Four Square Restaurant

The food is excellent and the service friendly and professional. We enjoyed their tuna on a bed of polenta with field peas and the beef tenderloin with collard greens and roasted sweet potatoes. Both dishes were wonderful and the perfect amount of food.
I would change one thing; the lighting. Many people don’t notice but my husband and I both like low lit restaurants especially of this caliber — overhead lighting is very cold and unflattering. If they changed this one small item the restaurant would be my favorite in the area.

I have been to Four Square numerous times over the last ten years. The restaurant always has an innovative menu with high quality local food. One of my favorite things about this place is that the space feels intimate even though the restaurant has a large capacity, because the restaurant is located in a house and each room of the house has only a few tables in each room. I would highly recommend this restaurant for special occasions.

amazing food and good décor. noisy for large parties due to wood floors.

Every time we’ve been to Four Square the food and service has been great. Unique items such as wild boar lasagne and a rotating menu that changes every month or two. It’s an old house– a few tables per room. Decent selection of wine and a good selection of half bottles as well. Definitely one of the «nicer» restaurants in Durham– think Nana’s, Revolution, Fairview, etc. Recommended!

My family and I had an excellent meal with exemplary service. The ginger flower cocktail was just the right amount of sweet and light to make me want more (fortunately, I have learned to stop while I can still see). We had a special appetizer that was a stuffed squash flower, I believe. Can’t remember exactly, I just remember it was the perfect combination or crunch and savory and spice. My striped bass was scrumptious with delectable vegetables accompanying it. Mmmm… Others at our table had flank steak, baked chicken and rack of lamb. Not a crumb of leftovers (unusual for some members of our family to finish the entrée in one sitting, but it was so delicious!). I highly recommend checking out Four Square Restaurant whenever you are in North Carolina. Simply the best!

Fantastic experience. Very amicable staff. Amazing food. Was there during Duke graduation so was afraid of price fix secret menu and deposit, but definitely worth it!

Mediocre at best… overly salty, as in that was the flavor profile of everything. I was on a date so I didn’t complain. But I would have been pissed to pay that much for such uncreative cuisine.
And although the building is cute, the dining room was awkward and uncomfortable. There was no romantic mood lighting or music… pretty stale over all. Service was good tho… but the food runner almost misplaced our apps.

This was OK, we had higher hopes for this one… Planned to do our Valentines day outing there this year, and were impressed by the façade of the building, but a little less impressed with the tired décor and setup inside.
We couldn’t escape from feeling that we had been parked awkwardly in a make-​shift dinning room that was certainly much better served as a living room. The flaking paint, dinged-​up chairs, and faded fabric left something to be desired. A major décor overhaul would do wonders.
The cocktails were fantastic. That’s my main praise for this spot. Would be more inclined to visit again just for a drink, and then head to Nana’s for excellent food and ambiance (another Durham restaurant).
I was VERY unimpressed by my entrée as I ordered the filet rare-​medium rare and it came out well done. I should have mentioned this to the staff, but we weren’t really feeling the restaurant at this point after the servers had twice brought out the wrong entrees. I ate about half of my overcooked steak, and we were on our way — feeling a little bit frustrated with our long drive to Durham for a lack-​luster meal.
The restaurant was OK, but certainly nothing special to write home about — a shame since it was Valentines day.

Food is impeccable, serious delightful, and the house sweet. We went to Four Square for Valentine’s Day and had a prix fixe menu which was well picked with several options to choose from. The service was very pleasant, helpful, and observant. We never wanted for anything, but yet they didn’t hover. Every morsel of every course was perfectly cooked and prepared. In addition the house has history… so read about it.

Good food; however, it needed a little salt. It was priced higher than it should be. We went for Valentines Day. We had a little problem with the waiter. He served a soup dish and forgot the spoon. He also put another table’s meal on my card, but he realized his mistake and corrected it.

This restaurant is pricey for the portions served. Also, not a wide selection variety.
On the positive side, great service and friendly staff in a unique setting.

The first time my husband and I went here was for Valentine’s Day. They did the thing where they seated many more people than they usually do and prepared a bunch of food in advance. Some of the food came out cold and we were not overly impressed.
But we gave it another try tonight since we had family in town and we were much happier with our meal. The food was very good – I had the tuna, my husband had the steak. Between the two the tuna was much better. Nice wine selection. I agree with the reviewers who think that that food is not as good as the price would suggest. The carmel dessert was decent but not spectacular. The chocolate sorbet was awesome.
A decent place to go for a special event. I would give it four stars on quality alone but honestly for the price it could be better.

Elegant, tasty

Pros:
–Converted old house is a cool location
–Half of our dishes were good (venison dish and fried green tomatoes were highlights)
–Service is very good
Cons:
–Half of our dishes were good (at this price point, all dishes should be good!). I had the snapper entrée and my husband had the fish special. We got the duck confit appetizer which sounded delicious and was bland and not impressive. Brownie dessert was great, apple pie dessert was really disappointing.
Overall, we wished we had gone back to Second Empire in Raleigh. Prices are about the same and food is way better there.

I’ve loved this restaurant for a while. I enjoy creative chefs who constantly rotate their menus, and the ambience is lovely!
My gourmet dining club came here one month, and we asked for a chef’s tasting menu, even though they didn’t have one offered. Chef Shane obliged us with selections from the existing menu and some special treats for dessert. It was amazing.

I came here with my boyfriend for a special event back in May. I was struggling to find a really nice restaurant for dinner that night because it was also grad weekend/Mother’s Day weekend, so everything was fairly booked. However, I managed to get a reservation at Four Square for a really nice time, so that was awesome!
Parking can be a tiny bit tricky (their lot is a gravel lot and it can get super crowded), so that was probably the most annoying part of the evening.
I loved the converted house style of the restaurant. It gave the dining experience a really nice, intimate feel. Our waitress was very attentive and while we had to wait a little bit to order because they were busy, I have no other complaints about service.
I got the corn and crab chowder as a starter and it was simple and refreshing. My boyfriend got a salad and he was very pleased with that as well. For entrees, I had grilled fish (grouper, I think) over a bed of saffron risotto and he had the grilled NY strip. Both were delicious and we finished every bite. For dessert, I got the vanilla bean cotta. It was sweet, refreshing, and flavorful. He got the cheesecake, which he said to be rich and creamy without being too sweet.
Overall, it was a great experience. I would come again for a special event.

I came here with friends for Restaurant Week. After all the great things I had heard, we were super excited to try this fancy restaurant out for a relatively less fancy price.
The location is cute, in a big converted house. Parking was tight, but we managed to squeeze into a pseudo spot.
While the food was good — I ended up ordering duck confit off the regular menu, which was divine — we were not pleased with the service. Though we had a reservation for 8:30, they kept us waiting for over half an hour before they sat us. There were no apologies or explanations for the delay. We were annoyed at the wait (and hungry!), but we were more annoyed that the restaurant didn’t seem to care.
Once we finally got seated, our waitress was slow to come and take our order, and the food was on the slow side coming out. It was well past 11 by the time we finished our meal.
After our experience, my friends and I all agreed that the food was okay, but the service was a disappointment and not worth the premium prices Four Square regularly charges.

I’ve been here for dinner several times, and I found it quite disappointing, as compared to its reputation as arguably (and now that Magnolia Grill has closed, more plausibly) the best restaurant in Durham.
First, I love the fact that it’s in a charming old house. The bar area is very nice – you really get the «old house» feel at the bar. For dinner, however, there are some way nicer rooms and some less desirable spots. A lot of the seating in the main area right when you come in isn’t all that pleasant. It’s loud and you hear the hostess and people coming and going.
I’ve noticed a huge difference in the service when going with my boyfriend and with people my parent’s age. I think that it’s unacceptable for restaurants to treat people in their 20s worse because they think that they will spend less money, and this is what I’ve encountered here (e.g. seating them in the awkward areas – either by the staircase or in the front room by the hostess, to forget about serving them on a busy night).
Okay, after the note on service, the food is good, but not creative enough for my taste. It’s the same style as a nice hotel restaurant – simple flavors, not a lot of spice, well-​cooked meats. I think that that’s great, but maybe the younger and more foodie/​rebellious side of me likes to see a little more creativity and effort. I honestly found almost all of the food bland and underseasoned – both the meats and vegetables, if technically well prepared.
It would have been a three-​star rating, but the service differential on different trips made me drop it to two (I have heard something similar from several of my friends in their 20s as well).

Four square fails me not. It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. Maybe I was spacing it out because its such a treat to come here. Well I made reservations online since my mom was finally coming into town to visit me. We were running a few minutes late and when I called to tell them, they had no issues. We were seated right away and treated with excellent service. It felt a little less crowded in the early evening– maybe because its still summer break. What a gorgeous setting, an old Victorian house with elegant seating with inside or out with a screened in porch. I love the decorated fireplace cover. I had the tuna in true southern style– foamed with a cheerwine reduction. I was skeptical at first because as a friend cleverly described when she first tasted it, «it’s got neither cheer nor wine». I too am not a fan, though I hardly drink any sodas to be fair. But alas the clever chef found something useful of this beverage! It was quite delicious, with beautiful grilled baby eggplants, delicate crisp potato waffle chips and tasty grape tomatoes. The seafood and scallops were also another amazing dish, not too heavy as to inhibit one from sampling dessert.
They also have a great wine selection to pair with your meals. I like that they offer the half bottle for those who dine with, not so thirsty friends. I was most impressed with their stock of buffalo trace single oak project.
Now this is a place is worth coming for the desserts, so do yourself a favor and save room. The blueberry lemon curd is amazing and the ice cream sandwich was very good. I love cappuccino with a sugar cube and twist of lemon! The best way to finish off the night.

This is a favorite special occasion place for us. What is great:
1. The food is glorious
2. The desserts are wicked.
3. The service is professional. It is perfect.
What is not:
Er. Uh… Nothing to report here
Now guys, no more excuses. Bring your sweetie here and you both will be pleased.