Blowing Rock Grille and Bert’s Bar

We stopped here for lunch on Sunday, the parking lot was packed. Fortunately we were sat immediately by a friendly smiling host. Our waiter Mike greeted us very shortly after. This is an old house turned restaurant. A little bit dark inside for a sunny day but white tablecloths dressed each table. The noise level was moderate.
We had a Mimosa while we perused the brunch and specials menu. A wide range of choices but we both decided on Monte Cristo sandwiches. We were served a maple nut muffin with softened whipped butter. My wife had sparkling water and they served it cold without any ice. As small as that sounds, no one does that.
I had a cup of chicken gumbo – OMG! Everything about it was perfect. The chicken was pulled, the spices were blended to the correct point where they started out flavorful and then came the heat. And time was spent making a dark roux. Creamy and rich. Needless to say it was as good as I can make. Great job chef!
Our MCs came out quickly but timely. I asked for the Melba sauce on the side and glad I did; they drizzle a bit too much over the whole sandwich making it impossible to eat with your hands. Plus they cut it into quarters. Why? Though it was more than ample amount of protein. It was served with house fried chips.
Our overall experience was good, not 4star but it was a solid meal with solid service. We will return.

Great experience. Food presented very nicely and was excellent .
My husband had the salmon cake special and I had the Grilled Trout.
Service was super and the easy parking added to the enjoyment.

Blowing Rock grill is now closed and the business is for sale

My wife and I were visiting Blowing Rock and she has been going to Blowing Rock grille for years and decided to take me. We were going to have an early dinner so we decided to get the Half sandwich and Soup. the soup that day was vegetable soup. It came in a big bowl and you were offered either a corn muffin or a strawberry muffin — which my wife says it’s the best thing! Well, I’m more traditional with my soup and got the corn muffin and she got the strawberry muffin. We joke today as i should have gotten the strawberry muffin — amazing taste! Order the strawberry muffin!
The vegetable soup was probably the best I have ever had. We were amazed by the flavor and the amount of vegetables — we ended up counting the veggies. I think there was a total of 15 types in the soup ans big chunks! My sandwich was the Turkey and Pepper Jack — I had it with everything, the only thing I would change was to remove the onion. It said sauteed onions, I was thinking yellow onion, not red onion. I’m not a fan of red onion. other than that, very good. My wife got the Chicken Melt — as always, she enjoyed it. She said she always orders it. great place for a quick and delicious lunch. Not far from the main street — just up the hill is main street. It was a cloudy and cool day, so we didn’t eat outside, but plenty of room and hope to eat outside next time. Make sure you get the strawberry muffin! Had to say it again.

We like coming here and sitting outside during lunch, cause it’s wonderful and great people watching. However, dinner was not impressive. I ordered the grouper which was very disappointed! I received a piece of fish that looked like a mozzarella stick, thin and long. Never in my life have I ever received such a horrible piece of fish for over $ 25 bucks.
I won’t be coming back for dinner … for sure!

«Fantastic dinner, great atmosphere. Pricey but the salmon special was worth every penny– my husband said it may be the best meal he has ever had. We will be back!»

Dinner was disappointing and overpriced! Fried calamari just tasted like a frozen version from a chain restaurant. Husband ordered sirloin but received the ribeye which was very thin! My grouper was ok but nothing notable. Will skip next time we are in town.

Homemade bread on the French dip. Even locals are highly recommending the place. Great ambiance and the waitress was nice.

I thought this place was great! We stumbled across this place by mistake (after a fiasco at Knights on Main. feel free to read the review), and I’m so glad we came here!
They stop serving lunch at 3:00pm and we arrived at 2:50, I was pretty skeptical that we’d get the short end of the stick as far as quality and service goes, but I was proven wrong.
I had the grilled chicken sandwhich, fries were hot and crispy, chicken was cooked very tender and not dried out at all. Everyone else in my party enjoyed their meal with no complaints.
Server was really friendly and on top of refills, prices are good for what you get.
This is one of the better places in downtown Blowing Rock, will be here again!

We had a nice bottle of wine and nice entrees (shrimp scampi and stuffed chicken breast), and our waiter was very nice. We did have to wait about 15 minutes to even have someone try and take a drink order or anything, which was frustrating. Prices were a bit high for the food. Very cute décor.

Got there around 5 PM and ordered two steaks. Waitress was very friendly. Around 45 minutes later our steaks arrived both well done instead of medium and medium rare. We sent them back. 30 minutes later (that should have been a clue) they came back over cooked again. When I commented to the waitress about them being overcooked again although not quite as bad as the first ones the manager or cook. Not sure which came out to argue about it. It appears they believe that a medium rare steak has a tiny bit of pink in the middle and is mostly grey. I didn’t eat the steak but was charged for it regardless. I asked the waitress to have to cook google «steak medium rare» so he could learn what it should look like.

Great food and great service. Prices are fair for the fare. Highly recommend for a nice meal.

We arrived at 12:15pm and had our order taken pretty quickly. At 12:59pm we were told that our chicken burritto had dropped and needed to be made again. My husband told our waiter to bring my shrimp and grits out anyway. Our waiter told us that they wanted to make both items over again. He said it would be another 10 minutes. 12 minutes later the couple next to us, who were also being served by our waiter, and who were seated 40 minutes after us, got their order. We left at 1:15. An hour of our time with absolutely no return. Did the waiter lie, was the kitchen inept? Either way, it’s bad management. Never again.

It was the Bert’s Bar sign that caught my eye. In a county where alcohol is not very easy to come by, especially outside of a tavern, so I was curious when I saw the nice patio and inviting front entry. The bar is small and is part of the dining room, but perfect. The décor is dark and relaxing like a library with candles. The bartender reminded us of a soccer mom and she was outstanding at her pours. The bar had a nice selection of top shelf booze and a very eclectic wine list. We had such a nice time, we ended up staying for dinner and it turned out to be the best meal of our 7 day Southeast road trip.
The artichoke spinach dip is to die for… very unlike the greasy chain restaurant variety. We followed up with a wonderful heirloom tomato salad that had a nice presentation. I opted for the chicken since I was over my trout fascination and didn’t want steak. My guy had the steak and shared some and it was terrific, as was the chicken which was prepared stuffed and glazed.
The service was terrific, the ambiance was romantic, and even when all tables were seated, the acoustics were nice and calm. Now if they could just ditch the LCD tv behind the bar…

We had a lovely lunch on their outdoor patio. The patio was inviting, with lots of charm and a nice little garden even though it was right on the street. Inside looked roomy and casual.
There were 4 of us and we all enjoyed our meals. They offer some great Mexican choices, Vegetarian choices and our burger and salad was great.
Not only do they allow dogs on the patio but they brought them dishes of water too. They have a full bar inside.