Long Wait at OMB

The new brewery may have some trouble feeding guests

With temperatures still hovering in the high 80s and low 90s over the weekend, a group of friends and I decided that a trip to the freshly re-done Olde Mecklenberg Brewery for some brews and light bites in the shade was in order.

As a note: Olde Meck doesn't advertise itself as a restaurant but, rather, a brewery with food — and a pretty decent selection including burgers, pizza, salads, and other pub grub (wings, dips, etc.) dots the menu.

After rounding up our crew (two puppies included) and finding a place to park (the street), we sat without a wait at the benches in the Biergarten. Our waitress came to attend to us quickly, taking down beer orders. Within 15 minutes, however, a different waitress appeared, and seemed rather perturbed that someone else had already taken our drink orders.

Roughly 20-25 minutes later, we were all finally given our drinks (there were seven of us, for the record). My companions and I all decided we would also order food, so upon the return of one of our waitresses (there were technically two at this point), we started placing dinner orders. Only two of the seven in our group ordered on the first go around (myself and my companion) — the grilled romaine salad and a gouda grilled cheese, respectively.

After another 20 minutes, the waitress who had taken the food orders returned and informed us that it would be at least 1-1.5 HOUR wait for our food to arrive. When my companion questioned this ("It'll take an hour to make a grilled cheese?"), the waitress explained that since we did not wait for a table, we had to wait for food.

In a way, it does make sense, but we did cancel orders and went on to enjoy a delicious dinner at The Liberty. If Olde Meck is going to offer food — especially to patrons sitting in the Biergarten, the staff should probably let customers know how long a wait for a meal will be BEFORE they order (and sooner than 45 minutes into sitting).

The atmosphere, Biergarten, grounds, beer, and company are all spectacular at Olde Meck, but the brewery may have bitten off more than it can chew when it comes to feeding patrons. Hopefully, in a few weeks, they'll have worked out any kinks. Until then, head over for a beer and good company.