"We had always said we would only leave positive reviews of the great places we 've truly enjoyed. This is the experience that completely changed our reasoning on that. People need to be aware of what they are getting. For context, we 've dined at CotC a bunch of times over the years before COVID, We know what they are capable of (like you see in the older food photos here. Unfortunately, the menu is a shell of it 's former self, but let 's start at the beginning so you can understand the experience and how much things have changed. We walked up past a young man tending to the outdoor grill. It smelled pretty good, so why not. Upon entering a menu board listing bbq pork, coleslaw, beans, and potato salad, all sounded great. The hostess did inform us that they operate on a limited menu now, and only have three entrees. With a $19.95 price for a BBQ plate and three sides, we were expecting decent size portions, and decided to split those two plates for our party of three. However, what arrived at the table was certainly less than what was expected. One tiny scoop of coleslaw next to another tiny scoop of potato salad, small scoop of mac&cheese and one plate had baked beans. On both plates we received a chicken breast with bbq sauce on it. We quickly found out that none of the hot food was anywhere close to hot. The chicken definitely never made it to the outdoor grill (bbq , which would have gave it those nice grill marks. Our nice waitress apologized and said she might be at fault... which she wasn 't. Yesterday 's menu board of bbq pork should have been removed at opening, by a manger or the owner. Actually, we would have been fine with the chicken had it not been served cold. It was probably precooked , It was not anywhere near the proper holding temp. The m&c was cold and beans were slightly warmer, but no where near hot. That should have been our red flag to leave, since chicken is nothing to leave to chance. So we sent it back, and another employee apologized and said they would get it fixed. Some time passed and another employee brought two plates to the table. Now the mac&cheese was hot and pretty tasty. The beans were fine. The potato salad and coleslaw tasted like anything you would find in the grocery store. The chicken, however, was lukewarm. This was the second red flag, and we should have asked for the manager/owner at that point. We were very hungry, and the chicken looked like it had been cooked through, probably a few hours earlier. So, we ate it. Based on the food we decided to skip dessert, pay up and leave. The check arrived, completely at the original price of $43 for an experience that doesn 't come anywhere close. More time passes, and the owner finally comes out of the kitchen to check on a few things and casually asking how our meal was. We told her that the hot food wasn 't hot and had to be sent back only to arrive warm the second time. Her comment was Oh I know, and I 'm sorry we only have one person back there. However, there were two in the kitchen, one on the grill, and three or four waitstaff with maybe 20 people in or outside of the restaurant. Apologizing well after the fact isn 't fixing a problem or managing your business. Comping one of the meals would have been a start, or other effective managers would have offered something. She was more concerned about making excuses that were not valid. She then finished by telling us to come back when things get better. If you 've read this far and really want a good BBQ meat and three, go to Charlie 's on Main Street or Purple Daisy in St. Elmo. If you want to save some money you could even go to the deli at the grocery store and have a better experience. You will enjoy that more. If you 're looking for a chicken dish that 's worthy of $20 entree, head to Boccaccia on south Broad and order the Involtini Val d 'Aosta."
