Carolina Grill

We were looking for a new place to try in the Zionsville area and this popped up online — although not truly in Zionsville I don’t think. It’s right on the line, if so. It’s also kind of difficult to find. It’s tucked away in a very cute residential neighborhood. Very bizarre — we weren’t sure about what we were in store for. Anyway, I digress…
It’s was about 8pm on a Saturday evening and the place was almost empty. There were two other tables, besides us. I think that most of the folks who come to this place are families from the neighborhood. We both ordered the exact same thing — the Carolina House Salad w/​Chicken. It was very good, but it’s a salad. You can’t really mess that up. The corn bread croutons were outstanding! Such a neat idea. However, the item you should absolutely not skip at this place is a cocktail! They don’t even have a bar in sight, so I assume they make the cocktails in the kitchen which is strange, but they are amazing and unique and strong and very affordable! GET A COCKTAIL!
We will definitely be back to try more cocktails… and some food too, I guess. :)

We’ve been trying a new restaurant every weekend-​this one was a win! Great food, great atmosphere, great service!!!

Tried to go have lunch today with my wife. We live about ¼ mile away. We come in and there is 2 tables with customers. We wait. The phone rings and a lady answers it. Takes the call. Another 6 or so people behind us. We all wait. THe lady goes into kitchen. Brings food out. No one has said hi, just a minute, nothing. Lady is back in kitchen to take a dirty dish away. After 10 minutes she greets us with a, we can seat you in 10 – 15 minutes. Did I mention there was only 2 – 3 tables with anyone in them? She then turned to the rest of the people … We left. How rude. Could you not have sat us down and let us know there would be a few minute wait with a drink? No they wanted us to stand in an empty restaurant ?! No thanks — we left.

I love this place! We were looking for a new restaurant to try and we came across Carolina Grill on Unilocal and decided to try. I had the pork tenderloin and tried the onion rings. It was delicious. We also shared a bread pudding which was house made. I highly recommend this place. Not only is the food good, but the service is as well!

Found Carolina Grill on a whim when searching OpenTable for an available reservation and I’m glad we did. Great little restaurant with nice, open décor. Totally reminded me of one of my favorite places in Galveston, TX (Farley Girls Café). So many things on the menu that I wanted to try! Great selection of sandwiches, salads or entrees for every budget. We had the beef short ribs (so tender) and the salmon. Both were great. Want to come back for the ribs and tenderloin sandwich. Talked to the chef as she walked by. Lots of attentive staff always there to pre-​bus (I like that)!!! Ate upstairs for a more quiet atmosphere with 70’s music playing overhead — all my faves. Popped downstairs to check out tap room and will try it another time. Thanks for a very enjoyable pre-Valentine’s Day dinner.

I’ve been working in Whitestown, In for the last few weeks. My coworkers and I have found Carolina Grill and we all love it. We’ve got food from here the first two weeks of working here and will probably come here the next two weeks. I personally got the brisket entrée and it’s so good I probably won’t try anything else.

Great service and food. Don’t let the location fool you, it might be in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but it’s terrific. We dined as a party of 10, after work. Try the breaded mushrooms and sweet potato fries, the best we’ve had!

Great tenderloin sandwhich! Great beer selection, quaint location in the Stonegate neighborhood. Fast and friendly service, will be back!

Came here with a group of 9 and we all thought it was fabulous! Of the appetizers the fried mushrooms were the top pick, followed by the homemade kraut and pulled pork sandwich for lunch. We would not hesitate to come back.

Worst service I’ve ever had. Stop hiring spoiled kids as servers!

A wonderful surprise… outstanding salmon salad. Generous and full of surprises potatoes beans veggies. Chicken fingers very lightly breaded super tender and moist. Open inviting room

Tap Room (in the basement) is good. Hans, the bartender, knows beer. Try it for a beer and some bar food.

Carolina grill is a hidden gem for casual dining located in stone gate neighborhood. They have outdoor dining if it’s a nice day the perfect place to eat.
All of the food we have tried over the last 3 years is good. Better than average. Some people in my family say the best pork tenderloin in Indiana.
We are usually the only people when we go at lunch time. I haven’t figured out why they aren’t busier.

Food was tasty, service was friendly, well priced, only 4 stars since we were the only ones here an just opened, hard to give 5 with out seeing the hustle an bustle of a full rush… but great place to stop an grab a bite

A real «hidden» gem! Literally stumbled onto this restaurant and love it! Beautiful décor and great food!

Tenderloin is great. Nice twist with the corn meal breading. Excellent. Probably the best tenderloin in Boone County. Pulled pork is also miles better than other bbq places like parky’s. And they have real french fries. Service was good… food was a little slow coming out but worth the wait. Pricing very fair. Excellent neighborhood restaurant.

Great food and excellent service. However, the sweet potatoes fries are a bit soggy but I would come back again.

This restaurant is in a planned community so make sure you know where you are going. I found the food and service to be excellent! They smoke all of their own meats and even make their own sauerkraut. The food was excellent and their dedication to quality food really came through. The service was friendly and knowledgeable. The bar is in the basement and has a pool table and golden tee plus there was live music the night I came. I’ll definitely come back next time I’m in town!

Located in an interesting area… mainly because it’s in a residential neighborhood. The concept of being a neighborhood restaurant and bar is great as well. They even have an ice cream parlor station.
The miss is probably the food. The Carolina bbq is a miss as well as the sweet potato fries. Skip on the buffalo chicken wings as well since a Tyson bag might be tastier. The only good thing was the ice cream.

Have visited a couple of times since my last review., but this time I went with a purpose. The Carolina is now offering live music on certain nights, specifically Wednesdays, unless there is a large party booked.
This seems to be one of Zionsville’s Best Kept Secrets, as even the Hostess didn’t know there was live music! But at least she had the good sense to ASK the management, who directed me downstairs to The Tap Room. I didn’t know this place even HAD a downstairs!
So I was surprised. Coming down the stairs and turning the corner, I was met with a large and comfortably dark and quiet bar, the kind of place where, once you get settled with a good beer, you don’t want to go home.
Hans, the bartender/​waiter, was pleasant and knowledgeable, referring me to an excellent dark beer on tap ($ 3 tap beers tonight!). I overhead him speaking with other customers, and learned that he seems to have quite a bit of experience with other local upscale eateries. His attention and service shows it. Nice to have some experienced staff, and not a bunch of teeny-​boppers that just turned 21.
While the food here is uniformly good, I had the same problems with the food that I had last time. I differed by ordering the Sweet Potato Fries, which were an excellent addition when coupled with the Chipotle Ranch dip, although the Chipotle Ranch seemed little more than commercial ranch dressing mixed with canned Chipotle sauce. Not too spicy, but even I could cook that! While the main items are freshly prepared, some of the side items taste «store-​bought» and even «off». My obligatory Cheesecake had a rubbery, «freezer burned» aftertaste that marred an otherwise good meal.
Again from eavesdropping, I learned that all of their breaded and fried items (like my tenderloin) are purchased fresh and breaded on the premises before cooking. From the flavor, I believe that to be true, but there is a slight costs for it – the breading on my tenderloin kept falling off, the sign of a hurried preparation! Not to worry — eat it with your fingers.
This quiet, out-​of-​the-​way bar was complimented by the soft vocal and guitar stylings of «Jim and Judy», my reason for the visit tonight. Their repertoire tends to come from the 60’s and 70’s, letting me hear some songs that I haven’t; heard live in 40 years! No thundering drums to make your ears bleed, and a quiet and private conversation IS possible during the music.
All in all, give this place 4 stars. 3 stars due to the lack of attention to detail in the meal (cheap sauces, frozen (?) cheesecake), and due to lack of advertising for The Tap Room, but add a star for a private elevator access to the other floors (for those of us with locomotion problems), and for bringing in some pleasant, unobtrusive LIVE music for the evening.
NOTE: State Law says that children not allowed in the Tap Room (a plus for me), but are more than welcome on the Main Floor.