Panzanella

I have a confession to make. I’m a bad Duke.
Well, I don’t know that I actually deserved the Duchy to be honest. I got it after two check-​ins at Panzanella. Not to say that I didn’t go quite a bit — I did — but for such a nice place with a really small-​town feel and wonderful food, I think it’s unfortunate that I was the only one checking in.
Beyond that, I never posted a review. I intended to but, it just fell off my plate. So, now, despite the restaurant closing (which is a crying shame as it was one of my favorite spots in Carrboro), I’m going to write my review. Consider it a Farewell from the Duke.
The atmosphere was cozy but open. It had a small town feel that I and my fiancé really enjoyed (let’s call her the Duchess — and she really deserved that title as she was a loyal and consistent patron).
There was space to talk and be heard without yelling. The interior was plain without being dull and had a rural/​rustic ambiance mixed with a hint of the sophistication that you expect (and is sometimes way overdone) in Carrboro.
The staff (my subjects? — maybe I’m taking this Dukedom thing too seriously.. .) were always friendly, prompt and had great recommendations. The Duchess and I had a list of our favorites but, when we heard they were closing we made it a point to try as much from the menu as we could. We wanted to savor the last few weeks of excellent food and memories. The menu was consistently wonderful.
Our favorites? The risotto with the butternut squash and the parmesan portabello dish — both will be missed.
The generous glasses of wine and ice-​cold Peroni may be found at other establishments, but I believe I’ll always suspect the wine glass would be fuller and the beer a degree colder at Panzanella now that it’s gone.
Most of all, I’ll miss a great place to hang-​out, enjoy wonderful dishes in a friendly and inviting locale. A place where I’ve made some great memories in just a few short months that will last the rest of my life.
I’ll miss Panzanella and, although I know there are many other fine restaurants in the area, Panzanella will always hold a special and honored place in my heart and head.
Dukedom aside, I was always well served at Panzanella and, whatever the reasons for the closing, it will be missed.
The Duke

I don’t know what Unilocal is talking about, Panzanella isn’t closed, I went to eat there last night.
I’m really torn on the star rating for Panzanella, in some ways it’s a solid 4 stars, but in other ways, it’s a solid two star kind of restaurant.
Panzanella is a part of the Weaver Street Market, which it’s connected to. However, even though it’s a part of the Co-​op, Panzanella has the décor and feel of a normal restaurant. One of the cool things about this restaurant is the artwork on the walls. They cycle through different local artists. What I really appreciate is that the artwork is always quality, and it’s something to look forward to when visiting the restaurant.
Since Panzanella shares a lot with Harris Teeter, there’s pretty much always nearby free parking, which is nice.
The ingrediants at Panzanella are a selling point for me. They always taste fresh. The pasta tastes like it is of high quality. The meats are flavorful. The vegetables and herbs are great compliments to the food.
I’ve tried a number of their pizzas, and have been satisfied every time. Well… let me preface that a little: the pizzas tastes good, no doubt. But, I’ve found that the pizza is sloppy. The crust is too loose or spongy, and cannot sustain the weight of the cheese and toppings on top of it, so if you pick up a slice from the back, the cheese and toppings will promptly slide onto your plate. It’s not a big deal, just be ready to use your fork to support the front of the pizza when you pick up a slice.
My picky vegetarian wife is happy to eat at Panzanella. They are able to accomodate her vegan needs, which boils down to pasta with vegetables. She really likes the pasta at Panzanella.
I’ve also had and enjoyed the Pasta Alle Arriabata. The chicken sausage tastes great.
All in all the food and décor would be the 4 star version of Panzanella.
Onto the bread! Panzanella does things a little differently in regards to the bread they serve with their meals. They don’t have a mere one type of bread. No, they have TWO types of bread. I know, weird. But as weird as it is, what’s even weirder is that they are the only restaurant I know of that has two types of bread. I think, but I’m not sure that they switch out their bread types. It’s usually seemed to me that they have one hard crunchy bread, and one soft sweet bread. My only complaint with the bread is that they always serve the dipping sauce with balsamic vinegar. But if you just ask for some plain olive oil, they’ll be happy to provide it.
One of my issues with Panzanella is the price. It’s a little bit high. What makes the price point ($ 14 for a pizza) a little tougher to swallow is that the portions are really pretty small. It’s not a huge problem, but I just feel like it bears mentioning that you’ll pay more here than you would at other comparable Italian restaurants, and get smaller portions.
I’ve got some sanitation concerns. I’ve been there numerous times and the silverware seemed a little dirty. On my most recent visit, the server was handling food, money, and changing out a trash bin. It just didn’t seem like there was the oppurtunity to wash hands in there, and it sqwiked me out a little bit.
My last complaint is the spotty service. Some of the times that I’ve been to Panzanella the service has been fine. Other times, it’s been pretty apathetic. There’s one server that my picky vegetarian wife has nicknamed «Side-​Job Bob.» Side Job Bob never actually takes food to the table, doesn’t refill bread, and takes forever to bring the check. But, this guy is constantly doing side work.
You should give Panzanella a try, the food is good, and they have some interesting options.
1÷19÷14: Update: Unilocal was right, Panzanella was getting ready to close. No wonder the service sucked that night. What a bummer. This place was decent…

Came here last friday for dinner with my bestie before heading to a concert at the cats cradle and it was good. Started off with a nice wise, pinot grigio and had the pizza special with bacon argula peppers and cheese exquisite and my friend had the veggie pasta which she equally loved. The waitress was friendly and helped us decide our options.

And straight onto my Best of Brunch list, because this was hands down one of the top 5 brunches I’ve had in the Triangle.
I ordered the Eggs Benedict and subbed my potatoes/​grits for toast (at no upcharge). This turned out to be the best decision of all time, because the jam served with the toast is delectable. It’s amazing. And I went and bought some, because all of their sourcing is done through Weaver Street Market! The eggs benedict on foccacia was flawless, and even the salad was above average.
Vegans will be happy here – you have many options. My boyfriend went for the vegan enchiladas and said they were absolutely delicious.
I wish I could give five stars because I so enjoyed our meal, but unfortunately the service isn’t good enough for that. I notice other reviewers have had the same experience. I had to wait at least 10 minutes to ask for cream for my tea and a water. The restaurant was not busy when we came in, and it was pretty clear this was more a case of spotty service than a rushed front of house. I would suggest you DEFINITELY come here while you’re in Carrboro; but make sure you’re not in a hurry.

The food is adequate to good and consistent but the Staff act like they’ve got better things to do and gather behind the bread counter and talk about customers. There are a lot of similar restaurants in this area like The Venable that will be getting my business instead.

I’ve been back here a couple times and am happy to say it is definitely a 5 star place!
Their prices are very reasonable and they have more vegan options than on my first visit. A good example, and a delicious lunch item, is the vegan wrap with spinach, cashew cheese, and beets, plus a side of salad and fruit for $ 8.
I haven’t been here for dinner lately, but it’s a great brunch spot.
I do wish they would abolish tipping though, just read this paragraph:
Studies have shown that tipping is not an effective incentive for performance in servers. It also creates an environment in which people of color, young people, old people, women, and foreigners tend to get worse service than white males. In a tip-​based system, nonwhite servers make less than their white peers for equal work. Consider also the power imbalance between tippers, who are typically male, and servers, 70 percent of whom are female, and consider that the restaurant industry generates five times the average number of sexual harassment claims per worker. And that in many instances employers have allegedly misused tip credits, which let owners pay servers less than minimum wage if tipping makes up the difference.
Citations for those claims can be found here:

Panzanella is a Carrboro staple. They offer fresh, local ingredients and well-​crafted food, but it often comes off as a little uninspired. Over the 10 or so years I have been going here, it does not seem as though they have overhauled their menu yet. I have also had bad experiences with the wait staff – occasionally we have gotten a waiter with a bad attitude who did not seem to want to serve us at all. Anywhere else, I would probably give Panzanella 4 stars, but in such a food-​centric town as Chapel Hill/​Carrboro, Panzanella doesn’t particularly stand out.

The past two times I’ve been to Panzanella the food was great but the service was terrible. On our last visit, we were barely greeted by the hostess. The service was slow and the waitress didn’t ever bring us silverware. She put down our meals and vanished, leaving us to take silverware from an unoccupied table. The outdoor seating and décor are nice and the food is good so if you don’t care about customer service, this may be your kind of place.

I wish there was an option to give this 3.5 stars.
I’ve been here a handful of times.
What I like: that the food is local, that it’s yummy, that there is seating outside.
What I don’t like: It seems like some of the dishes are 3 stars, while others I seem to get lucky with.

We usually make it to Panzanella 2 – 3 times a year (for the past 9 years). The quality of the food is consistently high, which you would expect at the price point. We like the focus on local foods which, of course, would be expected from a local co-​op owned restaurant. I suppose one of the reasons we don’t visit more often is that the dining room lacks a little something. It has a nice former-​mill ambiance but the tables and chairs just leave me a little unenthusiastic.
The wine and cocktail list are adequate to good and the bartenders do a decent job at making cocktails. Servers tend to be fine, although we’ve had a couple of less-​than-​great servers over the years, but that’s probably just the nature of the industry. All in all, I recommend Panzanella as a good restaurant.

We’re not usually in the Chapel Hill/​Carrboro area, but today we were, and decided to stop in to Panzanella for lunch on a whim. We did take a look at the menu before going in and easily found that they had a create-​your-​own-​pasta option that was easy to veganize. :) I got the aglio e olio option with penne, and complemented that with a Weaver Street house salad (no cheese). My fiancé got the same option, except he chose linguine and salmon. They did have Foothills Hoppyum IPA on draft, so that made the fiancé happy. :)
Our food was tasty, the wait staff was competent (if slightly sleepy… I’m pretty sure he was a college student, no surprise). It wasn’t too busy for a Saturday, but by the time we left it was nearly full. I know there were also quite a few people sitting outside as well. Bathroom was fairly clean. If we’re back in that area of town, I’d stop in.

We normally love Panzanella’s brunch menu, and love that it is usually not too busy. We can get a table with no wait most Sundays.
Yesterday, I tried ordering their huevos rancheros, and our grumpy server told me they were out of it. I asked which parts they were out of, thinking I could live without the sour cream or tortilla if those were the missing items. He said, «We’re out of most of it» in a non-​committal way. I had my mouth fixed for savory, and was disappointed.
I tried their pork shoulder BBQ, dubbed the «Best BBQ Ever» or some such nonsense. I was told they were out of fries. Only 2 sides were offered with the bbq, coleslaw (obviously) and salad or fries. Since fries were a no-​go, and salad with coleslaw seemed redundant, I tried my hand at some «cheese» grits instead. Not cheesy.
The bbq? Meh. I should have known to avoid bbq from any place that doesn’t have a smoker out back. Crock pot bbq ain’t even close to «The Best.»
My hubs ordered their recently updated French toast (cinnamon bread with a strawberry lemon sauce.). It was soggy and mediocre, and served without whipped cream or maple syrup.
Our server basically ignored us after the food was up, and we had to ask for water refills from another server. Overall, a crummy and disappointing Sunday brunch. However, we will likely be back since we normally have good experiences. We like the atmosphere, and the food is usually pretty good.
Avoid ordering their BBQ special if you like eastern-​style pig. And they really ought to tweak that strange, soggy, syrup-​less French toast. I gave 3 stars for this experience, but would normally rate them at a 4.

Panzanella is becoming another staple restaurant for my boyfriend and me. They have an amazing outdoor patio that has a casual, romantic feel. Their wine list is good without being overly expensive. They also have seasonal cocktails that are made from local fruits which look really good, but I have yet to try one!
When I go out to eat, I almost always get salads. Their salads are delicious and well worth the price. They use fresh ingredients and all the tastes mesh well. The first time I ordered the arugula salad with beets, goat cheese, and spiced pecans. Perfect! The next time we went was during their special seafood dinner. I got the poached seafood salad. Also good, but the arugula salad still wins.
If you’re not a salad person, my boyfriend has ordered the italian sausage pizza and loved it each time.
On a service note, the second time when I went, the waitress forgot/didn’t hear me request dressing on the side. I hate being an annoying patron and sending a dish back, but she sensed it and immediately asked what she could do. She returned with a new salad and with a choice of dressings on the side! How sweet! :)
Great outdoor seating, great food, great service, great drinks, AND to top it off, they focus on using local ingredients. What more could you want? ;)

My first visit was for a weekday lunch. I had the vegan wrap and it was good.
We decided to go for Sunday Brunch on Mother’s Day. My husband called on a Wednesday for reservations, and the person who answered the phone said that he didn’t think they were taking reservations. We arrived after church and had to wait for over an hour, even though there were empty tables. Obviously, I wasn’t very happy with that. I had the Magic Mushroom Toaster, and it was very good, but I would have eaten anything at that point.
Last Saturday night, I went for dinner with my husband and daughter. I was disappointed that there aren’t more vegan options on the menu. The only fully vegan entrée was a rigatoni dish for $ 16.

In the course of living in Carrboro for close to 5 years and eating at Panzanella many times, I have found that the food is overall relatively mediocre and overpriced given the quality, especially when compared to other restaurants in the area. The service is hit or miss and many of the dishes, especially the pizzas and pastas, are sometimes (albeit inconsistently) prepared soaked in oil, something that I found surprising given that Panzanella is owned by the ‘healthy’ local organic food coop. Given the availability of much better food in the area, you are better off elsewhere if you are looking for something in the moderately upscale category.
Despite having the above drawbacks, if you are set to go there anyway, Panzanella’s salads, deserts, wine list, and pastas (when they aren’t sitting in a pool of oil) are quite good, but perhaps not good enough to justify the price. The gnocchi, the arugula salad, and the hot fudge sundae cake make for a particular decent meal. Additionally, the weekend brunch is of good quality and is good choice for breakfast in the area.
The atmosphere can be fairly loud when it is busy but the outside patio is nice when the weather is warm. The service is very inconsistent. Most times, the service is great but, the most recent time I ate there, the restaurant was empty, leaving the waitress with little to do and and yet somehow with so little time she didn’t have time to refill our drinks.
Overall, Panzanella offers a decent meal at price that is just too high to justify its flaws.

One word can pretty much sum up my most recent brunch experience at Panzanella.
WOW.
This was only my second time eating here, but both visits have been awesome. I would highly recommend their Sunday brunch offerings.
I had the Ultimate Biscuit Sandwich, but the name doesn’t really do it justice. A soft, pillowy biscuit was a heavenly outer layer for the bacon, egg over easy, avocado, cheese and a fried and breaded fresh tomato slice that lay underneath.
This sandwich had everything in it that you love about breakfast, and was good to the last bite. Don’t even try to pick this thing up, just go at it fork and knife style, and let the runny yolk soak into the flaky biscuit underneath. Absolutely incredible.
It was served with a side of breakfast potatoes, a few sweet potatoes mixed in also were a very nice touch, and a side salad.
All in all, a most excellent meal to kick back with on a warm, Sunday afternoon. I will be going back for sure.

I first went there for an office lunch. The food was delicious and incredibly fresh. Had calamari as an appetizer, it was good but it’s probably hard to mess up fried calamari. I enjoyed that they served it with an interesting homemade green sauce rather than with marinara as they do in most places.
I had the grilled chicken wrap with avocado and a side salad. It was yummy and is a seasonal item.
The grilled cheese with fresh mozzarella and tomato was delightful.
The food felt so light yet filling which is great for lunch on a hot summer day.

It has been years since I’ve been to Panzanella, so I thought I would give it another chance. To start, we ordered a bottle of wine, but then decided to get glasses instead, as it was more economical; which was accompanied by the server rudely stating that it would be easier if the four of us got the bottle. The wine was great, but not the attitude.
I ordered the potato gnocchi, which was OK. I would have liked more sauce and greens. I also would have liked the leftovers that I requested.
Anyways, building on my prior experiences, I am going to go with a Meh. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area that I’d be happy to peruse instead.

Too nice to take your kids, not nice enough to go without kids. And too expensive for both, for what you get.
The food and the staff are all perfectly pleasant. And I really do want to give the Weaver Street Co-​Operative more of my money.

Things I liked:
-$ 10 bottle of wine on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
–The pizzas were good. I had the asada, which was meaty goodness.
— I liked the ambiance: it’s a nice place, and the local flavor within Carr Mill is good.
— The bread comes with a oil and vinegar dipping plate. It’s good.
The one thing I would say is that all things considered, it’s definitely a splurge-​y place. You’ll spend a good amount, even if you’re with a group (though you can keep the costs down by splitting a pizza and a $ 10 bottle of wine).
Also, no splitting checks for 6 people or over.