Emma Key's

Emma has lost the Keys to our hearts?. Sadly, after a years long delicious relationship, we are breaking up. This most recent visit 07312024 will likely be our last?. We day trip to Gboro from Raleigh every once in a while and would always make this a must stop, even though it is out of our way. The food was unique and delicious. We love what they did with improving the outside of the place more tables/chairs, umbrellas, turf and a little cleaner. Still bees and flies buzzing around, but it is outside. There is an ice cream shack open on the same property and had a steady stream of customers. Items looked good but we did not try any. Parking. ? UGH; It has never been easy to park near here, but now it is even worse!! We were 3 blocks away in a neighborhood before we found a spot so be prepared, FYI. The staff at the counter were friendly and helpful. Kudos there! One of the people at the grill had only a ball cap over long fluffy hair. It might be a good idea for this person to either wear a hairnet, tie their hair up somehow (bun? or simply stuff or under the hat. Working at a grill, this would probably be cooler too. We had a small order to take away, simple items. It took over 20minutes to wait for it. Now, they have never been quick with service in all the years we have known them and we have accepted that as just how it is worth the wait for good food..... But.... It was subpar. A lot has changed new menu, favorites no longer there, maybe new owner or new management? The big disappointment was the loss of our beloved palmetto cheese fries that had pickles, bacon and drizzled with ranch. Big sad! We first had them here found them no where else. Other favorites that we regularly ordered were not there or not the same. However, we had gone out of our way to stop here so we chose a few things to try. Doggy Dog was ordered without mayo and is listed as bacon wrapped hot dog with Mac cheese and crushed potato chips. That sounded good, especially the crushed chips on it. Well, there were no crushed chips and barely any bacon ... It was paper thing around dog, barely noticable and could not taste it, plus the dog was not plump and juicy, but rather looked as if it had been sitting in a warming tray for a while. Plus, it had Mayo! So, hold the mayo somehow became no chips?? We think if made properly with fresh ingredients it would be good. The Down South was ordered and billed as pulled pork, slaw, Mac cheese, sweet baby rays BBQ sauce on a hoagie roll. They used to have a sandwich very close to this, thus the choice. The slaw is very large cut chunks and a little pepoery. White cheddar is an interesting choice, but okay we are just used to mild or sharp cheddar flavors on our Mac chs. The sauce did not taste like sweet baby rays BBQ sauce, unless it's a new hot spicy variety we say that because we are SBR regulars and are well accustomed to the flavor profile. The sauce was spicy and had too much bite for this Sammie. It would have been better with original SBR BBQ sauce to compliment the other flavors. This sauce just stamped it out, unfortunately. We share this as feedback to hopefully make improvements, perhaps in areas they were not aware of. We wish them well! Parking: Only a few spots on street in front of place. Two other food/drink places opened next door, so more competition for coveted street parking. A lot of areas along street nearby are also marked No Parking they will ticket/tow. Be prepared to walk a bit. Wheelchair accessibility: No really. Would be right and difficult to navigate.

Horrible customer service! Poor attitudes of staff and completely inconsiderate of typical food service practices. Very disappointing first visit to this establishment.

Great burgers and fries. Service needs improvement. First visit we were told they were too busy to serve us. Second visit they were closed more then 30 minutes early for no apparent reason. Third visit one of our burgers was served without a bun, just laying on the paper. My daughter in law didn't want to make a fuss. So she ate it with her hands. What a mess. We will go back for the food and hopefully improved service.

Best burger. Swiss bliss. Great place to have a burger.

I’m giving this restaurant a 4 star due to food quality. Was referred to Emma’s from a bartender at Freeman’s, Megan, after I order BBQ from there. Great recommendation. My burger was great, Carolina dog super and fries with garlic solid. Service was ok. Three orders hanging up and my order took 19 minutes. The staff just needs to step up sense of urgency. Regardless of a slow, somewhat laid back Sunday, the guys need to be more driven to deliver the quality in a more timely fashion. I will be back, however.