Drum & Quill ~ Pinehurst, North Carolina

40 Chinquapin Rd, Pinehurst, NC 28374

This is a place that I really want to love. But sometimes service gets in the way of what should be a really great joint. The place is named for Bob Drum, a sports journalist from Pittsburgh area largely credited with discovering (if not inventing) Arnold Palmer as a teen golfer. (Note to Editor: this would be the kind of place I would want to call 'Pops' to background). Came here twice - not because it was so good, rather because other places had inconsistent and sketchy hours of operation (see note below on Dugan's). It is also a place largely populated by white males who just finished a round of golf (see notes on the Deuce entry). But all that aside...

Drum & Quill has decent food, slow service, and appears to be too crowded for its staff to handle. As a guy who likes to sit at the bar, order a local beer and something simple to eat, I consider myself a pretty easy customer. My orders were: a couple tacos (as recommended by the bartender) and fish and chips. My drinks were beers. They brought me 4 tacos (instead of one of each as requested) with the late explanation that they cannot do mixed orders, so they just brought - and charged me - for 2 of each kind. Tacos and fish took a long time to serve (not the server's fault, I know - but just stating the fact). Even getting first (or refill) beer seemed to take a long time as the bartenders wandered around with no sense of urgency or friendliness. When it happens once, maybe just a bad night or an individual issue. Twice - with different people working behind the bar - seems like a place that is not well run.

- Rude Dante