TRU Deli & Wine

I love this place. The outside seating is perfect — shady and spacious. The iPad ordering is unique and speeds up the ordering process. They have a great wine menu.
Tips:
They also serve a cheese plate (my favorite), but it’s only listed on their paper menu, not the iPad, so if that’s your sort of thing too, ask for a paper menu.
Tip the person who checks you out. The iPad doesn’t offer a place to tip, but if you have a few bucks handy, the server/​bartenders will love you and help you out by bringing drinks to you if they aren’t swamped.

First time here, and I was pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere! I didn’t expect a sandwich place to be so aesthetically pleasing. I will definitely be back next time I’m in the area. I recommend the salami!

How have I never heard of this place? So cool, just order ahead if you have no patience. I can’t wait for it to get warmer, their upstairs and downstairs patios are amazing! Staff all young and cool. Make your own sandwich exactly how you like it, so you can’t complain! Very cool place. Love.

Never have I ever been served a sandwich with an end piece of bread. I couldn’t even bite through the sandwich and had to ask multiple times for an edible piece of bread. The food was decent but the service and initial quality of the food were poor.

After hearing a lot shocked responses to the fact that I’ve never had TRU, I finally came here for dinner with a couple of friends. Immediately after walking in, I was impressed with the chill and relaxed atmosphere highlighted by their huge picnic-​style tables and couch clusters. Their ordering system is entirely through iPads, which I thought was very appropriate for a college environment.
When you enter the main doors, you see three iPads propped up on a table to your left. Here, you place your order by choosing ingredients for your sandwich or wrap. When I first looked at the ordering form, I was a little overwhelmed, especially because it was my first time and I didn’t really know what I wanted, as well as the long line forming behind me. I suggest that if you don’t have a standard order, or it’s your first time going to TRU, that you look at their menu online to get an idea of what you want to order. In a nutshell, their menu lists all their ingredient selections with a price over the options «light,» «standard,» or «heavy» and you choose which ones you want. After, you enter your name and walk a few steps forward to the main bar to pay for your order by name. They also list how long it’ll take to prepare the food before you move on to the ordering form, which I thought was very useful, especially if you’re in a rush.
After about 15 minutes, a waitress came out with my food. I ordered a toasted wheat sandwich with roast beef, pickles, lettuce, spinach, pepper jack, and vinegar. My friends all ordered different things, varying from grilled cheese sandwiches to salads to wraps, and every item looked delicious. I paid about $ 6 total for my food and it definitely filled me up. I think my favorite part about this place, besides the chill atmosphere, is how customizable and affordable your meal is.
All the workers were really friendly as well. One of my friends’ orders accidentally got pushed to the end of the online queue and she didn’t get her food until the rest of us were finished eating. To make up for this mishap, one of the workers gave her a free meal coupon for up to $ 10.
All in all, I really enjoyed my experience at TRU. The couches are definitely a plus, and I see myself going back soon!

Love this place!
The ambience is very nice, tastefully decorated.
You enter and order on the ipads, put down your name and take a number, then pay with a waiter/​waitress beside. You can DIY your own sandwich and they have ingredients that are hard to find in other DIY sandwich place. Their cookies are delicious and cheap!!!
They also have free wifi to use.
No complaint about this place, and I will continue visiting!

The best part of this place is definitely the cute upstairs patio! Nothing better than a glass (or bottle) of wine upstairs outside. The view isn’t great but it’s decorated well so it doesn’t matter.
I’ve been here both during the day and the night and it really is a good spot for day drinking, going out or just grabbing a quick drink after work.
I haven’t tried their sandwiches but they seemed fresh and appetizing. Their cheese and charcuterie platter had good variety and decently priced! Service has always been good.
Crowd of people varies in age range, and while being on campus there are definitely a lot of undergrads, I haven’t felt like an old croon hanging out there
Overall– huge fan of this place, especially in nice weather… and with continued visits am sure it could be a 5 star!:)

Even more convinced this place is amazing as the sandwiches are superbly crafted and the drafts are awesome. You sandwich is crafted exactly as you desire

Loved this place. Came in for a beer and a sandwich on the reviews I found here and it didn’t disappoint. Coming in this was a bit different (order on an ipad by the door, no cash (wait I said no cash, yes I did)).
I sat at the bar and used their free wifi to work while I ate and enjoyed some fantastic west coast micro brews on tap. The bartender was friendly, and helpful in answering my questions about the food and the area I was visiting. My Italian sandwich with bacon was NOM NOM!
The location has a cool rooftop patio for outdoor dining, but I have to say that @100 degrees I had no desire to step outside longer than just checking it out.

I absolutely love it. My fav is a mix of beef and tuna salad

I love this place. My first visit was back in February when the exterior looked like a little hobbit hole with frosted windows and a cozy warm light glowing from the windows. This next trip was in the summer heat, so we sat on the rooftop.
There has been some tussle fussel over the iPad ordering system. There is a table at the entrance with the iPads. Pick a table number (cute little wood blocks) and enter it first. Order your salad or sandwich, give it a name, and go to the bar to pay. Someone will be waiting there to look up your order on another tablet to calculate your order. You can also order wine, beer, and cocktails at the bar. Water is self-​serve behind the bar. Also… they have flavored water!
If it’s your first time in and you’re not sure where to start or what to do, grab a staff member and they will get you started. Speaking of the staff, every person we came into contact with was simply full of sunshine and joy.
The interior is hip and modern. Long wooden benches and high top chairs give it a woodsy cabin feel on the inside. The rooftop outside is perfect for shooting the breeze with friends. The two times I’ve been, the atmosphere is chill and youthful. Despite its proximity to establishments frequented by the youngins August through June, I found the Tru crowd to be a mellow mix.
Sandwiches and salads. Hard to mess up. And as expected, Tru delivers. As you can build your own sandwich or salad, the balancing abilities of the Sammy master are your only limit to stacking on as much good stuff as you can. They use only the freshest ingredients and tippy top quality meats.
I can’t wait to go back and try a new sandwich creation and sample a new draft beer. You can find me on the rooftop!

Definitely a fam of TRU. By day, it’s a cozy, rustic eatery with custom sandwiches. By night, it’s a divey place to get a nice drink and converse with friends.
The sandwiches here are actually pretty good. You walk in, and to your left are a set of iPads where you order your food. You can choose any bread, meats, vehetables, spreads, and more that you’d like to have with your meal. All of the tabletops are made from tree cutouts, which adds to the rustic feel.
The drinks here are pretty good as well, and reasonably priced. I usually come here for a good glass of wine, but they also have a full bar available to make any other drinks as well. Their wine list is short, concise, and intuitive, so anyone ranging from connoisseur to wine novice will have no problem selecting a nice wine.
My only complaint is that at night, the lights inside can get really dark, making it hard to see other people’s faces while speaking with them. Other than that, I give this place 5 stars, as this is a tru (pun intended) Franklin Street staple for me.

Finally got around to going to TRU after numerous recommendations from friends. We were here on a Monday night and it wasn’t too busy, so we immediately sat down and started the (somewhat daunting) ordering process. You can order from your phone online or an iPad. It’s not exactly clear that after you order, you go and pay and get your chips/​drink and then sit down and wait for your food to be delivered to you. It’s a really funky and confusing ordering system, at least for the first time.
The food itself was great. I had a turkey and bacon sandwich with cucumber, avocado, and mayo. It ended up being $ 10.75 with chips and a bottle of water which wasn’t too bad but certainly not cheap. The sandwich was excellent – perfectly crispy bread, very good bacon (not quite as good as Merritt’s, though) and really good turkey. Probably one of the best sandwiches I’ve had.
The ambience of TRU is quite nice. Dark wood, not a lot of artificial light – it almost reminds me of Starbucks – it’s sort of homey like that. It’s quite nice. Service was very good all around, I have no complaints. I wouldn’t hesitate to come back and up the review to 5 stars – I just have to get that ordering system down pat.

Service totally sucks (expect them to get it wrong) but food is good and cheap. A great spot for a cheap salad sitting outside on a sunny day.

When I first arrived, I won’t lie I was annoyed. The people behind the bar hardly greet you and when I asked for a menu, I was directed to an iPad to place my order. I don’t own an iPad so immediately I felt pressured to figure out how to place my order while the line behind me grew longer.
Apparently, you create your own sandwich (and trust that your combination of ingredients is tasty) on the iPad then pay at the bar.
The idea of ordering electronically, could be a good idea and great in the future, but I think it’s still a stretch for now. I had brought my parents who are not so technically savvy, so it took a while for them to place their order along with my husband’s help, since the staff did not offer assistance.
When the food came, it was very delicious. My sandwich was very very well prepared so I would say 4-​stars to that! The meats they have available are great and the avocado was very fresh. However, another downfall was the presentation of your chips and drink. Again, the servers don’t make a great effort to «serve» you. You simply get a can of soda — literally a can, and you go get your bag of chips from a community basket by the bar. For a place that super cute, I do think the customer service could be improved. And when older people are struggling to order, just walk over there and take their order. The odd part is, the paper form of the menu hangs on the wall in front of the iPads… But I guess I can’t use those.
Overall, I did like my $ 10 sandwich — but the process to order, the presentation and service by the college kids working the bar, left me thinking «that was ok». I understand this is a modern place, in a younger generation college town, and at least the UNC kids will love it. I would come back in the evening for a drink and try that out instead.

Food: ?
Beer Selection: 3.5
Ambiance: 4.5
Food/​Price: ?
Pros: Interesting Beer Selection, Relaxing Sociable Atmosphere
Cons: Small Beer Selection
I’ve only visited TRU in an evening bar capacity and not as a deli, so I can’t speak to the quality of their food. But as a chill hangout for enjoying drinks with friends, few places in Chapel Hill can compete. The majority of Chapel Hill bars are divey, collegey, or chainy. TRU is classy, cozy, and slightly modern, with leather chairs, booths and wooden picnic table style seating. They have a limited, though quality, beer selection and the bartenders are casual and friendly. If you’re looking for a more relaxed mature bar experience in Chapel Hill, TRU, West End Wine Bar, and The Crunkleton should be your go to’s.

If I were a student here or if TRU were on Hillsborough street by State, you can count me in as a frequent patron.
I stopped in for lunch after morning yoga at around 12 on a sunday. There were a couple other groups of people dinning in, but they were not very busy at all. At TRU, ordering is done thru iPad. They system is set up really well, so it’s easy for one to create their own sandwich. Since everything is systemized, before you order, they even tell you the estimated wait time! (mine was 12 minutes)
I ordered a wheat wrap with turkey, spinach, alfalfa sprout, avocado, and red onion with cranberry sauce and siracha sauce. I really like how you can tailor your sandwich/​wrap to your own liking. From how much you want your bread/​wrap toasted to the amount of fillings. The price of the sandwich depends on how many different items you want in your sandwich. My wrap came out to be just a little bit more than $ 4! What a steal! I didn’t realize this, but the three different amount of veggies all cost the same! Which means heavy amount of avocado and light amount of avocado cost the same! Don’t make the same rookie mistake as I did! The ingredients are all very fresh. The toast grilled marks on the sandwiches and wraps all look perfect. I also appreciate that they use real turkey meat not the sliced deli kind.
They have different specials going on throughout the week. For today it was half off wine!
My meal was light and refreshing. I finished the wrap and was very satisfied.
Even with a glass of wine, my meal came out to be $ 6.25! What a steal.
Also the place is super cute and chic with wooden tables, outdoor patio with lights and cushioned chairs.

Finally! I am qualified to write a review of TRU. I’ve been a regular since last spring but… my first sober visit wasn’t until this week. So, I’ll break this review down into two parts.
Part 1: Sober.
I went to TRU for lunch last week. The concept is really interesting. You make your order on an IPad stationed up front. You build a customized sandwich/​wrap by selecting different options and pricing. Then you pay at the bar and wait at your table for the order. I thought it was slightly awkward that I couldn’t just pay by myself at the ordering station. It kind of defeats the purpose of self-​service. I thought the sandwich was good, especially for the price (about $ 6). I do wish they offered pre-​built special sandwiches that you could just select if you don’t want to build your own.
Part 2: More fun than Part 1.
True has a great atmosphere at night. Sometimes it’s super relaxed and chill while others it’s busy and exciting. I like the variety. They have two floors of bars and plenty of floor space. It’s really easy to grab a few chairs with you friends and throw back a few drinks. They also have great daily drink specials like $ 3 well drinks and $ 5 off a bottle of wine. Sometimes they sell local art on the walls, which I think is a great touch.
I love going and I’d definitely recommend visiting sober or not sober.

Solid three on this because I’ve had great and not so great experiences. Cool model where it’s basically just salads and sandwiches where you pick the toppings. The atmosphere is cool and the upstairs deck is great — I want to see if I can rent it out.
The A-​Ok part of this is due to the fact that it’d be nice to have more options for soup and protein and cheese toppings like chicken salad, tuna salad, feta, goat cheese. It’s a simple set-​up but more attentive staff could help things move more smoothly (there’s always a line) and add a friendly feel (the hipster vibe can come off cold).
The biggest downfall comes from being served a side of dressing with a fly in it. I went to tell the staff and they were like «Oh, here’s another» — not even an apology or an offer for a complimentary cookie or something. Customer service is not great here, but the food is affordable and good if you want something simple.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this place, and my opinion changed constantly with each step and new find. Very cool exterior and outdoor seating. Go indoors and there’s chill music playing, and not much else in terms of bells and whistles on the walls. There wasn’t much in terms of guidance for us either, being our first time. A server eventually guided us to the iPads to place our order — cool, high-​tech, but also detached and impersonal, but otherwise appropriate for today’s crowd.
You pick your seat and enter your order, and it was a little confusing on how to pay… I guess either you go up to them or they eventually come find you for payment before they assemble your order. Word to the wise: exact change or credit cards only.
I was a bit peeved that your drink and chips order is literally a can of soda and a bag of chips that you pick up yourself on the other side. I grabbed a napkin assuming one wouldn’t be brought to us, and I was right.
The only reason this is getting four stars vs three is the food. The sandwiches are nothing short of amazing. I got a sourdough salami/​pepperoni, and I loved (and finished) every bite of it. Though high tech and an atmosphere fitting an upscale university eatery, the impersonal touches rubbed me the wrong way.