West End Cafe

Been here before and enjoyed a really good sandwich. Today I sat at the bar with a friend of mine and enjoyed a delicious bacon cheddar cheeseburger. Have to say it was a very tasty burger.
Cooked exactly like I like it. Well done. Crispy bacon along with my crispy, but not burnt, burger. All the fixings on it were fresh. And the burger never fell apart despite it’s size. Had potato salad for a side and I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t much though. Wish they gave a little bit more.
The place is very busy around the 12pm hour for lunch. They had plenty of staff working and taking care of the tables. The guy at the bar was cool. Quick to get our orders in. Overall the service here is very good.
Definitely try this place. I wasn’t disappointed.

In the affluent historic neighborhood of West End in Winston Salem sits a solid fixture of the neighborhood. A gathering place that most of all the neighbors have been going to for years! The West End Café is a cozy, kinda upscale, busy little diner. When I say busy, I mean whether it’s lunch or dinner time, it’s always packed with a line out of the door! We found a spot in the back and was instantly offered to take our drink orders. After several minutes of looking over their extensive menu of sandwiches and salads, we had our orders taken by our waiter George. Now, as usual, I had done my homework and knew they always had nightly specials for soups, entrees, and desserts. We were never told of any of the night’s specials when ordering, but I wasn’t too surprised as George just not your talkative waiter. While efficient in everything he did, he never offered anything extra to you’re dining experience! I didn’t feel out of place due to both tables to our sides got the same treatment. I got the Potato Pancakes as a appetizer and was quite pleased! While certainly not potato in taste, the more corn meal and onion flavors made for a nice version. The Salmon Salad was beautiful in presentation and absolutely cooked to perfection! The Corned Beef and Pastrami served on grilled sourdough was a very nice size sandwich and excellent in taste! I had already saw dessert pictures on Unilocal and was quite ready to dive into some sweet goodness! However, when George was asked about their desserts, we were told they’re listed on the wall! Though never in a sarcastic or mean way, his lack of getting involved in your experience left you feeling like you were pulling teeth. I’m not a dentist and was done pulling teeth, so we elected to do dessert at a fabulous coffeehouse a block down the street. There’s no question why they’ve been so successful for so many years! They’re food is really good, and certainly a notch above a typical café experience! A background in dentistry will enhance your experience however!

This place is EXCELLENT. Clean. Quaint. Fantastic service. I went for lunch for the first time on 12/​21/​2015 and just sat at the bar. The sweet tea was perfect! I was served almost immediately. Ordered my food and had it within 10 minutes and the place was packed. I ordered a Roast Beef and Provolone sandwich on sourdough bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. They threw the roast beef and provolone on the grill to get it nice and warm, and they also toasted the sourdough bread to perfection. Honestly… It was one of the most simple, yet flavorful things I’ve ever eaten. I HIGHLY Recommend the sourdough bread! They offer a variety of other lunch and dinner options as well. And they also have a nice variety of wine, beer and liquor as well! This place is an A++ and I would recommend it Highly to anyone looking for a place to eat lunch in Winston Salem!

Very good place!
We were in town for just one night and I found this place on Unilocal!I’m glad I did!
The variety is very good with seafood, deli food, desserts and even pasta, but I wasn’t super hungry so I went with the more than satisfying Italian Hoagie. It was fantastic, teaming with flavor! The toasted sandwich comes with a great vinaigrette sauce that enhances without overpowering.
The hotdogs were good-​I stole a bite from my kid’s-and he liked it too!
The applesauce is very good too. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it. I ordered it too.
The salad selection looked great and the people at the table next to me both really seemed to like them.
My wife ordered the steak pita, which she said was a bit greasy. She said it was good.
I’d definitely be a regular if I lived here!

Consistently delicious, craveable, just good food. Turkey reuben is so good — piled high with turkey, grilled. Sweet potatoes fries — yum. The pretzel crusted salmon salad is my favorite, and they have a chef’s salad that is just hands down the best chef’s salad you will ever eat. Homemade dressings, homemade desserts, wonderful specials. You could close your eyes, point to something on the menu, and never be disappointed. This place is top notch.

West End is a perfectly quaint place which delivers consistent food and service. Don’t be expecting any artisanal ingredients or trendy menu items, this place gives off an old school kinda vibe — from the baskets of crackers to the antique booths.
The menu is pretty heavily concentrated on diner-​y options, such as grinders, reubens, and melt type sandwiches, which I am sure are solid, but I haven’t strayed from the salads. They are fantastic! There is a wide variety of tasty, fresh veggies to choose from. They even have sprouts and heart of palm. Amazing! And the salads always come so lovingly presented and arranged too!
I am partial to the «build your own» option, but have also enjoyed the pretzel crusted salmon and shrimp and corn relish salads, both are great, but a bit skimpy on the greens so I always make sure to request extra lettuce.
The husband had the tuna salad sandwich, adding tomato, lettuce and cucumber. It was good, but a little dry. We both agreed that it would have been elevated to fantastic with the addition of avocado, which is an option.
Atmosphere is a bit dated, but not everything needs to be modern. My favorite is to sit at one of the front booths so you can enjoy the great little koi pond!

I selected this place initially due to location and seafood. I will go again and again for the reasons I’ll detail below.
When you enter it’s a charming tavern/​pub/​café setting. Calm décor, nothing fussy or fancy. Self-​seating at any clean table. I selected one by the front window and had a lovely view of the bubbling pond, walkway and the park across the street. I felt as if I were in a bucolic movie about small town life. It was serene and pleasant.
The server asked if others were joining (yes) and if I’d like a drink (yes) and while I struggle to find a place that offers unsweetened tea that is worth drinking, I went ahead and ordered a glass. I rarely have a refill and I had two. It was fresh, well made and in a glass, not a plastic tumbler.
When my two dining companions arrived we spent considerable time looking at the expansive menu, discussing options. Shareables and small plates had excellent choices and were complimentary flavor profiles to the entrees. Our selections to share were the flatbread of the day, seafood pancake, boiled shrimp and clam plate and potato pancakes.
Let’s start with the flatbread. Two choices that day and we went with the caramelized onion, pork belly and brie special. OH. MY. GOODNESS! It was perfectly crisp without exploding at each bite. The toppings were not so sparse that you were hoping for a bite of something on your piece, but not so overdone as to imagine a ham fisted cook dumping them in palm size clumps as often happens with flatbreads. The seasoning was a symphony of tastes and were designed exactly right for the three toppings.
Seafood pancake was served with two skewers of amazing flank steak that had been happily marinating prior to being grilled and placed upon a plate sized pancake of shrimp and crab. The kim chee was not so hot as to make you fan yourself and break into a sweat, but offered a nice warmth to accompany the sweet of the shellfish, the savory of the meat and the comfort texture of the pancake.
The shrimp and clam platter was a modified low country boil with red bliss potatoes and a mini cob accompanying it. Shrimp was done perfectly, clams were not sandy and potatoes were silken, not waxy. The corn was excellent! Fresh lemon brought out the best of the flavors and it came with melted butter (we passed) and a child safe cocktail sauce that while good, we would have preferred a bit more horseradish to notch it up.
One my dining companions has eaten at WEC previously and raved of the potato pancakes. She was not wrong in her assessment. Unlike a latke with a crisp ‘shell’ and the sense of too much oil, these were delightfully soft and yet firm enough to hold the applesauce and sour cream.
The portions were exactly right for sharing, only a small bit of each item remained when our entrees arrived.
I wisely chose the butternut squash soup instead of a full entrée, I would not have had room for anything else. It was a superbly done bisque with a rustic chicken stock that still had bits of tender chicken in it, cream and perfectly seasoned butternut squash. A ordered a cup and next time will choose a bowl… and perhaps a take home container as well.
One companion chose the small plate trout. It was seared on the skin side to perfection, the trout itself seasoned perfectly and very moist. Served in a deconstructed salad style with romaine, sliced egg, cucumber and pesto, tomato slices and avocado. It was what I would consider entrée size, she was glad not to have ordered the larger trout offering.
The other companion chose the bacon, onion and mushroom chicken sandwich. It came on a Kaiser roll that was exactly the right size for the oversized breast of chicken. The Yukon Gold french fries were sublime dipped in the house made ranch which was among the best he’s had anywhere!
We were going to forgo dessert but decided to have a bite of two choices and take the rest home.
OH. MY. Run 7 miles today, I shall! These were easily the best desserts any of us have enjoyed in months, if not the past year.
The maple and sweet potato cheesecake was superlative! The layer of sweet potato pie purée was perfectly done – texture, flavor, depth and firmness. It was nestled atop a perfectly done cheesecake and then atop those two layers was a cozy layer of maple cream cheese. The three together, with a sublime crust, was a true symphony of taste. We all ceased speaking and simply reverted to little moans of happiness as we each savored an incredible bite.
Next we sampled the chocolate pecan brownie pie. Is it a pie, is it a brownie? I don’t care… it was exceptional! Dark without being too much so. Pecans that were layered rather than spun throughout.
Handcrafted food from people who clearly care about the final resulting product, exceptionally friendly and hands on servers… never had an empty glass, but no one was hovering over us, either.

Went here last week with friends. We were able to get a long table In the back for the 5 of us. I tried a new sandwich and loved it, with sweet potato fries as the side. I’d recommend honey mustard sauce to go with the fries. We all split a tres leche cake for dessert, and while it wasn’t my favorite dessert, it was made very well. I’d definitely recommend eating at West End Café!

I must say that West End has great service. The staff is super friendly and I liked how the manager came to check on each table. I had the lamb and creamed spinach appetizer as my entrée. The chop was a double chop that was grilled to medium rare perfection. It had the lovely char from the grill. The creamed spinach had blue cheese in it. I liked this twist and it went well with the lamb. The creamed spinach was also made from fresh spinach. It was homemade and yummy and I would order that spinach as a side in the future if they have it again. I tried their pasta salad and enjoyed it. The dressing has a zesty flavor. My husband enjoyed his Ruben. I look forward to eating here again.

This place nevers disappoints, in either service or quality of food, and because the menu is so varied, you never seem to get tired of what they offer. We always seem to end up with one of their salads and a sandwich of some kind as our second choice. I love the fish sandwich here, but wanted to try something else.
Today it was their huge Hot Dog ($ 5.75 with a side), and the House Special Salad ($ 10.25). with made-​in-​house Ranch Dressing. The Hot Dog is a very large all beef wiener on a crusty roll, shaped much like the ones used for lobster rolls. The wiener is excellent, the roll at least as good, the creamy slaw is shredded with a little carrot, and the chili is good, though far from the chili found on local chili dogs — a little on the tomatoey side, with beans, and has a little heat. This is far from a classic Southern chili dog, but it works, and I’ve ordered it before, and will again.
The House Special Salad is also large — and contains mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, cheese, sprouts, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, crutons, and strips of grilled chicken breast. The chicken has been marinated in Italian Dressing, grilled perfectly, and was very tender, moist, and loaded with flavor. The sunflower seeds are roasted and salted, and add both flavor and crunch to the salad. The Ranch Dressing was excellent, and rounded out a great lunch salad.
The ambience here is not really in line with the food and service. The booths and the bar stools are not likely to lull you to sleep, and if you were so inclined, the loud, incessant music would make that impossible. It does get busy at lunch, and the rising chatter combined with the music makes this place rather loud.
Still, mostly all good here. We’ll be back.