5/23/09 While spending the weekend at the magnificent new Umstead Hotel, we were delighted with our Saturday night dinner at their signature restaurant, Herons. Everything we had was outstanding in both presentation and the delicious blending of flavors in the cuisine. A most unusual first course was a salad of finely sliced green and white string beans mixed with diced... more

Great Service. Excellent food and wine list. Very surprising for a hotel restaurant. more

Favorite Special occasion place... Afternoon tea is a treat more

We took my mother-in-law there for her birthday the other day (March, 2008). Everything was superb- service, food, decor. The service in the hotel and in Herons deserves particular praise- understated elegance. Also, this place is an asset to the Triangle area, as it is an environment of hospitality and an approach to living that one could find anywhere in... more

The staff at the hotel had great praise for the chef and the restaurant, so I decided to have dinner there. The food was ok, the service was good, but not at the level it was talked up to be. And, the bill was over $100 for one. A tip for the chefs: medium-rare is mostly pink, medium-well is hardly... more

Just returned from Sunday Brunch. The price fix menu is $45 per person with a 3 course meal and champaign. (By the way, this is NC; no alcohol before Noon on Sunday!) Very nice setting and the food was excellent. Would be a great place for special occations and the dining room is set out so there are several areas... more

Ann Goodnight's husband founded SAS, which is now the largest privately-held software company in the world. She has the bucks to get what she wants. And what she wanted at Herons was a top-notch restaurant attached to her new, world-class hotel, The Umstead. The chef was scooped from The St. Regis in Aspen, and the wait staff was obviously chosen... more