The Shire - Kernersville

I have wanted to try this place forever! It is cute as a button in side and out. There is a lot of southern charm, nic knacks, old wedding dress, distressed stuffs. I'd love to go here with a small group of girl friends to celebrate a special occasion. So, the food...was yummy! I had soup and a spinach quiche, which was more than enough. It came with the specially flavored tea of the day (Mango), with unlimited refills...for $8.50! I found it to be quite a bargain! The service was excellent, and friendly! So, why only 4 stars? There was really nothing I would consider healthy on the menu, and I like that to at least be an option.

I 'm always torn when I want to go here because I love the food but the service is terrible. There is pretty much only one waitress, Jessica, who is there every time I go. I can 't tell if she dislikes us personally or if she is this way with everyone. I always get the vibe that she thinks we are beneath her. Very rude and cold. When they are busy or don 't have many seats they are never apologetic or offer any alternatives. They just tell us to go away. Even though we actually could sit on the porch if we wanted to. However, the food is great. I always get the turkey croissant, which has this amazing strawberry cream cheese. The tea is cute, and I like that they have all mismatched cups. This place could be a go-to lunch place for me, but I always leave it feeling bad.

Positives- The house was cute with three rooms downstairs used for dining. There were beautiful fireplaces and the linens were nice. The front porch was also sweet (excluding the view). Neutral- Prices were the going rate for a quiche or a croissant sandwich (comparable or slightly higher than a lunch at Panera). Seating was tight and it was busy at lunch time. The food was standard in the sense that the croissant was not freshly baked from an artisan bakery or the turkey was just deli turkey from a grocery store. The side salad was nothing special--greens with prepackaged shredded carrots, one cherry tomato and a cucumber slice. I couldn't tell if the vinaigrette was homemade or not but it was good. They had run out of soup. The peach tea was lightly sweet and the refills were free so I was pleased with that. So, basically, the food was so-so. I could have made it myself. The service was standard. The waitress smiled once so I can't complain. Again neutral service (not made to feel special or welcome but not ignored). I read a previous yelp user mentioning a tea menu. There was none offered or noticeable. I have no idea if they had 3 choices of teas or 30. I just accepted their tea of the day (peach). I was kind of hoping for super cute tea sets and sweet tea pots to be dotted around the tables or used to serve tea but I saw standard solid color tea pots on matching burners. I thought Victorian style dinnerware would be better suited for the style house but whatever. The décor was eclectic (some stuff you could buy at a retail place while some stuff looked antique). There didn't seem to be a strong singular style and I thought it wasn't really classy to be hawking random crafts and things In one of the dining areas. We're going to give it one more chance with hot tea and desserts next time.....just to be fair. I will also ask if they have a tea menu available.

We didn't even get to try this place!! After seating ourselves, we were told that because we didn't have a reservation we would not be able to stay. Sorry, but for me that's an immediate never try again! If it's reservation only then let your customers know!!! We would not have wasted our time coming out, and certainly won't waste our time again.

Lovely place and just perfect for baby shower. Tiered delicacies were delicious. Excellent server. Very accommodating.