Watts Grocery

Seems like a disappointing experience is something of the norm, when considering the most recent reviews here.
Received my food with a very long black hair in my sausage. Things happen: I tactfully brought it to my server’s attention, who said, «Let me take your plate back to the kitchen.»
Another server returned with my plate, and said, «Does this look better?» Since there was a new sausage, with no hair, I said yes and thanks.
I am disappointed and concerned that no regret was expressed by way of an apology, a «sorry», or an adjustment to my bill. I tipped my waitress 25%, as usual, because I do that. I simply won’t return, and will share the experience when it’s relevant.
Good for you guys, for using local ingredients and maintaining a generally not displeasing ambiance: 2 stars. With work on customer service and attention to details, you could get 4 stars. Prepare your food with more pride, maybe 5 stars.

I really want to like Watts Grocery, but I’m afraid that I’m done. The location is great, the interior is comfortable and contemporary, the desserts are to die for, the drinks are great, and the service has always been good … but the last few meals I’ve had there have been so inconsistent that I can’t imagine going back.
I’ve tried a variety of dishes since my last review and it always seemed like something was really good and something else was really «off».
At one brunch my hash browns were crispy on the outside, raw in the middle … and gray. The country biscuit I had with that meal was so dense as to be inedible. At another brunch my shrimp and grits were swimming in grease /​oil. At a fairly recent lunch I had what was supposed to be an oyster AND shrimp po’boy; when I got it there were no oysters, the dressing was nasty, and the bun looked like it came from a package of generic hamburger buns from Kroger. The fries were great until I got to a tangle of fries that had been frozen together /​cooked together and the middle was raw. I’ve also had a lunch salad there with surprisingly bland grilled chicken and string beans on top. The string beans were blanched /​raw /​confusing.
I know people who love absolutely Watts, so I’m not sure if I’m just too picky or if I’ve had an extraordinary run of bad luck there.
In any case, I wish them the best of luck, but I’m not returning anytime soon.

The food was edible; however, the server added an extra dollar onto two of the three checks at our table. Manager said it was an accident. Sorry, I worked in the restaurant industry for 19+ years and never made an accident like that one, much less twice! Check your bank/​credit card statements for «accidents» if you eat there… those dollars add up!

So, my pancake was raw in the middle.
Like, not undercooked. Just raw. Liquid raw.
Maybe a new way to cook breakfast? «Pancake Two Ways: Before and After Heat»??
Kindof gross.
Also got the churros. Supppperrr soggy and cold. Unclear what happened there too.
EDIT: Also, we waited about 55 minutes before our 3 dishes came out. Probably could have farmed and cooked breakfast on my own in that time.

Recommended by Unilocal and we were very disappointed.
We came here on a Sunday morning for brunch.
The acoustics of this restaurant is terrible. Very noisy and troublesome.
The service staff tried to please but appears to be running around without specific purpose.
If you like high carb, high fat, high sugar, or high salt they do have the right stuff. But if you are trying to limit these intake, you will have only a very limited selection.
There were four of us. We ordered:
Fried chicken with gravy — after a wait of 25+ minutes, the food was cold? Certainly they do not intend to serve only cold food?
Pancake — was not cooked thoroughly.
Sausage and English muffin — over cooked sausage and cold muffin. Muffin was not toasted on the inside.
Crab meat and egg Benedict — one can argue that this is cold due to the cold crab meat.
Cold churro.
As to pricing, this place has adequately priced but without the right service standard nor the right food quality.
I wonder how this place manages a four star +rating? Am I the unfortunate one or other Unilocalers are not telling the real story?
For me a two star is an over-​rating.
No more than a single star!

This is really more of a 3.5 star review but I’m only rounding up because I can’t tell if I’m being unfair and overly picky this week or if nothing has really been satisfactory.
I’ve been excited to try Watts Grocery for a while now and finally had the chance today. Called early before they opened and made reservations for 2 at 12:15. No problem. Girl on the phone was very nice.
Arrived, were seated before the brunch rush came. Our server was a little behind but she communicated it well to us and we were in no hurry so it was completely fine.
Menu is somewhat limited for brunch. About 10 – 12 items to choose from between Breakfast/​Brunch/​Lunch menu. When we decided on the Farmer’s Omelette and another entrée, we were informed that they were out of the brisket which was a main ingredient of the omelette. They subbed it out and our waitress was honest to advise us to order something different. So we settled on the Fried Chicken and Sausage Gravy Biscuit. This ended up saving the entire meal as the rest kind of fell apart. Our Seared Tuna sandwich was completely average. It was good, but had 0 special points awarded. The menu said it was served with onion rings but it came out with fries instead. The fries were great, I was just mentally prepared for onion rings. We had also ordered the Southwestern Churros to start but thy were overcooked and disappointing. Alas, Fried Chicken and Sausage Gravy Biscuit was good enough to grab 4 stars. Really it was the Sausage Gravy more than the rest. We won’t rush back soon though until we’ve finished exploring Durham, which may be never.

We came here for late lunch on Saturday. Food was disappointing. We ordered shrimp and grit and Salmon Benedict. The shrimp was seasoned well. The grit was creamy but under seasoned. The Salmon Benedict was just okay. The potato hash was almost burnt and greasy and the poached egg was a bit over cooked. The salmon cake was probably my favorite. The service was disappointing as well. My coffee was left empty almost the whole time. I had to flag our server down for refill. She only came to our table twice. One for ordering and one for the check. Don’t think we’ll be back.

We usually come for brunch, read the whole menu over again, and settle for the same thing! Namely the Johnson County eggs benedict. It’s made with wonderful Johnson County ham. They are very willing to make a change I like, which is to replace the English muffin with the very crisp home fries, then eat the English muffin on the side with their homemade jam. Absolutely wonderful. You can get it with sausage instead of the ham, too.
The grits bowls are great too, a soup bowl of grits with a variety of things to put on top of them, such as a fried egg, cheese, bacon or avocado. I always ordered that until I discovered the Johnson County Benedict.
I am confident that the rest of the menu is just fine. The trouble is, I never get there!

Watts does good grits, and their shrimp and grits is pretty solid. The farmer’s brisket hash was ok… slight dry and the brisket wasn’t quite brisket. The hash browns were overcooked and greasy, and the biscuit was overtoasted. I’d be willing to give it another chance and maybe go with the grits bowl, but I won’t miss that scramble enough to draw me back.

Watts is (usually) great. The hushpuppies and steak I had last evening were excellent and the service was both attentive and friendly.
However, sadly, their vegetarian entrée was given short shrift. $ 20 for –half– of a (yes, quite tasty) stuffed sweet potato with a scant fistful of wilted greens made my companion sad, especially while gazing at the grandeur that was my steak plate. I’m knocking one star off with my rating, Watts, until you give vegetarians an entrée worthy of your good reputation. Or price the entrée you give appropriately.

Good food! I had the steak sandwich, which reminded me of a cheesesteak, but it was good nonetheless! My husband got the reuben and that was amazingly good! Their beef soup was okay and service was good. Small but quaint place. I haven’t checked out the dinner, but pretty sure it’s good if their sandwiches are like that!

I had a wonderful experience here. Our service was great and the food was fantastic. I ordered the fried oysters for an appetizer and had the rib-​eye for my entrée.
The fried oysters were stupid good. I could’ve eaten a bucket of those. I believe they were the first fried oysters I have had and they will not be my last.
And let me tell you about my rib-​eye. At first glance, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to finish it. However, it melted in my mouth and then all of a sudden it was all gone. Probably one of the very best steak dinners I ever had.
Place has totally local, farm to table gig going on and the menu is churning with seasonal offerings.

Hit up this hip brunch locale this past weekend. I am a notherner who loves grits, but can never find a great bowl in Pittsburgh. I had reservations for 11:15 and we were goin gto be seated at a table, but then just chose to sit at the full service bar. The hostest was pumped that we decided to do that. The bar was empty but the bartender/​manager was super busy. he was courteous, but obviously wearing many hats.
I ordered the grits, of course. The make your own grits bowl had my eye from the beginning. I added bacon, cheese and an over easy egg. Pure magic. Coffee was hot, food was prompt. Just how breakfast should be. (Now if we can only change that law of no bloody Mary’s before 12, Perfection)

I went to Watt’s with a friend for dinner. We were seated promptly (there wasn’t much of a crowd, and it was early). Their pops are really sweet, I had ginger ale and it was more sweet than spicy, but still good.
We ordered the beer clams to start, which was good, in its separate parts but I didn’t entirely like the dish all together. It comes with clams, banana peppers, a beer tomato sauce, sausage, and blue cheese. I could tell each of the ingredients separately were really fresh and local and they tasted great separately, but together it was a bit of an oddball dish!
For the entrée, I ordered the pork loin with an apple compote, sauteed spinach, and a brie arancini. ALL parts of this was amazing!!! The pork was absolutely, perfectly cooked, with a seared crust on the outside but an extremely tender inside (hard to do!). The apple compote really gave it a lot of flavor without overpowering the meat, it was the perfect complement. I liked the spinach for some greens, and the brie arancini was great. I’m not even a big fan of brie, but the arancini was really good.
We also ordered a side of hush puppies, which were fantastic! It says they’re cheese, but we didn’t taste/​see cheese especially in the hush puppie. It’s served with a basil mayo, which I also didn’t really like with the hush puppies, but it tasted good on its own. And the hush puppies themselves were the best I’ve ever had.

Came here for dinner and had a very nice experience. The ambience is very cozy and lovely. Service is a bit slow (I was at the bar, so that might have been why), but the food was delicious. I also love the fact that it is all locally sourced.
Fall Pear Salad with arugula, blue cheese, house bacon, toasted walnuts, and lemon thyme vinaigrette: This salad was beautifully balanced. The dressing wasn’t too overwhelming, and the complementing flavors of the cheese, bacon, and walnuts worked really well. My favorite was the pear, which was grilled to perfection.
Pennsylvania Duck Breast over sweet potato purée, collards, and apple butter glaze: The collards were my favorite part. I have no idea how they were seasoned, but they were so good. The sweet potato purée was also quite nice — a bit bland. The duck was marvelous. I couldn’t finish it because it was so heavy and I had gotten quite full, but it was so tender, juicy, and rich.
I will definitely be back here. The fact that the menu changes to reflect what is in season is also quite exciting.

Incredible meal! from start to finish, watts did everything right.
I actually got the pimento cheese bread pudding as my entrée (it’s listed as an app) and yes, it’s on the smaller side but I wasn’t extremely hungry anyways. And the portion was perfect. The presentation is also beautiful.
My boyfriend got the pan seared duck and although I don’t like duck too much, he was in love. His duck came with collardgreens underneath and sweet potatoes and those were some TASTY GREENS. i’ve never had such flavorful vegetables ever.
Expect to drop a good amount of money here for some not-​gigantic portions, but at least you can rest assured that each bite will leave you extremely satisfied.

I prefer eating lunch here rather than breakfast. A lot of people here come here for breakfast though.
Service is great. Food wasn’t anything out of this world.

I read about Watts Grocery many times in magazines and lists in the Independent Weekly and was very excited to try it for the first time on Saturday. I was able to make a reservation on Open Table and there was a parking lot right outside the restaurant on Broad Street. As you enter the restaurant, there is a nice white bench on the left and then a few high-​top bar tables on the right side. The bar is on the right side of the restaurant and then seating is on the left and in the back. Watts has a casual feel with light blue walls and local art and big light fixtures. The staff wears their logo t-​shirts with long aprons and everyone was very friendly. We dined at around 12:15 on a Saturday and Brunch is served both Saturday and Sundays at this time.
The menu had many breakfast options and then we ordered from the lunch part. I had to try the shrimp and grits just to try the local Southern cuisine. The shrimp was fresh, the grits were creamy and the bacon and green onions added so much flavor to the dish. My dining partner got the Cobb salad and the dressing was made with vinegar instead of a creamy blue cheese. The egg on the Cobb salad was also very tasty and I still can’t put my finger on the filling with the yolk but it was so delicious. You can also tell there is an emphasis on the farm-​to-​table ingredients and there was a nice listing of local farms such as Elodie Farms and others that supply the cheese and meats.

Watts Grocery is an American restaurant in Durham that specializes in breakfast, brunch, and dishes using locally sourced ingredients. The name is a bit misleading. You won’t come to buy milk & a dozen eggs but you will come to enjoy some quality eats.
My Overall Rating — 3 ½ Stars (Atmosphere, Service, Food, Return)
Atmosphere — Like I said, the name is misleading. But instead of finding a grocery store, we found a very nice, contemporary restaurant. There’s outdoor patio seating, and inside is an upscale restaurant with plenty of style. You’ll find a large bar, orange light fixtures, and comfortable seating. Tons of artwork everywhere too which gives it an additional warm feel. 1 Star.
Service — Came in for an early lunch on a Tuesday morning and there was no wait. We were promptly greeted & seated. Everything was great. Our server took time to discuss the restaurant & concept, and they even allowed us to split our salad appetizer. While you can dine here casually, I’ll saw there really is an upscale feel to the service. 1 Star.
Food — Our first grocery purchase (ha ha) was the Watts Cobb Salad. Our server allowed us to split the salad in two, we each had a chance to enjoy fried North Carolina shrimp, deviled egg, & house-​cured bacon. It was an excellent start because even though we decided to split the salad, the portion was still excellent. I went with breakfast burger, which featured a fried egg and salted ham, and gruyère cheese on top of their burger. The egg & bun were hits, but I think the ham & gruyère made the burger a bit too salty. The patty was a bit dry too. If I could re do the dish I would have not had the beef patty at all. Substituted onion rings for the fries, and the blue cheese dipping sauce easily turned good onion rings into great ones. My wife had the Steak Sandwich. The marinated steak was tasty, but like the patty on the burger it was a tad dry. Fries are fantastic. Still a great meal though. 1 Star.
Will I Return? — Maybe. The concept & service is great, the restaurant is beautiful, but our meal had equally high and low notes. I think I may come back for a weekend brunch or a dinner in the future. Regardless, if you’re in the mood for local sourced, creative dishes, come shop at Watts Grocery
My Unilocal Rating Scale (Sum of all parts):
1 Star — Atmosphere — Is it a cool dive? Perhaps an upscale place? No matter the type, atmosphere plays a big part and I’ll give a star if I like it or thinks it has great charm.
1 Star — Service — You can have a great meal with bad service. But that’s also what can make a five star joint drop to four. It’s important to the dining experience that service is great and on point.
2 Stars — Food — I’ll award up to two stars for the food, since this is the main reason we dine out. Sometimes the extra star is given for value, but it’s really all about the food.
1 Star — Will I come back? — If I know for a fact I’ll return, I’ll give this a star. A place has to make an impression for me to return.
Each Category can be given up to 1 star except food (2 stars) because I consider all these categories important to the overall dining experience. I will sum them up to provide my final Unilocal score.

Went for brunch and everything was mediocre.
Got the omelet w goat cheese and sausage. It was a good big portion but the egg to filling ratio was definitely off. The biscuit was also so FLAT and dry! Omg how do you mess up biscuits?! I was very very sad :’(
Churros were also a disappointment. No one at the table wanted to finish them. That’s how bad they were.
Everyone else was pretty dissatisfied too. They had the huevos rancheros and Benedicts.
Next time I’m craving a biscuit I’ll go to Piedmont.