Hayne Street Gastrolounge 109 North Hayne Street, Monroe, NC 28112

"Started working as a Cook here today."

"Was really excited to try Hayne Street Gastrolounge but unfortunately, was highly disappointed. I am very aware that this is a new establishment and certainly do agree they need time to work out their kinks as all new places do. Please note that if you decide to read this review, my reasoning for the review is not based on that. This evening, my husband and I along with two of our friends had dinner here. We started with the truffle fries and deviled eggs- both of which were really good. The aoli that the fries came with was delicious. The deviled eggs sounded like they were a bit too. Drinks were ordered and were good as well. Our issue arose with our mains. We ordered two chicken Alfredo dishes, a burger and the shrimp and grits. The burger was the first to come out which was followed by the shrimp and grits about 5 minutes later. There was no mention of when the rest of our food would come out (no problem, we chalked it up to short staff in the kitchen and working on food timing). On the menu, the chicken Alfredo was listed as containing “chicken breasts”. About 10 minutes later, both of our “chicken” Alfredo dishes came out. To start, the portions were inconsistent. One portion was rather large and the other was very small. Outside of that, the chicken was very finely chopped and was oddly colored- there were pieces that were grey, other pieces dark black and others were white. This was very far from being chicken breasts. We asked our waitress about this and she assured us it was white meat chicken. When the waitress was telling us about the dish, she mentioned it contained mushrooms and that was what we were seeing which was odd because mushrooms were not listed as an active ingredient. I did advise her I’d like to send the dish back as I could not eat it with the chicken present in it. I asked to pay extra for a new dish to be remade but with shrimp. Unfortunately, I was told this could not happen. This resulted in not eating dinner with those I was with as planned. We asked another waitress about the chicken because it truly resembled canned chicken. Turns out, the dish did not contain mushrooms which was a relief. The customer service was truly subpar. When we had an issue with the meal, not once did a manager or the visibly present owner come over to us to apologize. Instead, the owner knew what was going on and went out of her way to dodge us. Not once was there a single mention of an apology surrounding the food mishap. Not once did anyone come over to check on us. When the bill came, the dish sent back was still on our bill and we were expected to pay for something we sent back. I had to request it to be removed which seemed to have peeved the owners; even with that, again, not once did anyone come check on us. I’d love to come back for another attempt but highly recommend they work on the food, consistency and most importantly the customer service. The prices are very high and while I don’t mind paying them, I believe charging as much as they do should come with stellar service."

"Brand new and well needed to downtown Monroe, they will have to work the kinks out but they are on the right track!"

"Great fish and chips. The Crispy Maitake Mushrooms with a creamy Labneh was our favorite. Salmon good, be sure to order medium rare. Sat at bar and got friendly service."