Scrumptious fare at Chanticleer … ifyou can ignore creeping line while dining

Took a trip to Cary, a west major suburb of Raleigh, on Friday right around the noon hour, and we decided to stop for lunch at a place we’d never visited before, Chanticleer Cafe and Bakery.

The eatery at 6490 Tryon Road has an extensive variety of coffees, a nice variety of fresh-baked goods and a varied selection of meals on the menu. The one quirk about the place is that customers stand in line to order and then are given an electronic notification device (compare to Panera Bread) that lets you know when your order is ready for pickup. 

Unfortunately, Chanticleer doesn’t have nearly the space and/or partitioning that Panera has, so people waiting in the line to order (see photo at right) are in close proximity to a large percentage of indoor diners. Two tables, in fact, are right next to the line. It was not surprising that they were the last to be taken by customers picking up their orders.

Our table was in a booth on the other side of the line, which thankfully had a little more separation than those two less fortunate tables.

I ordered the Reuben sandwich and house-made chips, shown in the photo leading off the post. Lee Ann ordered a spinach quiche (first photo below) and a guava tart (second photo below).

My Reuben was very good — I’d rate it a 7 on a scale of 1-10. Lee Ann liked her quiche but couldn’t finish it, so she took home the leftovers, which include the guava tart.

Question is … will we go back? I’m not sure. We’ll see.

Above and below: Exterior shots of the Chanticleer Cafe and Bakery.

The menu board (above) and a welcoming sign (below) near the entrance door.