Counting House

The food was great, but the server forgot to bring our appetizer. This was dealt with very quickly and we received complimentary deserts with our meal.

Perfect pre-show dining

The chicken dumplings are to die for! Restaurant was quiet at 12noon.

Mia and Phil(cross training bartender) did a great job. Gave us time, and educated us on the menu choices. Food was excellent, atmosphere was solid.

Counting House is in a beautiful setting. Our breakfast was average so I think it would be a better dinner setting.

Service was very nice but slowww between courses we ordered. Great decor and feel to the place though. Food was excellent

We like the Counting House. We’ve been at least 6 times and we like to bring friends and family to experience. This last time was very good. The vegetables small plates was outstanding as was the entrees. Wait staff was very knowledgeable about the menu and very pleasant.

Without a doubt, the meal was one of the best I have ever had in the Triangle! The oysters were some of the freshest I’ve ever had. All food was prepared and presented in an original manner. I will return!

Food was overpriced and not very good. The cocktail tasted like sugar syrup and we detected no alcohol.

Birthday dinner with my two sons...a memorable meal!

Everything was excellent. Kitchen and wait staff did a great job with some food sensitivities. And of course 21C is as cool as Matt Smith in a fez.

Had 10am Sunday reservation. Worst service. Waitress let us sit there for 10-15 mins before coming over. We thought odd, there is zero activity in this restaurant, but she was pleasant. Coffee took more than 25 minutes - even asking twice, so of course we got our food first. We never got our toast, waitress never bothered to check how our food was. (Food was good, coffee was sadly... awful - ordered an americano and it was drip). Waitress copped an attitude about us being frustrated about the coffee delay - “other people have been waiting longer” - but the restaurant was pretty dead - 2 other tables when we arrived, 2 more came while we were there . If it were new, that’s one thing. But it’s a nicer place that’s been open for a while so it’s just not acceptable. Was trying to show a CA friend a good Durham brunch and it was truthfully one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. Waitress never came over to apologize for delay or say catering was backed up (ummm... that holds up 2 americanos?) to explain the awkward and ridiculous coffee delay, didn’t bother to suggest drip coffee while we waited. Instead, waitress said it was her day off and she just came in to help. She actually argued with us for being frustrated. When it came time to drop the check she apologized, though not really genuine at that point. Good service isn’t that hard - we weren’t even asking for good!! - we just wanted annny service. Finishing this review with .. but they had good eggs and bacon.

Food was good. Ambiance was nice. Service was lacking.

We enjoyed a delicious meal and amazing dining experience at the Counting House tonight. The food was incredible and the presentation of each plate was like a work of art. Very cool bar and decor as well. It was definitely one of the coolest restaurants we’ve been to in awhile.

Amazing food!

Get the octopus! It's amazing! We ordered several small plates before a show at DPAC and they accommodated our short time frame.

Food was amazing. Service was superb. Ambiance was a bit disappointing for the cost of the meal. Place was lively.

I haven't been to The Counting House in about three years. Wow! The food was better than ever. Best gazpacho I ever ate. Superb salmon dish with delightfully cooked vegetables. Excellent bread.

This was a first time visit and it won't be my last. The food was amazingly good. Make sure to try the appetizers.

Food was delicious but the service was AWFUL. Never saw our server again after ordering. Someone else had to step in. We didn’t get everything we ordered (including my drink!) and had to have our order corrected.

The ambience in the restaurant was really great. It was easy to get a table on a Saturday at brunch. The staff was friendly and helpful. However, the food is a little overpriced and I didn't feel that the biscuits and gravy platter that I ordered was as good as it could have been especially for the amount I paid for it. The biscuit was hard and stale. The sausage gravy nor the biscuit was warm, but almost cold upon receiving it. The only part of the food I enjoyed were the grits. The house lemonade was okay, but not worth the $3.50 I paid. I will say though that I love the overall experience of the 21C and Counting House.

Had such a great experience with Blakely. She was an amazing waitress and so informed about our food and drinks. She made sure our guest will an allergy was comfortable and could eat everything he desired. Shout out to her and the chefs who made that possible. We had an amazing meal, and created a memory that will last lifetime.

Great food and the service was awesome. The waitress was very respectful of our time and made sure dishes arrived in a timely fashion

artisan restaurant......not big portions but beautifully crafted and very tasty

One of my favorite restaurants in the triangle. The menu changes often enough throughout the year to keep me coming back. I love bringing my friends in to show them what Durham has to offer. The service from Lauren this evening was stellar, drinks were also top notch. As always, I will be back soon!

Great taste; great presentation. Party of 4 at 6 PM. Really enjoyed the evening.

The waitress said she forgot about us so we arrived with a reservation and got our food (soup and sandwich) nearly an hour later. I had to put more $in the meter so we could see the museum aspects of the hotel. Although the service was friendly, the time it took to work through the meal was extraordinary. As a second attempt to dine with good food, it was determined we cannot go back again.

Restaurant is decorated lovely. Service is awesome. Food was terribly bland and cold when it reached the table, disappointing.

Fantastic bartenders and servers. Made for great conversation and knowledge of the menu. The staff made the experience fantastic.

Interesting art in hotel. Comfortable seating. Upscale with reasonable prices. Food was good. Will definitely return and recommend to others.

The taste of the food was spectacular. Everything was on point service, atmosphere...
We took friends for anniversary they loved it.

we arrived a bit early for our reservation because we had theater tickets. The website said the restaurant opened at 5 PM there were many people in the bar who had obviously been there for a while. The hostess asked us to wait to be seated because she had other tables to seat for the theater so we went to the bar for a drink, the bartender took our order and then went to do other things, never to return. Another bartender came and asked if we wanted to eat in the bar or be seated and asked our drink order again. About then, the hostess came to seat us. We ordered our drinks for the third time, when the original bartender came into the dining room with our original order. We were confused by this time.
The food was well prepared and offered excellent flavor combinations.

Great venue, servers were in tune to our schedule to see a show that evening. Original drink order was slow but everything improved after. Guessing the bar just got slammed at that time.

The gazpacho was exceptional! Would highly recommend. Our meals were excellent as was the service!

I will have to say that I also rate myself and my wife a 3 because we were 20 minutes late for our reservation, we did call and let them know, and had tickets for the DPAC. With that said, the appy of octopus was outstanding. The waitress asked us if we would like our food to come out when it was ready since we had theater tickets, which was fine. I did not think my wife would get her entree 5 minutes before mine. Her swordfish was outstanding. My pork was really good flavor wise but not hot. The food looked really good the chef really knows what he is doing and service was great. Not sure what went wrong but I would give them another chance for sure. Even though we were late we had enough time to eat and the place was fairly empty. The wait person told us what took a long time to cook so that was not a problem.

I have had lunch at The Counting House several times, and it has always been great. On this visit, I met a friend for lunch. The food was good and our server was excellent. Although the restaurant is always crowded at night, during the day when I have been there for lunch for some reason it has not been crowded, so it is a great choice for good food and quiet conversation. Plus, it is always fun to visit the hotel (21c) and check out the contemporary art exhibits.

The catch of the day tasted just a bit fishy-. The scallop dish was very good. We ordered white wine and the server took it away from the table, rather than put it in an ice bucket on/near the table as usual, and did not remember to come by very often to refill glasses. I have never experience that system.

A very solid entry in Durham’s dining scene. Tucked into the bottom of an already fairly unique venue in the form of a hotel/art museum, Counting House serves an inspired menu from local and regional sources. Seafood and vegetables take center stage, accompanied by thoughtful preparations of traditional beef, chicken, and pork. Sauces are flavorful, combinations unique, and portions actually surprisingly generous. Rigatoni was delightful and carried some wonderful interpretations of sauces that could easily be overdone but worked beautifully together.

Likely to be crowded on weekends, make a reservation or come in during an off-day. Noise level moderate toward high depending on the time of night.

Check out the unique museum on the 3rd floor and the bank vault lounge in the basement!

The kitchen was a bit slow, for which the server apologized. Otherwise, the service and food were excellent. We found it a simpatico locale for celebrating a birthday.

Delightful dinner in a beautifully renovated historic building. The food selections were divine and delivered promptly so we could move along without feeling rushed to the show. BRAVO!