Overall: 
Located just off on main street in historic Waynesville, NC is one of the best fine dining restaurants in the Waynesville area. The Sweet Onion is an upscale-Southern eatery owned by Doug and Jenny Weaver of Waynesville and Dan Elliot.
My wife and I have eaten at The Sweet Onion twice in the past few weeks, our first visit being an absolute top notch dining experience. The second being good, but not great.
The Restaurant
Our first dinner there was on a weekend evening just before spring. The restaurant was busy, but not overly so. We parked right out front and walking into the restaurant, were immediately greeted with the warm sounds of conversation, cooks cooking, and the incredible smells of freshly cooked food. To our right was what seemed to be a more formal seating area surrounded by natural wood and lots of windows. The seating area to the right seems to be were the restaurant expanded into a store location next door. The bar and food preparation area is dead center. Our friendly hostess seated us to the left, in a comfortable and fairly quiet seating area.
The Menu
The menu at The Sweet Onion is amazing and contains something for just about everyone. As I mentioned previously, the menu contains standard southern dishes but “fancied up” as we would say here in the south. Dishes include pasta, crab cakes, steaks, fresh fish, seafood you name it. They have an assortment of appetizers, salads (with many different dressing options), main courses, and of course desserts.
The restaurant also features an assortment of wines (both by the bottle and glass), many different foreign, domestic, and local beers (my personal favorites), and a full service bar.
Staff and Service
Our server arrived at out table and promptly introduced himself. He explain the various specials for the evening (which sounded awesome, but in my opinion were a little over priced) and then took our drink orders. My wife ordered a glass of Chardonnay wine, and I ordered my standard Grey Goose Vodka martini.
As our server prepared our drinks, my wife and I narrowed down our dinner selections. My wife loves crab cakes and she decided to give them a try. I was in a toss up between the ranch fettuccine Alfredo and the a chicken dish.
Our waiter returned a few minutes later with our drinks and my martini was made exactly has I had specified. He asked if we were ready to order and I explained by dilemma on the menu choice, he recommended the chicken which I selected. He headed off to fulfill our order returning a few minutes later with hot and fresh cheese biscuits that were absolutely delicious.
Our order arrived a short time later and I was surprised at the size of the portions. We later found out that The Sweet Onion prides itself on “healthy” portions, and let me tell you, they aren’t kidding. The amounts of food were huge, and tasted great. The chicken turned out to be an excellent suggestion and in the past few times we’ve eaten at The Sweet Onion, it’s still my favorite dish.
Our second trip to the restaurants wasn’t as good as the first. Our server wasn’t near as attentive, the service was significantly slower even though the restaurant wasn’t as busy and the worst for me was that they were out of Gray Goose Vodka! While the food was still good, it wasn’t as good as the first time. Of course even the best of restaurants has a bad night, and we’re hoping this is one of those few occasions for The Sweet Onion and we decided to not let that experience tarnish us from returning.
Family Friendly
While I certainly wouldn’t say The Sweet Onion isn’t a family friend it would be a stretch to say it is. We’ve been there twice and neither time have seen any children in the restaurant. I didn’t notice a child’s menu either. There might have been one, but if so it didn’t stand out. The environment and food prices would tend to imply to me to be more of adult focused restaurant, so keep that in mind if you decide to bring the whole family.
Price
We found the prices average for this type of restaurant and in line with similar restaurants in the area such as J. Arthur’s in Maggie Valley. Average dinner prices were from about $12 to upwards of $30 for the evening specials. The Sweet Onion offers Waynesville area fine dining and the prices are right in the expected area.
Our Rating
We like The Sweet Onion very much. The staff is good, food great, and the dining experience relaxing and enjoyable. Definitely a place we would recommend and will return to.
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