Best cocktails in Apex! Their drink menu changes daily so there's always something new to try

This is a relaxed eatery with a simple menu. The food is straightforward but you can tell its made with high-quality ingredients. Goat Cheese salad-extraordinary, lettuce was the freshest I've ever had in a salad, goat cheese creamy and delicious with a tangy vinaigrette. IMO this was the star of the meal! Hearts of Romaine salad-pretty good Shoestring Onions-served hot and piled high, a true guilty pleasure Margaritas-yummmmmmm, and they have Corona and Corona Light :-) Service-Excellent! Thanks Kaitlin K! I like this place. We visited around 5pm on a weekday and it was empty but it started filling up fast around dinner time. Choose a booth in front for a cool view of downtown Apex. read more

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The Provincial is to die for. I've been going here for years and it's my favorite restaurant in town. Friendly service, great atmosphere, and the best food options. Some of my personal favorites include their Spinach Feta Dip, Hanger Steak, Salmon, and Carrot Cake! Definitely give this place a try you won't regret it. read more

The Provincial - Spinach Artichoke Warm Spinach & Feta Cheese Dip Plate - New American Near Me - Apex, North Carolina

This is one of our favorite restaurants. The quality of the food is consistent. The entrees, as well as the desserts are delicious and always fresh. We have eaten here many times and the staff is always courteous and efficient. When we have friends visiting or special celebrations this is one of our go to spots! read more

Great food and service! SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS! The sweetest and best Chef owner/ wife team read more

The Provincial - New American Near Me - Apex, North Carolina

I ate here on a Sunday night with two other people for dinner. These are my thoughts and observations. - It was packed inside, so we decided to eat outside. - Their drink and food menus change on a daily basis. - Our waitress let me try samples of the beer selection. - Our service was slow. I had to wait 15 minutes to get a beer, and we waited 45 minutes for our food. - I enjoyed my meatloaf with mashed potatoes and side salad. That's a nostalgic dish for me. Overall, if you want to try a restaurant that has a revolving door for a menu, try it out. This place give me a hit-or-miss vibe, but my experience was a hit. read more

I had high hopes for The Provincial. It has a very loud small dinning room with a bar. The food was just average. Drinks were on the light side/short pours. The service was very, very slow. we had to flag down our server to refill our water glasses a few times. They forgot all about our appetizers. Our server owned up to forgetting them. And said would get them out to us right away. We told him to cancel one of the appetizer and bring the other as soon as it was ready.. About 20 mins later,Just as we were finishing up our main dishes. He brought out the other appetizer. Not a great dining experience. More of a loud bar with food. Then a restaurant with a bar. If that makes any sense... Thank you read more

I read the other less than stellar reviews and thought maybe they had one off experiences and decided to try it anyway. Don't be me, heed their warning. My boyfriend and I went Saturday night at 5:20 and were told by the hostess there was no seating outside until 7pm. There were tons of seats but I assumed they were being concerned about reservations. What do I know, so we happily added out name to the 7pm list. (To be clear the hostess was very nice & a good part of the experience). We came back at 7 and are seated at 7:30, again not a big deal they can't control when tables open. We looked at the menu while waiting to be seated and decided on the Brussels sprouts, the swordfish and the tuna tacos. After being seated our server let us know they were out of the tuna tacos (alright) and the Brussels sprouts (unless you order a meal with them. So just the side was unavailable...) okay again. My boyfriend changes his order to the hanger steak and we order the smoked fish appetizer. It was mediocre. The pickles were easily the best part. The server comes back after forgetting our order and asks for it again. He disappears and comes back to let me know they are now out of the swordfish as well, but can substitute the flounder. I'm not big on flounder but I see they have scallops on the small plates menu and see if they might be able to use them instead. He said he doesn't want to ask the chef because he doesn't think they'll do it (the man looks like he's terrified to even ask, I wonder what kind of verbal abuse he receives from him.) He asks anyway which I appreciated greatly. When he comes back without a hint of irony says "we can't substitute the scallops, we don't do substitutions. But we will gladly substitute the flounder". He went on to explain the chef has weighed out scallops for appetizers only and couldn't put them on the entree? I don't understand how taking the exact same amount of scallops and putting them on the entree plate was impossible but I wasn't going to push the matter with the nice server. I also would not have deigned to ask for a substitution to begin with if they hadn't been out or every single thing we had wanted to order to begin with. (I also would have been paying more for less and I was more than happy to do so). At this point he asks me for my drink order again as he has forgotten once more. I end up ordering the small plate of scallops and a side of carrots. My drinks were fine but unimpressive. (Ended up trying both the maple bomb and the apple pie martini, the maple bomb was much better and more balanced.) The roasted carrots were good, the scallops were excellent but the risotto that came with it was awful. It was thin and soupy and somehow mealy. My boyfriends hanger steak looked great, and he said the meat itself was good but the sides were unremarkable. I like small menus but two hours in to being open half of their items were gone and they had zero interest in being flexible with what was left. The condescension was palpable. We are in Apex regularly but will be going to The Peak on Salem for our +$100 meals from now on. I also want to clarify that while the server was very forgetful he was nice & obviously doing his best at his job. He might just need to write orders down from now on. I have a feeling a lot of the problem is chef ego (and from the quality of food provided I am dumbfounded as to why). For the amount of money there are tons of places near by that are interested in providing a nice experience and excellent food. This isn't it. read more

Wow! Wonderful every time we go. Fabulous cocktails and terrific wine list. But the food is AMAZING! Everything out of the kitchen is crazy good. And save room for dessert!!!! Can't stress that enough! Service is so good, too!!! So happy to be nearby so I can enjoy often. read more

Wow! What a gem in the heart of downtown Apex. We came early on a Friday evening and the place was packed. Thankfully we were able to make reservations earlier that day. Highly recommend making reservations because as we sat enjoying our dinner, we heard the hostess have to tell people the bad news that there were no available tables till much later that night. Our server was very friendly and even though she didn't know all the answers to the questions we had about the menu, she graciously sought them out. We started off our evening with the fish spread. Delicious! We almost ordered an extra so that we could take it home. My husband ordered the lamb chops and I ordered the tuna poke. Both were amazingly flavorful. What surprised me is how delicious the spinach side was that came with the lamb chops. Best spinach side ever! We are already looking forward to our next visit The Provincial. Hoping to check out their upstairs area and sample some of the local fish dinner entrees they have. read more

Would have loved to get a chance to try the food here but we were unable to ever be seated and their treatment of guests left us not wanting to ever go back. We arrived at 6:30 last Friday and requested an outside seat. The hostess said no problem, it would be about an hour and took our name and number. We walked around downtown Apex for a while and grabbed a bench to sit and wait. Finally around 7:45 we went back to check on our spot in line. The hostess said that we would be unable to be seated before close outside because the outside guests were taking too long and that they had meant to call us but forgot to. We were flabbergasted by this type of treatment. We understand places being too busy to get at table at, that happens all the time. But you can't agree to seat people and have them wait around over an hour and never give them an indication that they won't be seated. If you're too full that's fine, let us know upfront and we'll search for another place and try your restaurant later. But now we are left with a sour disposition about The Provincial solely on how we were treated in being "forgotten to notify that we'd never be seated". That's just unacceptable. read more

Drinks are good, but this place is way overpriced for what it is. I appreciate the concept, however, the food was very ordinary.

I'm honestly seriously disappointed. I've heard from several people who raved about the food. I'm frankly underwhelmed. I ordered a salad with balsamic vinaigrette. It was a cup of balsamic vinegar. I told my server and she said she was bringing some oil to "cut" it. Needless to say it never arrived. Brussels sprouts were overcooked and hard . My steak was ordered medium. It arrived burned on the outside and tasted burned. I cut that portion off and ate the rest. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. I've had much better meals at half the price! read more

Great variety of custom cocktails and friendly staff. Also many gluten free items including the fried onion straws, which are some of the best I've had. They use fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. read more

We have been dining here for quite some time because we love the food. The problem is that it is so loud that we can hardly have a conversation with friends. We try to eat upstairs when possible, but it is not always an option. read more

Great food and great service. I'm definitely coming back. Also the quality of the food is top notch. They source from local farmers.

Wonderful spot in downtown Apex with sidewalk dining. Staff is very friendly and attentive. Nice variety of beer and wine, had a couple of beer samples. Loved eating outside in the evening. Very relaxing. Menu items change. I ordered the beer cheese dip with their homemade toasted sourdough bread. Yummy and very filling! Loved the hint of horseradish in the dip. My brother had the cheese platter with jam and grapes. Nice selection of tasty cheeses. Hubby had chicken with hot tasty fries. Dinner prices are at least $15. Quality of food was excellent. Great dining experience. Will be back! read more

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Good food but bad service and persnickety about any special request. They won't even let you request a booth for four people for a reservation a week out. Too many other good places to eat to than to deal with their elitism. read more

We tried it last night for first time. We got there early enough to get a booth - booths seats at 6 adults. We were 4 so we were comfortable. Staff was truly lovely. Professional, informative and attentive without being in your face interrupting. We all had different drinks and we were all very pleased. Most of us got some variation of the tuna and one of us had the skirt steak. Literally every one of us was part of the clean-plate club last night. And we all go out to dinner and lunch enough times that we all know we usually end up taking a portion of our meals home... Not last night. We even tried dessert. Blueberry peach crisp w real vanilla ice cream and brownie also w ice cream. Bravo! Keep it up. We loved it. read more

The Provincial - Tuna fillet w mash potatoes. Delicious. - New American Near Me - Apex, North Carolina

We recently moved to Apex and have been dying to try The Provincial in the Downtown historical district. We started our meal with the crispy onion strings. They are AMAZING! Paired with a cucumber ranch it is such a fun starter and something we will get on our next visit! Our entrees were the chicken breast and the Norwegian salmon. The Salmon was a 10/10! It tasted as delicious as it looks. Definitely one of the prettiest dishes I've ever been served. It will be hard not getting this dish on every trip. The chicken breast was also really good, but we will try something else on our next visit. Before we left we made reservations for Valentine's Day because this place is THAT GOOD! read more

The Provincial - Grilled Norwegian Salmon - New American Near Me - Apex, North Carolina

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Every time I try to go to this restaurant, there is an issue with the hostesses being rude or not trying to get my friends and I a table. One night we arrived at 8:30, the sign clearly says open until 9 amd the hostess turned us away, saying they are not serving dinner anymore. Last night we had a reservation and they wanted to stick us upstairs in a dark corner. We specifically asked to sit down stairs and they said they could not accommodate when we arrived. However there were two open tables, which they had said were reserved. Nobody ever came and sat at either table. It was 7:00 pm on a Saturday, and they had run out of the two items on the men that my friend and I wanted to order. The manager was extremely rude and told us to leave his restaurant because we we're unhappy with the service. We will not be going back. There are too many other great restaurants around, to be treated so badly. read more

Mediocre food...pork chop was tough... the bartender was rude....rest of the staff were great.

Very good food excellent staff. Eating light at the fried calamari, honey brussels sprouts both were excellent. read more

This place is so cute and absolutely delicious. We are looking at moving to Apex and this place helped convince us. The food was outstanding and so fresh. The scallops were fantastic! Love that the menu changes depending on what the chef wants to cook or what's fresh. All items we ordered were great. Will definitely be back! read more

Another great evening at The provincial. This is our go to Date night place. We don't get them often so we come here where the food and service are always top notch. The roasted chicken is my husbands favorite. Who knew you make a roasted chicken taste that good. My favorite is the seared Scallops. So perfectly cooked. The staff are all so nice and professional. Thank you. read more

There have been a few times in my life when I relished in a good 'pretty woman' moment. You know, Julia Roberts gets rejected from an upscale boutique only to return later and utter the infamous line 'big mistake, huge!' Tonight was one of those nights. I've been to The Provincial a few times during the day, the food is solid. Tonight when we arrived at 5:30, 4 adults and my 2yo son, we were told they had reservations starting at 6:15 and we couldn't be seated (even though there were two benches and 5 tables open at the moment). Then another employee came over and said we could be seated, but would have to leave promptly at 6:15 because they 'had to honor the people who made their reservation'. If the restaurant was packed, sure I get it. If we showed up at 10pm and they were closing, I get that too. But my whole family and I were given the impression that we weren't overly welcomed there, so we left. (Side note, when we walked by later, around 6:30, the restaurant was still half empty.... so much for those reservations they were waiting for) The Provincial lost out on a good piece of business today along with a generous tip. Thankfully there are plenty of great restaurants in the triangle that are more accommodating to me and my family. read more

We've had dinner at The Provincial a couple of times over the last few years so we made a 7 pm reservation last Saturday night since we had out of town friends visiting. We were quickly seated upstairs and our server came over to welcome us and take drink orders. However when our server came over to take our food order she let us know they were out of Halibut. 3 out of 5 of us were planning to order the Halibut. Disappointing, but we each found something else. 2 of the three that wanted Halibut then ordered the chicken dish. Our waitress went to enter our order and came back to tell us they were out of chicken. This was extremely frustrating. The food was delicious and our server was good. Not sure we will go back for awhile because of the frustrating experience of not being able to order. We knew they had a limited and revolving menu, but then the menu became even more limited to 4 different entrees. read more

Loved the nc fish dish, app shrimp. poke could have been better.. everything tasted good. Will be back.

Wow! What an amazing dinner we had at The Provincial! So looking forward to making a trip down back to try something on the daily changing fresh menu. Tonight we had fresh Red Drum and Chicken as well as dessert, everything was exceptional and the service was fantastic. read more

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Still the #1 spot for a great meal that is truly farm to fork. Chef Wayne has a relentless passion for putting out world class food.

We have lived Apex for a year now but finally had the chance to visit The Provincial tonight. The restaurant is small and loud even though it wasn't that busy. I love small plates so I was excited to try their dishes. We ordered the cheese platter and spinach dip. The spinach dip was pretty good and the cheese platter was very skimpy. So skimpy that they ran out of crackers and gave us 3 pieces of bread which were quite burned. When we asked for more bread they said it would be an up charge of 2.50. This move just soured our whole experience. If you run out of crackers you do what you need to do to make up for it, especially when it was 15 minutes after we ordered. I don't think we will be back. read more

2.5 stars. The food and beverages are excellent and reasonably priced. The dining rooms and atmosphere are lovely. The staff are quite good, but EXTREMELY overwhelmed -- perhaps management cannot hire enough staff... Our dessert never arrived, but when the check did, we were charged for the phantom chocolate peanut butter brownie. Getting the check corrected took too long. The experience was terrible. However, the excellent food and atmosphere require a return visit. read more

Goat cheese salads are AMAZING!!! I honestly haven't tried anything else because I am so blown away on how great these salads are so I have never made it to any where else on the menu, I definitely recommend that salad. I normally order out so sorry that I can't comment on the atmosphere or the service of the place, it's been over three years since I have eaten in here. read more

Oly oly oly,the sauce was absolutely busssss'n. Ranch has a hint of pickle juice and the tomato sauce takes me back to when I was a kid in the cottages of Liverpool. read more

We have been wanting to eat here for a long time. Finally made it and it was great! Service was friendly and the food was fresh and delicious. Highly recommend. read more

My new Cheers!!! Amazing and consistent food that honors the freshness and integrity of the ingredients!!! Feels like home... hoping as they grow the quality is maintained!!! read more

A hidden gem in downtown Apex and one of my favorite places to go to! Their goat cheese salad and spinach dip are to die for!! This isn't a speedy restaurant but service is great and I think this is due to it being chef prepared meals. It's not an overly long wait but something to point out! read more

Great food but watch your bill!!! They pad the prices, everything on the bill is higher than the menu. When addressed the waitress could care less, said prices change read more

Nice atmosphere, very friendly staff. We had tasty appetizers including the crochettes and the onions rings. They have a limited menu, but all the dishes were good ...however, do NOT order the beef - I got food poisoning. read more

Made it for lunch, simple menu, fresh ingredients. We tried the cheese plate, onion rings (super thin), ahi tuna tacos, and romaine salad with grilled chicken. Good option in downtown Apex if you want something other than pub grub. read more