The Moose Cafe & Farmers Market - Greensboro, North Carolina

Made a buddy in Greensboro.

Sometimes, you just have to go outside of your geographic comfort zone, and see what the rest of the world has to offer.  In this case, this tried and true UK fan proudly strutted into enemy territory only a mere days after Duke had won the NCAA championship.  The end result of this is far less climactic than you're probably imagining.  I arrived in Greensboro late Friday night to see an old college friend of mine for the first time in many years, and to FINALLY meet his wife, and daughter, who would be celebrating her first birthday the very next day.  I was overdue for a visit, in other words.  So, there were no pitchforks and angry mobs meeting me at the state line, no 'boos' or 'hisses' as I went through the Triad, and no flaming wads of toilet paper being hurled at my car at any point during my excursion.  North Carolina is actually a beautiful state with a lot of culture and history, and the people there are as nice and welcoming as they are here.  It's a 'home away from home' without a doubt.

I pretty much said hello and crashed when I arrived Friday night.  We got up the next morning, and partied at Barber Park in south Greensboro like any mid-30s crew possibly could for a little girl's first birthday party.  We were lucky the cops weren't called as we ate rainbow unicorn cake.  We wrapped up the day just enjoying each others company, and I went to bed, still exhausted from the trip the night before.  I was awakened the next morning by a loud knock on the bedroom door, followed by a stern "breakfast time!  Get up!!".  I knew right then I was probably in for a treat.

We loaded up the cars (there were actually 9 of us staying there this weekend), and we headed out to what I gathered was probably the best place in the area to get Breakfast; The Moose Cafe.  After a 15 minute journey through some beautiful neighborhoods, we arrived.  I was immediately impressed upon pulling into the parking lot. 

If you squint really hard and believe, you can see the Greensboro Farmer's Market.

The Moose Cafe and the Farmers Market are owned by the same people, and are on the same property.  That means this is a "farm to table" restaurant.  They grow, raise, and harvest their own foods.  That's as fresh as it gets.  I've not even walked through the front doors of this place yet, and I'm already excited.

The front of the restaurant.  Sorry for the vehicles in the way.

Right side of the restaurant.  I couldn't fit it all in one shot no matter how hard I tried.

Small garden and picnic area in front of the main entrance.

Indeed!

We walked in, and clearly seen that the restaurant was packed.  There was a waiting list, and our greeter told us it would be roughly 15 minutes before a group our size could be sat.  Luckily, we were seated in 10.  Our server not only greeted us with a smile and a welcome, but she brought out a basket full of free biscuits....you read that right, at The Moose Cafe, you get complimentary homemade buttermilk biscuits, as well as fresh house recipe Apple Butter. 

Such riches and rewards are only documented in the Bible.

Yes, it was just as good as it looks.  Hot, fresh, and amazing.  The in house apple butter was crisp and sweet, and complimented it perfectly.  I feel I should remind everyone that I haven't even placed my order yet, and haven't paid the least bit of attention to anything else around me.  Once I scarfed this bad boy down, I gave a quick and easy assessment of the cleanliness and ambiance of this place.  For a reminder of how I do this, please refer back to my very first review here. 

Cleanliness:
The Moose Cafe is clearly a place that not only takes pride in its community, but that pride carries over to how well maintained it is.  This place was crazy busy, and the floors were still virtually spotless.  The only thing I could see in the way of clutter was a table where a small child was sitting, and there were crumbs and a straw wrapper underneath.  Our tables and silverware were neat and clean as well.  Everything appeared to be organized, and tidy.  The men's room was out of soap, but that was possibly due to being slammed during brunch hours.  It happens.  Everything else was great.  I saw no posted health department score, but they may not be required to do so in another state.  I didn't really look for one, either.  Very clean, well maintained establishment.
Overall Cleanliness Score:   4.5/5


Ambiance:
In addition to being clean and organized, this place really rocks it in the ambiance department.  The temperature was perfect, and there was country music playing very lightly in the background.  The walls were white, and the waiting area had a small gift shop with locally made products, so you could browse while you wait!  The restaurant itself is divided into two different sections.  As I've said in past reviews, this don't give an awkward feel at all.  This place is big enough that it doesn't feel cramped in the slightest, even with the level of business that was going on at the time.

The 'Right Wing', where we were sitting.

The 'Left Wing', where EVERYONE ELSE was sitting.  Notice the painted mason jars and moose antlers?  Very cool.

Left side of the left wing.  As I said, packed house.

Overall Ambiance Score: 5/5

Only moments later, our server took our orders.  I kept perusing the menu, because at a place like this, it's almost impossible to make a decision.  You KNOW with a farmers market merely feet away, anything that you order is going to be amazing (hopefully).  I would be very, very disappointed at this point if it wasn't.  But, after a couple minutes frantically deciding what I wanted, I eventually settled on what they call "The Biltmore Breakfast".  I'm was assuming this dish was named after The Biltmore Estate, located in Ashville, NC, home to the original Moose Cafe.  (Read more about The Biltmore Estate here.)  It consisted of 3eggs cooked your way, hashbrown casserole, 2 pieces of fresh country ham, 2 pieces of sausage, 2 pieces of bacon, and a "Mo+ose Cake".  The thoughts going through my mind as I ordered this were all over the place.  I was getting hungry too, so thoughts of "how many years is this going to take off my life" were replaced with thoughts similar to "hell with it, I'll worry about that later.  Also, what's a moose cake??"  In only a matter of 8-10 minutes, many of these questions were answered.

OH...MY...........

I don't even know where to begin.  Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?  How do you even start to eat something like this?  Where do you take your first bite?  How do you possibly give an analysis of such a thing??  And that monstrosity on the right?  Is it as big as it looks in the picture?!

Yes.

Food Quality and Service:
After about 5 minutes of sitting and staring, I finally figured out it was easiest to just start with the eggs.  I'm not sure why, so just trust me.  They were fantastic.  I almost always prefer scrambled, and these were light, fluffy, and flavorful.  They were the perfect level of done.  All too often I come across eggs that are either dried out and over done, or underdone to the point that Jesco White would strongly disapprove.  The Hashbrown Casserole was very tasty, with a strong cheese flavor that really complimented the potatoes.  It was moist and flavorful.  The bacon was nice and crisp, and both the ham and sausage were nice and flavorful.  There was just the right amount of sage in the sausage, and the texture was really nice with both.  They were firm enough that your fork had some resistance, but soft enough that it cut right through.  All the items on this plate complimented each other very well, and as I feel the need to point out again, everything is fresh from the market.  This entire meal was also only $8.99!  It was incredible, and I was able to easily finish it....I'm lying, I was only halfway done.  I still had the aptly named Moose Cake to devour.  It was just sitting there, glaring and mocking me.

You win this round.

Overall Food Quality & Service Score: 5/5



In the end, it was great to get away from the grind for a couple of says and see some old friends.  I'll admit, I made a few new ones as well.  The Greensboro area of NC has a lot to offer, and The Moose Cafe is definitely a not-so-hidden gem in the midst of an already great place.  If you're ever down that way, give it a try.  It may not be a carbon copy of how mamaw did it, but then again, who does it as well as mamaw did?  No one, but The Moose Cafe is probably as close as you could possibly come.  I hope to return someday, and possibly try lunch or dinner, where I'm sure the fried chicken, among other things on their website, is as good as home.  Their motto is  "any closer, and we'd be in a field".  I believe it.  The Moose Cafe is excellent from the inside out, and I award it an aggregate total of:

4.5 Mooses*!!

That wraps up this edition of The Hillbilly Stomp.  Thanks for reading!






*I'm well aware that "mooses" is grammatically incorrect.