First, I want to wish this restaurant all the luck in the world. I have never seen a better job of adaptive reuse in a theatre. This spot has held a failed restaurant, a failed dinner theatre, and probably a few others I don't know about. Webbs really deserves to succeed!
We were there for a weekday lunch, and there was a respectable group downstairs. The iced tea was good but surprisingly priced at $2.95. Now, before you react strongly, know that it came in a real glass and not one of those plastic tumblers, it came with a large and just-cut wedge of lemon, and when the volume dropped below half, our server brought me another full glass with another lemon wedge.
We sampled three appetizers. Here are our thoughts in order of success. The chef's daily soup was black bean and tortilla. The first bowl was rejected because it was just barely lukewarm; this is a big complaint -- don't serve soup unless you *know* it's hot. And the replacement took a long time; the other two appetizers had been eaten before it arrived. Sadly, the taste was not worth all this. It reminded me of Amy's, which is a very good canned soup, but I was expecting a deeper flavor and better viscosity. The next item was better. The "Cheesy Bread" was a slice of baguette-style bread covered with a thick cheese topping. The cheese flavor was full and satisfying, though the overall effect was too heavily salted. Last was the clear winner and what Webb's is known for -- the Duck Cigars. I recommend that you get these at every visit. They are good by themselves, and they come with three dipping sauces. The filling is made from ground duck confit and vegetables and is wrapped in a delicate spring roll style wrapper and then fried: Great taste, multiple textures, dipping sauces, and fun to eat.
Next, we tasted the Crab Mac & Cheese. This was even better than the Duck Cigars. There was plenty of crab, generous butter and cheese sauce for the macaroni, and it came hot and golden brown. If you like mac and cheese and crab, then this is beyond satisfying. Also, it comes in a cute little cast iron dish. As a side dish, we tried the baked beans. This did not work out so well. The beans were well under-done, not even to "al dente." The vinegar and the sugar were not well combined, so the sauce presented different tastes depending on where you tried. Our server mentioned that others during lunch had made this comment, so it would seem that this was not the normal product.
The kitchen is open, and I observed professional behavior throughout. The cooks are seriously trying to prepare and serve high quality food in a spotless kitchen. The menu is quirky and therefore interesting to me. You will not be bored! The interior is clean and beautifully restored and decorated with more to come, I'm told. Parking is not easy, but they offer valet in the evening. They are adding custom wine storage and that by itself is worth another visit from Charlotte after the next two months. If you are near Gastonia, give them a try!