Boiler Room Oyster Bar

We came here for drinks and appetizers because we had a late reservation at the Chef & the Farmer. The service was good. I had the oysters boilerfeller, they were very tasty. My wife had the cheese fries.
They had several NC beers on tap.

I should preface this by saying that I am obsessed, obsessed I tell you, with the show. Boiler Room is every bit as good as I’d hoped it would be. They were slammed, Sunday after Christmas and every table was full the moment they opened but our table of 7 was handled gracefully and we were seated within 30 minutes, and served Bloody Mary’s and saltines and ranch while we waited. The saltines, I assure you are not the saltines of your youth-​just get them. We were kind of a pain because we had 3 kids with us who and 4 adults who just wanted to catch up over Bloody Mary’s. We moved from outdoors to indoors but it was all handled without the slightest intonation that we were being a pain (which we were) by our server who seemed like she had been chosen from an audition list of hundreds for the role «world’s most adorable southern waitress». The food came out lightning fast, hot and delicious-(like the fries were too hot to touch) even as crazy as the kitchen must have been. My butterbean burger was perfectly spiced and crunchy on the outside. The oysters were briny little gems served on pork cracklins with an assortment of perfectly complementing adornments and were hand assembled by aforementioned adorable server. I ate about half of my nephew’s mac and cheese because I simply couldn’t stop myself. A day later I may just get in my car right now and drive the 1.5 hours for more of the bread pudding.
(The rest of my family was unaware, but Vivian and her family were there trying their best to dine inconspicuously at the table next to us, while I basically tried to not stare or say anything overtly stupid. My husband later tried to take credit by saying he’d won a silent auction for dinner with Vivian, either way the experience was by far my best present this year :)

Finding this place made me so incredibly happy there were no words. On my way back home to New Bern, we had hoped to hit a greasy spoon oyster bar on the way, but of course all the old country folks close up at like 7pm. So when we stumbled upon this place, we were shocked and awed to find a vibrant, modern, innovative oyster bar serving craft cocktails, hipster beer, and pulled pork fries! And open til midnight no less!
Chef Vivian has brought everything I love from the Durham foodie scene to right outside my hometown. We loved the oysters Rockefeller, the pulled pork fries, obviously the well-​shucked oysters, both raw and steamed, and the beef fat fries. It’s so amazing that this place keeps what’s great about the old (steamed and shucked oysters, pimiento cheese, slaw, fries) and makes it new and exciting.
It’s almost enough to make me consider moving back someday, truly.

Stopped by again to try something else out on the menu last night. Every time I try something new I have a new favorite. I really don’t think you can go wrong with anything you get here.
Tried the chili burger and fries… and WOW. Adding the coleslaw and pimento cheese took it over the top. Everything is cooked to order, fresh products and seasoned to perfection.
If you are in town and want something good to eat you definitely want to go here. They have great drink specials as well, last night was $ 2 Highland brewery drafts.
How can you go wrong?

We had the perfect opportunity to stop here on our way back from a Wilmington Trip this weekend, it was a bit out of the way but totally worth it. In fact, we’ll take the 1 hour 20 minute drive from Garner to Kinston to do this more often. If you’ve seen the show «A Chefs Life» on PBS then you know of Chef Vivian Howard and her family’s restaurants in Kinston. We went to the Boiler Room this time, and plan go to her other restaurant, Chef and the Farmer at some point soon.
The Boiler Room is a Burgers, Fries, and Oyster Bar. It is Southern Food at its finest, with Twists on everything from the Oysters (The General Lee Rooster served on Pork Rinds, and Oyster Boilerfella served with Gouda Cheese and Collards) to the Burgers (the U got Ranch? Burger and the Chili Cheese Burger).
Instead of bread here you’ll get house made Saltines, and use it for dipping in the warm Pimento Cheese and Sausage dip, or in their Homemade Ranch Dressing.
The food is locally sourced, including local beef fresh ground daily. Service was excellent, music was great, atmosphere relaxed and clean. They have a good beer selection, wines, and a creative bar.
Are you ready to go to Kinston yet? It is worth the trip!

I thought I had the perfect plan when Jamie W. and I were visiting Kinston for the day, lunch at the Boiler Room and dinner at Chef and the Farmer. After all, what else was there to do in a small town in Eastern North Carolina but go to the two restaurants owned by rising chef Vivian Howard and her husband Ben Knight? However, fate dealt us a dirty hand as I found out a day before our trip that lunch was served only on the weekends. On the Thursday we were there, they opened at 4:30PM, exactly two hours before our reservation right across the street at Chef and the Farmer. Do we shuck the idea of trying the Boiler Room entirely and save up all our calories for dinner? What are you, kidding me?
No way as I saw way too many Season Two episodes of «A Chef’s Life» empathizing with their ongoing struggles to open a second eatery while raising twin toddlers at home. Our plan was simple. We would get sloshed with beer and share the $ 8 Butterbean Burger since perfecting it was such a huge part of the butterbean episode. But we first needed libations. Jamie ordered the $ 7 Old Smokey, quite a smooth cocktail with Old Crow, Southern Comfort, smoked lemon syrup, vanilla bean syrup, lemon and club soda (photo:
). I felt a need to try one of the Mother Earth brews, so I tried the $ 5 Weeping Willow Wit which has a crisp tartness due to the bitter orange peel and fresh coriander that infuses the flavor (photo:
). Refreshing after a long drive from Morehead City.
Our butterbean burger arrived, and it was exactly what I was hoping for, a hearty, extremely flavorful vegetarian patty with caramelized onion, mayo, smoked Gouda cheese and tobacco onions (photo:
). It was one of the most singularly satisfying burgers I’ve had, veggie or otherwise. One of the Boiler Room staff on that episode described it as a cross between a black bean burger and a crab cake. That works for me. Jamie loved it and so did Ben’s mom on the show. We were still a bit thirsty, so we shared a $ 5 Park Day beer, another Mother Earth creation, this one a light-​bodied Pilsner that was way too easy to imbibe (photo:
). Our server Abby was a sweetheart who made us feel right at home and even gave us some tastings of more Mother Earth brews, Sisters of the Moon and Endless River (photo:
).
Yep, we were gett