Harvest 18

I went for restaurant week and the food was delicious! Staff was friendly! Overall I found the restaurant too bright, but the food was so yummy I forgot all about that. The manager and host were very welcoming and our server could not have been more charming. I wish our desert had been more than warm when we got it… Overall very good!

Blah! Waited for 30 minutes for them to tell us we could sit at bar if we wanted to eat. Food was not worth it. Restaurant week… Maybe not the best restaurant for this. I couldn’t manage to finish the chocolate cake. It was completely dry. I had an empty glass of water. Ugh $ 70 for a crappy meal #wedontmakeenoughforthis#

Came here for restaurant week. While I really appreciate the farm to table and hipster vibe I get, I feel like it’s still a bit pricier than I would want to pay for a meal like that. The appetizer salad was variable in size. I ordered the acorn squash which was very interesting and I’ve never had anything like that before and it was good but was it worth $ 17? probably not. I also sampled the pork shoulder which seemed a bit underseasoned but it had a good wood smoke scent and feel to it. For dessert I had the pear crumblr which I really liked the pear inside but it was very very sweet sitting in the sugary mixture. Service was decently fast and the wait staff was friendly but it was a bit pricy for what I was expecting.

First time visiting Harvest 18 was last night. Happened to be Restaurant Week but my boyfriend and I ordered off the usual menu.
I loved the food and the establishment itself. For drinks, we had an Apple Sangria which was delicious and the Harvest Mule which was also good.
We ordered Trout Belly Wraps for the appetizer but by mistake were given the Pork Belly appetizer. They let us eat the Pork Belly while they fixed the mistake. Both were amazing. Pork Belly was so tender and flavorful, while the Trout Belly Wraps were light, fresh, and healthy tasting.
For entrees, we got the Meatloaf dish which was tasty. Especially liked the collard greens.
Overall, the staff was very friendly and I had s great time even with it coincidentally being a busy night because of Restaurant Week. I love this place now!

went again for lunch. this time had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and asparagus. My lunch companion mistook the meatloaf for a steak due to the firm, meaty texture and the grill marks. It was very meaty and smoky. Amazing flavor. Asparagus was not over cooked and mashed potatoes were perfect, not too creamy.
I will go again soon. Most exciting restaurant near southpoint mall.

This restaurant has nailed it with the menu, ingredients, décor, and ambiance. We’ve been back a couple of times and made sure to bring our out of town visitors. The food is original and they focus on sourcing a locally as possible. Also, the beer selection had some great options. We really like that they change up their menu to work in the ingredients available to them. The service is friendly and attentive. The restaurant has the perfect mix of energetic but quiet enough to hold a real conversation. Highly recommend this place for lunch and dinner.

Harvest 18 is a farm to table restaurant near Southpoint mall that also wood fire grills their food which is rare to find around town. My favorite thing to order is their wood grilled meatloaf which instead of ketchup based comes with an au jus sauce to pour over and is always amazing! It also comes with gouda mashed potatoes so you can’t go wrong ordering this dish! They also bring out these bite sized cornbread muffins served with honey butter that are a delightful and addicting snakc to eat while you wait on your food! I also ordered a Moscow mule to drink which was also great as they have a full bar inside as well. I have yet to try any thing else yet but will definitely come back!

This is a great place to sit with a friend in a trendy environment, sip craft cocktails, and enjoy local, crafted, slow food. A bonus: you get all the class and taste of a downtown restaurant with easy parking and access to the Interstate. So perfect for a Friday night after work.
The service is impeccable, the atmosphere is relaxing, and there’s always something interesting on the menu for me to try. The menu and the cocktails are seasonal, and change weekly, if not nightly.
My absolute favorite is the pork shoulder, but sometimes it’s unavailable. Their staple, the grilled meatloaf, I did find to be dry and fairly flavorless, so I skip this option. I’ve never been disappointed by their drink menu, and was really delighted to try the lightly fried trout belly appetizer. As the super-​helpful waiter described it, trout belly is more marbled and creamier than your average fried fish. I hope this stays on the menu or even becomes a main.
If you’re looking for fine dining at Southpoint, this is the place.

Unfortunately, as excited as I was to try this spot — we left quite disappointed. I would have given this one star but the manager was really nice and tried to make up for our experience so I do recognize his effort.
At the beginning of the meal they bring your corn bread muffins in an adorable brightly colored tiny colander. So cute and so southern. The muffins were served with a vanilla butter that was quite tasty. Unfortunately, the muffins were hard as rocks. Almost as if they had sat too long and been microwaved for too long soon after.
I ordered meatloaf, not something I normally go for but I thought it sounded great on the description. We only had one pair of silverware but luckily my husband ordered a burger and gave me his. As soon as I cut into my meatloaf to take the first bite I realized it was ice cold. Like frozen cold. Not good. The manager took it back for us to reheat it but at that point I just assumed it was microwaved.
At the end of the meal he brought us a piece of sweet potato pie joking that it was supposed to be cold so no worries there. It was ok. I love dessert and have a mega sweet tooth but this too was just alright.
I doubt we will try this place again and I hope we just caught it on a bad night. Cute décor and good location but disappointing food all around.

Decent, but ultimately predictable food. However, in terms of menu options, there was nothing terribly unique about Harvest 18 compared to the numerous other brunch spots and restaurants in Durham.
As Bruce G. mentioned, it’s located in the strip mall near Southpoint, which thankfully offers ample parking opportunities. We had the choice of indoor or outdoor seating, so our party of two sat outside to enjoy the breeze a bit, not necessarily for the view. Service was good, though the food took its time coming out.
Now, for the food:
The french toast was basically soft, semi-​toasted bread (that’s easy to make at home) spread with maple preserve, and with a side sauce made of dates. Even without the sauce, the french toast had a good amount of sweetness to it, but if you dip it in, it becomes intensely and shockingly sweet. Also, this came in a rather small portion size i.e. only two small-​ish slices of round bread.
My salad came with goat cheese, strawberries, and a tart vinegar dressing that helped to balance out the sweetness of the french toast. Overall, it was tart and refreshing, with perhaps just a bit too much dressing.
Farmer’s plate: eggs, potatoes, meat, and a salty dip. Fairly straightforward, but satisfying.
Total cost: $ 29 in total before tax and tip, which I thought was somewhat pricey for the amount of food we got.
Sorry Harvest 18, I’m going to look elsewhere for my brunch needs.

Food is 3 stars, but the service deserve a 4! The waitress is very nice, and the store manager (maybe?) came to talk for a few minutes too, they give out that southern hospitality vibe all around. The place is cute, I can see it being a good lunch spot. Unfortunately the chicken and the corn bread are both dry, I had some expectations coming in and was slightly disappointed. But wouldn’t mind to give it a try again in future for other dishes.

The hubs and I have been so many times, and I can’t believe I have yet to write a review. So here goes.
I love this place as a dinner spot, but I am really not a lunch fan. I have been disappointed by the two lunches I ordered. Both were sandwich options, and neither left me feeling very full or satisfied.
However, I am a big fan of the dinner options. We have sat outside, at the bar, and in the booths. I love how each booth has a different set of salt and pepper shakers. Once when we sat at the bar, the bartender brought us a complimentary dessert just because! My husband’s go-​to dish here is the meatloaf. It’s unique in that they grill it, so it’s nice and crispy. They now serve it with gouda mashed potatoes, which he much prefers to the blue cheese mashed potatoes it used to come with. I really enjoy their pork with cheese grits, and it normally comes with broccolini. Only once was I disappointed in my dinner order, and it was the fried oyster salad. Considering how many times we have eaten here, though, and had successful meals, that one let down is not enough to stop me from coming back for dinner.
If you want southern-​inspired food and delicious drinks, I recommend Harvest 18. We once had a manager talk to us a lot about the bottle of sparkling rose we purchased, after my husband even called about it (we wanted to celebrate a particular occasion), which really added to our experience.

Went to Harvest 18 last night. 4^th or 5^th visit this year I think, but haven’t been there recently.
I can finally say I ate something there I didn’t like, which is why I’m updating this review.
*First the good stuff:
Trout Belly Salad — Really delicious. Wonderful.
Brisket Lettuce Wraps — Delicious.
Catfish Sandwich — Good, but I kept putting ketchup on it because the BBQ sauce was barely there (I guess I should’ve asked for more).
Pulled Pork Sandwich — Great!
Cheesecake Ice-​cream — Great!
*The bad stuff:
Peach Sangria — I get their sangria every time I visit, but the one I got last night barely tasted like peach.
Spiced Cantaloupe Parfait — Not good. The whipped cream and candied walnuts were good, but the cantaloupe did not taste like a ripe cantaloupe. It was not sweet and there was a stiffness to each bite. Our server told us it wasn’t sweet because it was spiced. I guess it’s spiced, but it still didn’t taste like there was cantaloupe under all that whipped cream.
This is kind of a pet peeve of mine because this is something that happens to me when I buy fruit at a grocery store (ya’ll know that feeling), but I wouldn’t expect it at a restaurant. The server was kind enough to offer a different dessert, but I declined because I didn’t feel like eating apple crisp.
***********
I still love Harvest 18, but I’ll be a little more wary for things with fresh fruit in it.

We’re big fans of H18 as well as the other restaurants owned by this group. We eat dinner at H18 sometimes and lunch often. Our favorites include all of the pork and beef dishes that come off the smoker, as well as the smoked zucchini entrée and the homemade ice cream. I really like a lunch salad with a piece of fish on it. Just ask. They’ll mix and match.
The service is consistently excellent. We like our servers to err a little on the formal side, which they do. If you want someone sitting down at your table to take an order, go elsewhere. Everyone makes an effort to get acquainted. Servers and bartenders will remember your favorites and even your name after a couple visits, but they never get overly familiar.
The menu is limited which may feel restrictive to some. We appreciate the focus on doing a few things really well. There are always items on the menu that are either naturally gluten free or can be made that way. This is a requirement for us, not a choice. The kitchen has earned our confidence. They clearly understand the need to know their food sources and how to avoid cross-​contamination.
On the rare occasion when a food item has not been done well, they will make it right. One thing that comes across clearly from everyone at the restaurant is their commitment to customers’ complete satisfaction. When these folks ask you if everything was okay, they really seem to want to know.
The bar and bartenders are truly special. Get to know them and you’ll gain access into their secret world of infusions, tinctures and other spirit witchcraft. Watermelon-​cello, anyone? They take their drinks seriously and make one of the meanest Manhattans in the Triangle.
My only ding would be the outdoor dining situation. They have done everything any reasonable person could do to create a pleasant patio for al fresco noshing, but nothing can change the fact that you are dining in a parking lot. This is a problem easily avoided by eating inside, where they have comfortable seating in a spotless and quiet dining room.

What an absolute treat. Met a friend here for brunch on a Saturday — neither of us had been before. Many things sounded good on the menu, but we both ended up with the BLT sandwich with the fried egg on top. I also had a side of fries.
The food was so amazing. Everything tasted fresh, and I never thought fries and a sandwich could look so pretty. The fires were thin which I loved. The portion sizes are good. I went home full and didn’t eat for the rest of the day.
We wanted dessert but had no room and declined. Our waitress suddenly showed up with a delightful chocolate mousse with two blackberries on top. When we inquired about it, she said that it was a gift on the house to celebrate our first time eating there. How thoughtful! I don’t think anyone has ever done that for me before. It’s really the little gestures that top things off.
The dessert was amazing, and we found a way to eat it. The mousse is made in house and comes out in an adorable mason jar. It’s perfect to share. It would be a bit much for one person.
Service was amazing. Our waitress was very attentive and did a great job answering our questions and making recommendations. The manager stopped by our table to make sure everything was going well. Other servers would smile and say hello. Just an all around wonderful place.
I do appreciate the other reviewer who noted a lack of vegan items. I would like to see more vegetarian/​vegan items on the menu. I appreciate that the chef is willing to make something, but I wouldn’t want to go that route (generally). So more vegetarian/​vegan items on the menu please. I am sure you can make them amazing. I would come more often.

I’ve been here twice, and each time I’ve been disappointed. I just think the food is average at best. I once had a strawberry short cake dessert, served in a little mason jar (can we quit it with mason jars?), and it was delicious, but everything else hasn’t met my expectations based on reviews here. Also, the complimentary cornbread is dry and not so great. If you want great cornbread, hit up acme in carrboro.

I ventured to Harvest 18 for the first time last night, mostly because I was in the area and needed a quick meal.
As a vegan I’d never gone there before, because nothing on the menu is listed as explicitly vegan. I explained to both the hostess in the server my wishes and they assured me that the chef would work with the menu to create something vegan. I was totally impressed that the waitress was very careful to make sure she let me know which items could be made vegan, and then not only did the chef create a unique dish for me based on some of the menu items, he actually served it to me himself.
I ended up having roasted eggplant and brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and spinach in a coconut coriander sauce garnished with sprouts and pistachios. It was just beautiful.
Not only that, but after I finished my meal the chef came out of the kitchen and brought me a vegan cookie along with a small sample of vegan cheesecake!!! He wanted to make sure I still has a good experience as a vegan.
The manager also came to speak to me and ask about my experience. I have never been treated so graciously by the entire restaurant staff. I will be sure to come back here and see what other vegan items they can create.
I was so impressed with the chef, manager and service. Not to mention the food was really really good and served very quickly. 5 shining stars!

We ordered the taco and meat loaf. The pork shoulder in the taco is delicious but I would prefer to have a few greens in it. The tortilla is terrible, dry and hard. The mash potatoes in the meat loaf is pretty good.
We also ordered the blueberry panna cotta, honestly, tastes like coffee or chocolate, no falvor of blueberry. Also it is too dense to enjoy. Kind of disappointed.
Nice service and good environment.
One note, only brunch menu before 3pm.

Went in with my husband. I got a squash sandwich and he got a pastrami sandwich. They used iceberg lettuce. I wish they had used better greens than that. Very simple sandwiches for a high price. I was disappointed with the lack of flavoring, ingredients used and overall taste.
Fries also tasted old and hard.

Farm to table done well
Tried to secure a reservation, but was unable to for mother’s day. However to my surprise we were able to be seated immediately upon arrival for brunch. The décor is simple and classy, staff kind and knowledgeable.
For an appetizer we had pimento cheese which came out like chips & dip. It was pretty good, but not super flavorful. For entrée i chose meatloaf with blue cheese mashed potatoes and brazed collards. The greens were just okay, I’m used to more salty greens. By themselves the meatloaf and potatoes were not impressive. Together with the gravy provided was a nice bite. For dessert had the apple cake which tasted like apple carrot cake.
Service was top notch, maybe i should have picked another dish.