Down to Durham

Yesterday was a great day. I took a trip down to Durham with my dad to watch Duke play Maryland at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was my second time seeing a game at Duke and it was a great game to attend - I plan to post more about the game later this week. And before we made the trip, I did some research on Urbanspoon about potential places to eat in the Durham/Chapel Hill area before the game. There were a few places that looked appealing, but there is something special about ACC Basketball and BBQ so we decided to try Allen & Son.

When we pulled up to the restaurant, we felt like we were about to enjoy a local landmark that focused on serving great food and didn't worry about presentation or being fancy. The atmosphere was quaint and had tacky decorations, but that's not uncommon for many local restaurants in the South. Once we sat down and received menus, we were a bit surprised at the prices of the food. $10 for a BBQ Plate with slaw and hush puppies, $4.25 for a bowl of Brunswick stew, or $6.00 for a BBQ sandwich seemed a bit steep, but we thought it might have something to do with the portions. My dad is somewhat of a Brunswick stew connoisseur, so he ordered a bowl of stew (which came with hush puppies) along with a BBQ sandwich and a side of onion rings. Then, I tried to order.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a difficult customer when it comes to dining out. I'm more the type that would rather just let something go than point out a mistake to the server or send food back because I'm unhappy with it - I don't like the confrontation. I'll eat something I don't even like because I don't wait to be a pain. So, I decided to order the BBQ sandwich with a side of hush puppies. So far, no problem. However, I noticed that the BBQ sandwich came with slaw on top of it and I tend to be rather picky when it comes to coleslaw. I asked the waitress if I could get the slaw on the side instead of on the sandwich because I wanted to try it to make sure I liked it before putting it on my sandwich. I do this all the time and it's NEVER been an issue - until now. 

She told me I couldn't have the slaw on the side. I figured there was a misunderstanding and she must have thought I was asking for an extra side of slaw - I tried to explain, "No, I would like the slaw that is going on the sandwich to be left on the side." She understood but it didn't matter. She informed me that we would be charged extra for having the slaw on the side. Stunned, I said, "Wait a second - you're going to charge me extra for the slaw you were already going to serve me if I want it put on the plate instead of on the sandwich?" She wasn't willing to budge and asked me if I wanted the slaw or not. I responded that I'd take the sandwich with the slaw and I would just scoop it off if I didn't like it. I tried to express how ridiculous this was but it didn't seem to phase her. Looking back, I was more accommodating than I should have been - we should have just walked out on principle.

At this point, I was thinking this place better serve the best freaking BBQ in the country to put up with this nonsense. Once our food came, our mistake in choosing Allen & Son had been fully realized. For $7.50, my BBQ sandwich and hush puppies were little more than disappointing. AND THERE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A TABLESPOON OF THE INFAMOUS COLESLAW ON MY SANDWICH! The meat was a little dry and the hush puppies were good, but I wish there had been more than four of them. And as for my dad's Brunswick stew, I've been served bigger samples of soup at Costco than what he received in his $4 "bowl." Lacking in size and flavor but heavy on the price tag ($25.00) is a terrible description for any meal and that's how I would describe what we had.

Unfortunately, our pregame meal was the low point of an otherwise great day. The basketball was great and the crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium was energetic, creative, and memorable. I wish I could say the same about the food and the experience at Allen & Son. Two thumbs way down!