University Club

My friend had her rehearsal dinner here over the weekend. It was a great view of the campus. The service was very friendly and the décor is very upscale. The cocktails and appetizers were on point. All of the dinner options sounded delicious but I went with a steak and potatoes. The salad and crème brûlée dessert were both very good as well. Overall, it’s a great location for an upscale meal.

I recently attended a NACE event at the University Club. My colleagues and I had never been and I must say that we were wowed by the experience. Shawn, the event director, welcomed us as we entered from the elevator. The view from the club was beautiful and the skyline served as a perfect backdrop for the dinner awaiting us. The servers and bartenders were polished and true fine dining experts– it is a rare occasion to be treated to TRUE traditional fine dining service. The first course was a creamy She Crab soup… delicious! I decided not to pick up the bowl and slurp the last sip, however, it was tempting. I had Bison for the entrée. It was cooked to perfection. The sorbet for dessert was a great palate cleanser. For those of you who have never been, I urge you to go enjoy the red carpet treatment from a wonderful service staff and the beautiful view!

The University Club is an amazing venue!
My wife and I had our wedding reception at the club and from day one Shaun and Kelly were a pleasure to work with. Many venues we visited were stuffy and wanted us to do things their way. This was definitely not the case at University Club. They were the most laid back, easy to work with representatives we encountered in our entire wedding planning!
The venue itself is top notch. Located on the top floor of the building, it offers an impressive view.
The food is spectacular as well. From the Kobe Beef sliders to the Shrimp Ceviche… we couldn’t have been happier.
I would not hesitate to hold any event there again. They host special events often that are equally as good. Their Valentine’s Day dinner provided an exquisite four course meal that left us stuffed and satisfied.
Fantastic venue, fantastic food, even better people! What more can I say!

The elevator doors open at the 17^th floor of one of the most well-​known, well-​scoffed, beautiful buildings in North Carolina.
Smooth out any wrinkles in your blouse – this is the kind of place people will notice if anything is amiss. Dark wood paneling greets you from foot to ceiling.
The maitre’d greets you with kind eyes and a nice tie. Isn’t he handsome?
The barkeep delivers two perfect negronis.
The walls are the same wood and tall windows yieldin panoramic views of the green town – it’s been a hot summer, the leaves will turn soon.
I guess the crowd’s a little stuffy. But they’re quiet, and there’s so much else to enjoy.

It’s always a treat to be able to go out with my accounting department to tour a place then head out to lunch. It’s an even better treat when I’m a guest of a «member» and the lunch venue is the University Club on the 17^th (top) floor of the University Tower.
First, I want to say, I’m slightly irritated by the fact that the place is so exclusive because I think they could do a much better volume of business by opening up their doors to «non-​members.» So, the only way to get in the door is to know somebody who’s a member and be their guest. Okay, my griping is over.
We were greeted with a pleasant formality, making sure our host’s name was on the «list» and then everything turned strictly to pleasantries and introductions to our server while we were being seated.
The buffet was extraordinarily displayed. Today’s soup was not quite a gumbo (it was missing the Okra) but it was close — a chicken and sausage tomato based temptation that when given into, satisfies the taste buds with just the right amount of spice, the right amount of sausage, oh heck it was pretty darn good! Next on the buffet was rolls, which I skipped due to the server already giving us each a roll at our places. Next was steamed vegetables — carrots and broccoli — very nice color and very tasty. The rice pilaf was perfect, the chicken florentine was very nicely done with spinach leaves and feta cheese and the blacked catfish in cream sauce was a heck of a lot better tasting than the bullheads I used to go fishing for 20+ years ago.
Desserts — choices — chocolate bomb cake? chocolate Kahlua cake? carrot cake? Key Lime pie? Sorbet, homemade ice cream or finally — the fruit tart. That’s right, I had the fruit tart — very fruity, not really very tart, but still — yum!!! I whipped out my phone and had to take a couple pics of the desserts on the table. The club manager came by while I was taking the pics and said «Wow — you’re taking pictures of the food, we must be doing something right!»
It’s not quite «as good as it gets,» but at the end of the day, it’s pretty darn good. A solid 4 ½ starts here.
BTW, if you work at the University Tower building, they will deliver lunch to you and cater within the building. However, if you want outdoor seating, you may have to try to find some roof access, and that might be frowned upon.