bring my mom to someplace special, and the pictures showed white tablecloths. I put it on the list. We came for brunch and they don't have white tablecloths. ‍ Honestly it was nothing special. I mean, it was good but not OMG. Always searching for the OMG. The waiter recommended a citrus drink, so I ordered it, but it tasted almost exclusively of grapefruit, which I don't care for. When I told him, he just kind of nodded and went away. I had to tell him again before he finally offered to replace it. The food did come very quickly, which was nice, but finishing up my last bite of home fries it suddenly tasted like seafood, which turned me off. The hostess was extremely nice and had only been here a short time. I made the trek from Apex and see no reason to return. read more

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LOVED this meal! Tried chicken liver pate for the first time with the charcuterie plate and it was delicious, really well flavored. The risotto was my favorite thing, and I could eat that every day. The pork chop was slightly overcooked and tough, but the pan sauce was so delicious you could drink it, and the candied lemon peel on top was a flavorful, fun addition. Will definitely be back! read more

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Mandolin Farmhouse Meals, do it! Social distancing and trying to avoid the grocery store when I can Mandolin Farmhouse Meals is a delicious alternative. We ordered in their Easter dinner meal, but they have a ton of other great options. The food was amazing and had very clear reheating instructions. We got ham, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, root vegetables, yeast rolls, carrot cake, and shortbread w/ lemon curd. I would get everything again except for the carrot cake (just too many golden raisins for my taste). It was delicious and worth every penny. They have so many great every day options like fried chicken, baked ziti, roasted pork loin, brownies, bagels, and other delicious things. If you live inside the beltline they are doing free delivery on certain days or you can do curbside pickup. If you are sick of cooking, support Mandolin, you won't regret it! read more

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Love this place! My first time here and I will be coming back with better company! The food was a lot more interesting! The autumn sunset was a really food cocktail! The pork belly was incredible with the mash but the presentation needed a bit of work. It's was covered with dispensable greens. The steak frites was amazing! Wasn't too impressed with the falafel but the soufflé was so good! Great job on the social distancing and the dining room had a great ambiance! I can't wait to come back! read more

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What a wonderful experience! I have been drooling over Mandolin's artisan burgers since before Covid. We finally got a sitter and was able to visit. My George Clooney was perfection. Salty and savory. My partner got the chicken and waffles and he liked it but thought the breading on the chicken was a little too crunchy (I like crunchy so I thought it was perfect!) We could of passed on the charcuterie board because while it was tasty, it wasn't anything special. Lastly, we got the chocolate soufflé for dessert and it was absolutely delicious. I got a delicious mixed drink that I can not remember the name of, it had cranberry in it and it was very good/not too sweet. We will definitely be back! read more

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OMG this place is A-Mazing!!! Kirstin was our server and very attentive and THE FOOD was next level. We travel the world and the food is unique but the Ribeye was to die for!! read more

Mandolin - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

We went to this restaurant for valentines day. There is absolutely no ambiance, none. There are bed sheets on the walls and jars of vinegar vegetables, those aren't ambiance. The health score is a lowly 91.5 so that isn't great. The food is minimalistic so don't go hungry, but do bring a wad of cash because the prices would be at home in new york city. If the food was great we could have gone 4 stars, but it was average, so what did we even pay for. If you have money to burn and a small stomach this would be a great place for you! read more

We did the Christmas Eve pickup for a delicious meal. Pick up was not the smoothest process from a refrigerated truck in their parking lot in the pouring rain BUT the meal was glorious. The Rosemary spiked Turkey was incredibly flavorful & made the best Turkey sandwiches after. We also had ham with glaze, gravy, a sausage bread pudding that was an original addition that was beautifully done, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, polenta, and I don't want to forget the apple pie. They even gave us cinnamon buns for Christmas AM as well & those were heaven! The only thing we didn't love was the loaded potato casserole which did not reheat well & was extremely greasy. This meal honestly exceeded all expectations & I can highly recommend Mandolin! read more

Mandolin - Christmas Takeaway - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

We enjoyed a fun evening with friends that included a delicious sea bass dish and the best (sweet) cornbread I've ever put in my mouth. Our server, Michael, was on point all evening, and was a delightful addition to our night. While there was a great deal of background noise, the ambiance was friendly and relaxing. While the menu is not lengthy, the choices seem more than satisfactory. We will return! read more

This was my second bad experience at Mandolin Food: horrible. The mushroom dish was cold and inedible. Service: atrocious- took hour and a half to get dinner and we were there at 6 pm on Monday night With so many options in Raleigh I don't understand why anyone would come here. read more

Food was great. Went there on our last night in town and were very pleased. Our server was a bit slow on the uptake and timing but that could have been our fault in communication. The only issue I had was the noise level in the dining room. It was packed, which is great, but my friend being older and having hearing problems was left out of the discussion because of the loud background noise. But can I blame them for their success? I don't think that's fair... read more

I read a lot of reviews about the poor drinks and I agree. The $14 drink came out barely half full of liquid yet full of ice. The meal itself was just OK with the short ribs having s huge layer of fat across the top and little edible meat. The chicken and waffles were tasty but the collards were warm at best. At a restaurant of this level why would you have the waiter hand you a computer tablet to run your card and then stare at you for the tip amount which was pre-populated at 29%?!?! I would expect this at an Outback or Applebees but not here. Go back to leaving the check and walking away to allow the customer to finalize without the waiter standing in your face. read more

The biscuits are to DIE FOR. The food is delicious. Service could be much improved. I made a reservation on a Saturday and called to make sure that we can have patio seating, which they said would not be a problem. But when we arrived they told us it was first come first serve and that it would be a 30min wait. Fine, so we left our number and went to Idle Hour Coffee around the corner. 35min later, we went back to check on status and saw that half the patio was open. The hostess said that their system is down (aka can't charge anyone) so they've stopped seating people but since we had a reservation she can make an except. Okkkkk, but were you ever going to call me??? It baffles me that she remembers us when we came in but didn't remember to let us know. Who knew how long we would've waited! I also noticed in my email later that day that the restaurant had gone ahead and cancelled my reservation on Opentable without any reason which just irritated me more. Idk why... maybe it's the New Yorker in me haha. But overall, would recommend. What I encountered was probs just a fluke :) read more

One of the best dining experiences I have had in a while. They manage to produce an excellent meal despite COVID restrictions. Our server was attentive, quick, courteous, and joyful. I very highly recommend Mandolin and look forward to dining there again soon! read more

Meh. We went before a 7pm game, had 5:30 reservations - they open at 5:30. So we were the first ones there and were seated at 5:30, nobody else in the restaurant for the next 15-20 minutes. Service was amazingly slow considering we were the only ones there. We realized how slow it was just to get drinks and as such when we finally ordered food at 5:55, skipped apps/salads and ordered mains only. I had the mushroom tagliatelle, my wife had the catch of the day (red drum). Both came in flat soup type plates, and both resembled soup rather than main dishes, and both were very very small portions - both dishes covered only the bottom 1/2" of the bowl. The fish tasted fine but it was just a very small piece of fish in some cream sauce basically. The tagliatelle was similarly tasty, but also mostly cream. It actually would have been just fine served and marketed as a $15 bowl of cream of mushroom soup. But as a $23 entree, it was really lame. Our empty plates sat in front of us for the final 10 minutes of our experience with my credit card on the table before manager came by to check on us and realized we were done and waiting to pay. Got out at 7:05pm, late to the game, no matter, but completely no reason it should have taken 1.5 hours and cost $100 for two bowls of cream soup and 3 drinks. read more

I love this place! I've been several times and everything has been delicious. We have had their steak by the ounce meal, seafood, these dishes, and more. My boyfriend's favorite is the steak frites, and I thought that was mine too until I tried the pork tenderloin tonight! It was delicious! The best thing about the dishes at Mandolin is that, while most people (myself included) primarily look forward to the "star" of the dish, every part thing on the plate never fails to excite. Whatever I order, I always look forward to every single bite. Their cocktails are also very good! I didn't get a picture, but their cheese plate was absolutely incredible! This place never disappoints. Also, as a side note, there's parking behind the restaurant... turn in the gap between Red Dragon and the building right beside it to the left if facing them. There's a bunch of spots back there, and more beside Hungry Howies. Don't let parking concerns keep you from going over there! read more

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We made reservations here for a special occasion on a Monday evening. You can find street parking or the two-level​ parking areas beside the restaurant. This was not clear but we asked just in case the​ restaurant did not own the space. There are plenty of parking. When we arrived, there were a good amount of people but not full. Our waitress did an amazing job. She was really professional and knowledgeable​ in regards to the items on the menu. The menu wasn't overwhelming and provided us with multiple options. Here's what we chose: APPETIZER Pork Belly - AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING! The pork belly melts in your mouth Cauliflower with Pork Rinds: AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! Nothing special about it unless you're a die-hard​ cauliflower fan MAIN ENTREE Chicken and Waffles - Super tender fried Chicken with the most delicious collard greens (sweet and perfect hint of salty goodness) and fluffy waffles. You can't go wrong. Steak tip: Cooked to perfection, served with a delicious side of cabbage. Not bad but the chicken and waffles was more memorable. DESSERT Carmel Cake with buttermilk​ ice cream - A ​quality slice of cake with a unique buttermilk ice cream. The cake was a bit dry to me but it tasted like legit cake. Overall, it was a great dining experience. I would go back for a special occasion but not for everyday casual dining. read more

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I dined here a couple of weeks ago as part of a holiday group dinner. This was the first and only time I'll dine here. The menu is very limited; there were five entrees on the menu and that night one was not available. Chicken and waffles is on the dinner menu. Another entree was a bone in ribeye and the lowest price for the cut was $108.50 (31oz at $3.50 per oz). I ordered a pasta dish. The pasta was hard and it was just too much of too many different items; just not to my liking. I was in Italy two weeks prior to my visit to Mandolin, so my pasta perspective was likely influenced my the many excellent dishes I had there. Another person in our group ordered the ribeye medium. It was delivered charred on the outside and rare on the inside. It was clearly not cooked "medium". I think you'll like Mandolin if you like "cute" food or if someone else is picking up the tab. It just wasn't for me. read more

Beautiful restaurant with delicious food! I ordered the corn curry with market fish and it was the perfect combo of sweet, savory, flaky, creamy, deliciousness. We had an amazing beet salad as an appetizer with goat cheese and it was lightly dressed but I could have eaten that whole thing as my meal. The acoustics and parking were a bit tough but food and service were on point. read more

I met some old high school classmates here for dinner during a recent reunion weekend, and we had a blast! I had a gin and tonic and the chicken and waffles, all very good! The service was very good too! read more

I always love mandolin! Such a good spot for classic southern food. We enjoyed the New Years Eve dinner, and the service was wonderful. The only feedback was the side scallop for $8 was a single scallop, it would have been good to clarify what we are paying for. read more

Mandolin - Chicken and waffles - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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the food was ok. Not worth the price. The pasta was underwhelming and chicken and waffles wasn't great. I'm sure it's great for other people however my group wasn't impressed :/ read more

Such a beautiful restaurant with an amazing staff. Went there for brunch and had their fried chicken biscuits with home fries. The meal was delicious, hot the spot and highly recommend this place. Will definitely be going back and trying everything on the menu. read more

Mandolin - Fried chicken biscuits with home fries and a salad. - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Summary: A tasty Chef-Owned farm-to-fork Restaurant with a fairly solid wine list. Been here quite a few times more and the food is always really good. The menu also updated (maybe quarterly) to introduce new seasonally fresh dishes. They have outdoor seating which is always nice (as long as weather conditions cooperate). The staff seems to be consistent which is also a good sign for any restaurant. Food is southern style with pizazz. The chef cues his own meats for the character as well (maybe not all but many). Everything is clearly fresh and quotes tasty. Service is spot on. Definitely recommend this restaurant for a relaxing evening out. It's not a family restaurant but it's also not an upscale date restaurant. Take your date or SO or take your friends. read more

Mandolin - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I think I was immediately was taken aback with the 91 food rating. Makes one skeptical from the jump and then happened to see the Terminix truck pull up as we were leaving and walk in the back door. That didn't leave the best impression on us as first time guests. All that to say, our main waitress was wonderful, attentive and answered all our menu questions. Most of enjoyed the food, shrimp and grits are quite tasty. However, what turned from a fun brunch with my friends and family became an absolute horror because of the bartender. Mind you, I was hosting a brunch for my 2 close friends and all of our mothers. This bartender (white, blonde, short buzz cut male) repeatedly made inappropriate remarks, visited the table way too often though we weren't his guests, touched multiple people at the table without consent, stared at me incessantly across the restaurant (it was so uncomfortable), and when I asked a different waiter to take a picture proceeded to take my phone and capture only images of me and wouldn't hand my phone over. Then after all of that harassment, followed us outside. It was the most uncomfortable experience I've had in a while and I told myself I'd write a review so others could avoid him. I get wanting to make your guests feel comfortable and complimenting us (because we are a great looking group) but this was nerve-wracking, unwarranted and disturbing to say the least. I was with my mother for gods sake. I'll never come back to this place, ever! read more

The service and the drinks were amazing! The food was all extremely mediocre. I'm happy to pay that price for good food, but I wouldn't even want to pay a cheaper price for the food they served, let alone the portions. Date got the chicken and I got the mushroom ragu, which was actually not ragu at all but was a farro dish. Neither of us was impressed at all. I was very excited to come here and very let down, so probably wouldn't come back read more

Sooooo good I thought my boyfriend was exaggerating when he said this place was good. The service was 10/10, the food was amaaaaaazing, and the drinks were definitely worth the price! Definitely coming here again!!! read more

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Dinner last night was an interesting experience. Although the food was good, there was a limited menu for a party over 10, which wasn't communicated to us prior to arriving. A few of us were not really pleased with the options, but we still tried a few dishes. I opted for two sides, braised collard greens and whipped mashed potatoes and I was very pleased. Both came in decent sized portions and were very well seasoned. Also pictured: duck dumplings, striped bass entree, and apple crisp and chocolate souffle for dessert. I would visit again to try the chicken and waffles entree that we weren't able to try due to our limited menu. read more

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Enjoy the Highbrow take on Southern cuisine Biscuits which seem to be a bridge between dinner rolls and a classic biscuit, cheesy grits, bacon and greens of the day are a feature. read more

Mandolin - Brunch of sides. - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Update 2/22/2020 -- had a completely bizarre experience on Saturday night. Our waitress showed up, got our drink order, filled it except for my unsweet tea, took out food order and then never returned. No bread service for almost 10 minutes until my wife flagged someone down to ask for bread. My unsweet tea came out almost the same time as the appetizers. After our appetizers were cleared a gentleman in a suit named Scott came up after my wife and mother-in-law saw him heatedly arguing with our waitress. He informed us that she was gone. He did his best to take care of the table the rest of the meal but both our entree and dinner service involved dishes arriving at different points and both times a lag in us actually having silverware. We will still go back to Mandolin as this meal was absolutely the outlier but it wasn't a very pleasant meal. -- Everything I have tried has been pretty much great but special standouts include those aforementioned chicken and dumplings, seared duck breast with red cabbage and any of the fish specials. The desserts are especially good too and while the chocolate soufflé is the boldest showpiece of their last courses, it's the inimitable caramel cake that haunts my dreams. Even though there are closer restaurants to my house who do their take on the farm-to-table thing (Elaine's, Oakleaf, Nana's, Crook's Corner, Piedmont, Watts Grocery, Tandem), we still make the extra effort to go to Mandolin. read more

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Disappointed with the overall service . They didn't offer to refill water and when we purchased a more expensive bottle of wine - they never refilled the glasses. Chicken was over cooked. This was a disappointment all around . read more

Wow... such potential. The Food, The Flavors, The Space---I'm in love! Just little ole me so decided to do the bar. Bartender busy so someone got my water---how come someone isn't here helping out throughout the night. Bartender hopping around like bugs bunny and slamming shakers, bottles you name it and drink service is slow in spite of all the noise. Less noise, more awareness of your customers would take this place over the top. Tuesday evening-it's steady to busy but dude CALM DOWN. I would've chalked it up to me being picky but I observed another customer in the bar get irritated and make a comment to one of the regulars seated at the bar who managed to get a tad more attention. Shrimp and grits served in cute little cast iron but warm not piping hot and my "busy bartender" never inquired how the main course was or the salad or the dessert. NOT HIS FAULT. Management should be visible and lending a hand when necessary. Despite getting no attention or service that these prices dictate., I will try again and hope that a little more attention to detail will align with the amazing food experience. And to aid in my effort perhaps I will not done alone... but should it matter???? April 2019--this place has become one of my favorites!!! Been meaning to revise my review---every experience since my initial review has been STELLAR! read more

HIGHLY recommend. Everything we ate was delicious. We ordered the charcuterie board, the butter lettuce salad, the catch of the day, the cavatelli pasta, and the chocolate soufflé. We don't normally order dessert but the soufflé was magnificent. The atmosphere is inviting, modern, and comfortable. We had attentive service throughout the meal. It's a great date night spot or if you're in the mood for some nicer food. read more

Mandolin - Charcuterie board, butter lettuce salad, and a glass of Malbec - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I recently got my hands on Chef Sean Fowler's JBF Blueprint Burger & tried some new Summer Cocktails at Mandolin. This was my first visit here and I heard so many great things about this restaurant. From the food, the inviting decor and awesome cocktails, I can see why this is a fave amongst locals in Raleigh I came here as this is Chef Fowler's 2nd yr accepting the james beard foundation's #BlendedBurgerProject challenge of serving a healthier, more sustainable burger called "The Blueprint Burger" The Blueprint Burger is made up of 50% grass-fed chuck, 25% Heritage Farms bacon, and 25% Fox Farm trumpet and shiitake mushrooms. It's topped with blue cheese, pickled Mandolin Farm ramp aioli, and La Farm Bakery's brioche bun. This is Mandolin's entry into the Blended Burger Project, an initiative of the James Beard Foundation to re-imagine the iconic burger to have a lighter footprint on the environment, and they'll be serving it through July. This burger got my vote for its flavor, juiciness and overall taste. If you go, Vote for Chef Sean Fowler here: https://wyng.io/fS0Bhe?v=II3m  (click the in the left-hand corner of the photo of Mandolin's BBP Burger) ... And YES! Burger Mondays are still a thing at Mandolin! That means $9 Burgers on Mondays; $15 other days of the week! read more

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Everything was delicious at this place. Friendly service and beautiful atmosphere. Oysters are fresh and flavorful. I will say since COVID waiting to be serve does take so long since it's little staff. read more

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My wife and I went to Mandolin for a special birthday dinner while traveling through Raleigh last Sunday and we had a very...unique...experience and some VERY hit-or-miss food. We also had to contend with a lot of strange happenings that involved food/beverages being sold out, improperly described or substituted awkwardly - all which led to a very weird evening that's, candidly, very difficult to review. When we first entered and sat down, we were blown away by the restaurant's décor and ambiance. This is a beautiful place that's immaculate, well-designed and extremely well decorated. It's gorgeous inside, but still cozy and inviting. It was a Sunday night following what we were told was a long, busy weekend for the restaurant, so it came as no huge surprise that they were out of our first choice of beer from the beverage menu. That's fine...there was a pretty decent selection of local craft beer that was well thought out and curated. We simply selected something else. What was more surprising was the charcuterie board that we were served. The menu description claimed that the charcuterie board featured, "assorted cured meats." What we were served was a board with three or four different pâtés, terrines and rillettes. These aren't cured meats, and they're things that my wife and I have never developed a taste for (despite trying them in many fine French restaurants). We asked our server why the menu was so misleading, and he claimed that the board was usually comprised of more cured meats and sausages, but that they had run out of them and made substitutions. Hey, that happens. But it would have been good to get a heads-up about it. Especially since pâtés, terrines and rillettes can be so divisive. We were able to swap the charcuterie board for the short rib appetizer. That turned out to be a great choice. Although a bit tougher than we were accustomed to, the short rib was extremely flavorful and the reduction it was served with was downright craveable. We had to ask for additional bread to sop it up from the bottom of the bowl. Our entrees were a slightly different story, and a bit of a study in contrast. My wife loved her chicken and waffles. The fried chicken was incredibly crispy and delicious. The waffle was a bit of an afterthought - room temperature and soggy. But that didn't matter...the chicken was amazing. My experience with the chicken pot pie was very different, mostly because of the proportions. The pot pie was served in an extremely shallow cast iron pan. Since it was so shallow, the percentage of crust to filling was WAY off. The filling was too heavy on the veggies and too light on the chicken. It was also too light on the sauce/gravy. The chicken and veggies felt more like they were lightly tossed in the sauce/gravy instead of swimming in it, like you would expect in a pot pie. Overall, this all led to it being one of the least delectable pot pies I had ever eaten, and certainly not worth the $19 it cost. Then things got a bit weird around dessert. Being somewhat full and not wanting anything too heavy, I ordered the trio of sorbets. Our server claimed the flavors were key lime, pink lemonade and (I believe) coconut. He later came back to the table and stated that those were all wrong, and that there were a few substitutions - including a butternut squash sorbet - because they had sold out of so many. I told him that butternut squash sorbet sounded weird, but I trusted that the chef wouldn't send out something disgusting, and to go ahead and put the order in. A few more minutes later, he came back to the table to say that the butternut squash sorbet was sampled by the chef, who hated it, and that they were going to replace it with ice cream instead. When the desserts finally came out (a souffle for my wife and sorbet for me), our server showed me the sorbets - which were all defrosted liquids - and said, "we're not comfortable serving you any of these." I settled for a single small scoop of vanilla ice cream and called it a night. That was a really weird series of events. Why not just 86 the sorbet and ask me to order another dessert? Why bring out the defrosted, nasty looking sorbets and present them to me if you weren't going to serve them? It was all really strange. My last (albeit tiny) gripe was the lack of recognition of our special occasion. We had told the woman that called to confirm our reservation that it was my birthday. The entire evening then passed without so much as a single, "Happy Birthday," from the staff. Not a big deal, but still somewhat disappointing. Overall, Mandolin looks beautiful and the kitchen is certainly capable of turning out some amazing food. But, the disjointed, awkward service, the hit-or-miss execution/conceptualization of the dishes and a few other factors would really keep me from recommending it. Raleigh is a great food town with some incredible restaurants...I'd go elsewhere for a really great meal. read more

Mandolin - This place is really pretty. Shame the food and experience wasn't in line with the ambiance. - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Fried chicken was white meat dried out like it had been pre cooked. The $14 cocktail was all ice, tasty but very little alcohol and I'm a cheap date. The chicken and dumplings was homey tasty. Nice ambiance, a date place but expensive for the quality. read more

I was here for dinner a few years back and it was very good. My friends decided to take me to brunch for my birthday. We had a reservation and they made us wait almost 20 minutes. I ordered the biscuits with sausage gravy and a side of eggs. I was disappointed a was starving and I didn't want my friends to feel bad otherwise, I would've sent the stuff back. The bacon my friend had was really good and even the stale cinnamon sugar doughnut with a candle was nice. I had a better experience for dinner a few years back, perhaps I'll try brunch again. read more

Had a really fun and tasty Game of Thrones themed dinner at Mandolin just in time for the premiere of the first episode of final season. Food was great with an outstanding "bowl of brown" and equally good "pigeon pie". Lots of themed decorations. So glad the chef and/or owner decided to host this event. read more

Mandolin - Game of Thrones menu - Southern Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina