309 Bistro and Spirits

The food was good. The server was good. The owner’s attitude was TERRIBLE. If you want to have a nice dinner with friends, don’t go to 309 Bistro.

Wait I’m trying to think of something bad to say, oh wait — sorry I Can’t say anything bad. I had the Lamb chops with Fries and creamed Spinach. Chops were great, not too small and cooked exactly like I wanted them and the red sauce was really good. The fries were pretty good, but the creamed spinach was really good to. I never had creamed spinach like that.

The waitress was so kind and welcoming. I loved the house salad– the Bibb lettuce was so frees he and the spicy Italian dressing was yummy! I was so full after the salad and then the chicken sandwich– the bacon was cooked just the way I like and the bread was toasted to perfection !

My husband has been raving about 309 Bistrao for a couple of months, and today I ate there for the first time. I had the special of the day, fish taco’s, and they were superb. Service was fast and friendly, and when I mentioned that I had a few food allergies, our server immediately went to the kitchen to check make sure the food was safe for me. How good was it? I’m going back for dinne

Cute restaurant on the main strip in Edenton. Warm and pleasant ambiance, menu rating «okay». One of the better restaurant in Edenton (there are very few).
Food: Shrimp pasta was a tad oily. Flavor was OK — not particularly great, overall the dish was uninspiring. Spinach salad with fresh strawberries, walnuts and grilled chicken was delicious! The chocolate mousse dessert was pretty good.
Service: pretty good

This place is out freaking standing. My wife and I had the specials. I had a roast beef panini. The meat was freshly cooked rare just how I like it and the home made chips were delicious.
My wife had the fish and chips. It was fresh flounder. The batter was great. Not too much and the taste of the fish was very fresh, flavorful and moist
Great atmosphere and friendly service are all we found. They also have a good beer and wine selection. Full bar available.
Highly recommend stopping here if you are in the historic district of Edenton.

I give this place a 4 out 5 stars. It was delicious. The tips were done to perfection and mushrooms and blue cheese sauce complimented the steak nicely. The staff was friendly and accommodating. My only complaint– piece of plastic in potatoes. Resolved quickly and satisfactorily! I would definitely return. Pineapple Layer cake is yummy!

Wonderful place with the BEST food! The bacon wrapped scallops were well done for starters. I had the salmon for dinner and that too was great! The brussels sprout casserole is one I would highly recommend. And for dessert – the white chocolate soup with brownie croûton – was a work of culinary artistry and equally delicious! The staff was nice and inviting and I liked the atmosphere – the place is not huge – just quaint and a place I would visit again!

Had lunch at the bar. The Cuban Reuben was excellent and my wife had the fish and chips which were also pretty good. The bar staff were quite friendly and accommodating and the atmosphere was great.

My husband and I had our anniversary dinner here while staying in Edenton. We stepped in and were very impressed with a musician playing a muted trumpet in the entryway. It gave the restaurant a romantic ambiance.
We started with the bacon wrapped scallop app, which was cooked to perfection and had a light ginger glaze. Next, my husband had flounder and enjoyed it very much. The waitress offered what he thought was hot sauce, but it turned out it was cocktail sauce. It was a happy accident because he found it to be fresh and a nice compliment to the fish. I had the bistro steak, which is 5 oz of beef medallions. The steak sauce was good. I ordered the steak medium, and I wish I had ordered medium-​rare, as I found it to be on the well done side. For dessert, we shared a piece of sour cream poundcake with strawberries. It was to die for! The perfect amount of sweet, and the cake moist.
Don’t miss this restaurant if you are visiting Edenton, or even if you live here :)

Excellent! Had a nice house Cabernet, house salad with house chutney dressing (very good), brussel sprout casserole (good) and one of the specials which was venison with oyster mushroom gravy. This was very tender, peppery & just divine. No room for dessert but lots of delicious sounding offerings. Was by myself on business so look forward to trying an appetizer & dessert when my husband can join me. A little noisy just because old wood building but pleasantly decorated. Will visit again.

Had a lovely lunch here! Locals recommended that I try the Thai Chicken Wrap, and it was AMAZING. The service was friendly, and I got a table by the window so I could watch the world walk by. Their house chardonnay was tasty. I would like to go back next time I’m in Edenton, for dinner.

Nice little place on Edenton’s downtown street. Its one of the classier places in Edenton. I had the shrimp and grits which was great, they have a decent drink menu and they seemed to have good specials for dinner. I would go back for sure.

2.5 Stars — Food was decent but not overly impressive and was dragged down by a few preparation issues.
There are not many restaurant options in the downtown Edenton area so we opted for the closest place to our accommodations for the night. We arrived relatively early (around 6pm) and were promptly seated. It was good that we arrived early as the restaurant quickly filled up over the course of the next hour.
The restaurant is clean and open, even a bit spartan. There is original art work on the walls and the spacious bar is somewhat segregated from the dining room with a single high-​boy table in between (a rather odd spot for a table IMHO).
Our server, Heather, was prompt and pleasant throughout our meal and quickly greeted us. We opted to try the crab casserole as a starter and a few cocktails. The crab casserole arrived quickly and was piping hot. Unfortunately, it was rather vinegary and seemed to have separated a bit as it had a considerable amount of oil pooled around the edges.
My date had a tuna salad, which was cooked to the requested temperature and a I opted for the «surf and turf». My steak was cooked to a perfect medium-​rare and had a great flavor however, the shrimp were grilled «shell on» which made for rather messy eating — note to staff that a side plate is a welcome addition if you are eating something with shells so that you can put them someplace other than on your entrée plate where they mix with your meal.
We finished with 309s version of a «chocolate lava cake» topped with ice-​cream. They referred to it by it’s Italian name, which currently escapes me, but regardless of name it was rich and chocolaty and a nice finish to the meal.
A few notes to the kitchen:
With my meal was an order of au gratin potatoes — these, while they had a decent flavor, had «broken» the cream sauce had separated and become very oily. I would guess that these had been held at heat in a warming tray for too long causing this to occur.
Note to the chef — the shrimp had not be de-​veined and had a very gritty, bitter, dark vein running through them (and we all know what this is). Non-​de-​veined shrimp don’t necessarily bother me but this can be extremely off-​putting for some. De-​veining can be accomplished without removing the shells it just takes time to do so.
Overall, the food was fairly decent and the service was good. Given the prices I would expect a bit more attention to details with regards to preparation and service.

Food was excellent. Service was incredibly average. We had to ask twice to order and he servers debated about whose table we were, requested condiments never arrived, food took way too long.

We have been here twice for hor devours and cocktails. Great atmosphere and music. Extremely friendly staff (exception of one bartender who was spot on with service but never even smiled). We just moved to the area and we will be back!

Favorite meal we had during our trip to Edenton. We are both vegetarians and were really impressed with our meals. Service and atmosphere were both good too.

Classiest restaurant in Edenton since River House closed. Food is a bit pricier but worth it. Also only one of two bars in town. The dining room can get quite loud during a busy evening.

Décor and ambience are nice. Waitresses are so friendly. Food was great. The homemade pecan pie was fantastic! Nice selection of seafood, meats, and pastas. Prices are reasonable. Must try the brussel sprout casserole!

Another visit to the 309 and we were very pleased. There was live music provided by Wayne James to keep the mood relaxed. I had an adventurous night as I had a veggie I hadn’t eaten in 46 years. Just a little background on that; when I was in boot camp, we had brussel sprouts almost every day. They were not good, but because I was so hungry, I ate them anyway. I swore them off forever until last Saturday night. My daughter had some on a side dish with a nice sauce on them and in a moment of madness, I ate one. It was quite good and nothing like the ones I remembered from 46 years ago. This restaurant is a hidden gem in downtown Edenton. I hope some of my Hampton Roads Unilocal friends will make the drive down to check it out. You won’t be disappointed.