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| - Really, this should be a 3.5...
I have eaten at Customshop three times. Once for brunch, and twice for dinner. I have had two excellent meals, and one that I really have no interest in repeating any time soon. First, the good.
I have had consistently good service (with one caveat, which I will discuss below). The service has been attentive without being smothering, and the servers have been very knowledgeable. I also love the atmosphere. The lighting and the decor are great - not too dark, but dark enough where it feels very comfortable. Compared to the horrible atmosphere at Carpe Diem (across the street), Customshop is a real gem.
The drinks (cocktails) I have ordered have also been very good. They aren't cheap - they are overpriced as is typical of Charlotte's better restaurants - but I have found them to be creative and very tasty. (My last trip to Customshop found me at the bar ordering a martini with gin and wine in it. I was skeptical, but it tasted fantastic.)
The food, for the most part, has been first rate. For brunch I had their eggs benedict. Excellent. For the first dinner we started with their flat bread, and I was impressed by the texture of the crust and the tasty toppings. I had a boneless short rib for my entree, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was cooked to perfection, and it really melted in my mouth. We also ordered the brussel sprout side dish, which was excellent. For dessert, we had the bread pudding. I love bread pudding, and while I have had better than what they serve at Customshop it hasn't happened often. I think it is a must order if you like dessert.
My third trip to Customshop produced a much more disappointing outcome. We ordered crudo and two salads. I didn't try the crudo, but the judgment from my dining companions was that it was not very good at all. We also ordered two salads and they were both disappointing. The butter lettuce and blue cheese was really a bit of a joke for $8. It is certainly the worst thing that I have had at Customshop. I can't believe that they are trying to justify charging that much money for several pieces of lettuce, a bit of blue cheese, and a smidge of dressing that wasn't flavorful. The arugula salad was better, but not worth anything close to $9. The good news was that we got a great wine recommendation... For our entrees we ordered the ribeye, the short rib, a pasta dish, and I got a pork dish (after asking for a recommendation from the server). The pork was thinly sliced and breaded, and, well, really not very tasty. I was terribly disappointed, and I realized that I should have trusted my gut - which told me to ignore the server's recommendation and order the duck instead. My dining companions seemed very happy with their entrees, so thankfully I was the only one who ordered poorly. We had bread pudding for dessert, and it lived up to our previous experience. Three appetizers, two beers, a bottle of wine, a glass of wine, four entrees, and two desserts (plus a bottle of Pellegrino) and with tax and tip the meal was $280 - not a particularly good value in my mind.
I would certainly return to Customshop. Relative to some of the other "higher end" restaurants in the area - Carpe Diem and Fig Tree - I can at least say that I have had good food here. I don't think Customshop is a great value, though. If you are looking for great "bang for the buck", then I would try a different restaurant.
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