I just moved to Fuquay and hoped to make Cooley's Pub/Restaurant my new neighborhood restaurant of choice. It looked as though it could be inviting from its corner position at the end of main street. But I was disappointed greatly, and don't predict going back.\r
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First, when we entered, it was a solid 5 minutes before anyone from the staff greeted us or offered to take our name to put it on a wait list. \r
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While waiting for a table, I noticed that the special that night included some of my favorites - seared scallops over cheese ravioli with pesto cream sauce. It was $16, so I trusted that if someone was going to put a price tag like that on a meal, that it would be delicious. Instead the 5 tiny bay scallops in the dish were completely tasteless and obviously had been frozen for a long time. the pasta and sauce were nothing to speak of as well.\r
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the service was subpar too. we had to ask more than once for napkins, spent a good 20 minutes with a stack of dirty plates waiting to be picked up, and when I sent back the scallops, the waiter didn't think to ask me if I'd like something else for my dinner instead. I had to catch him to ask for a menu. Also, our appetizer of crab stuffed mushrooms, which took about 15 minutes and wasn't very warm, was unimaginative. The crabmeat was dry, and notably lacked some sort of sauce or oil. \r
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My dining partner's broiled flounder was also completely tasteless and had a lot of bones in it, making both entrees completely not worth our whiles. The waiter also charged me for my side salad, even though it came free with meal I had ordered (and had hoped to enjoy).\r
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Sum up: The service is lackluster, the management does not seem to care much about clientele (no one came to apologize for the unappealing $16 plate of the day, or ask if they could get us something else) and the food is bland and overpriced. You'd be better off going to another restaurant in town, even a chain.
Pros: cheap beers
Cons: tasteless food, noisy, crowded, inexperienced service
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