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Red Onion Cafe, Boone, NC

Red Onion Cafe

3.9
3.9
564 Reviews
$30 and under
Contemporary American
227 Hardin St., Boone, NC 28607

Make a booking

2 people
19:00
Booked 4 times today

About this restaurant

  • Neighbourhood gem
  • Great for outdoor dining
  • Gluten-free-friendly
A Boone Restaurant Offering Food to Feel Good About. One of the classic restaurants in Boone NC, the Red Onion Café opens daily at 11am and serves continuously into the evening. Across from Appalachian State University on Highway 321 near downtown Boone, the restaurant offers convenient dining for Appalachian football and basketball games and other campus events. The Red Onion Café is unique among Boone restaurants, offering a menu stocked with one-of-a-kind items such as the Artichoke Dip appetizer, our famous blond brownie - the Horace Cookie, weekly dinner specials, vegetarian meals, lunch specials, pasta, pizza, salads, a large children's menu and homemade desserts.

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Contemporary American
  • Hours of Operation
    Daily 11:00 am–9:00 pm
  • Phone number
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Smart Casual

What 564 people are saying

Red Onion Cafe reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

3.9
3.9 based on recent ratings
  • 3.8Food
  • 4.2Service
  • 3.5Ambience
  • 3.6Value

NoiseModerate

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Red Onion Cafe, located in downtown Boone, offers a "great location" with a "large menu" that caters to diverse tastes. Guests appreciate the "great portion sizes for the price" and commend the "delicious" food, particularly the "Low Country Salmon" and "French Onion Soup." Despite occasional service delays, the attentive staff ensures a pleasant dining experience.

564 Reviews
  1. David

    Greensboro3 reviews

    4.0

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    Enjoyable food. The service was a little spotty. I would go back again.

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  2. Emily VIP

    Nashville2 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on 5 April 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 2
    I’ve always loved Red Onion Cafe, so it was a sad thing to visit recently to find it’s gone downhill so much. The service was lovely, but the food was just not good. Bits of the ceiling fell on our table, and we had to ask for fresh appetizer plates when the entire first stack of plates was dirty. The spinach artichoke dip was pretty good, but the Asian salad was mostly just iceberg lettuce and a cup of soy sauce. It was hard to tell if the Bloody Mary even had alcohol in it. Overall, a disappointing experience.

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  3. LESLIE

    Charleston6 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on 4 April 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    We were really excited to be going there. Menu looked good. Reviews looked good. The food was not good - 3 kale salad was spinach and arugula. Bitter dressing. Apps came with dinner so you would have to pick which one you wanted to eat hot - and which one lukewarm. The entrees were both mediocre … but our waitress was cute.

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  4. Lynn

    Washington DC10 reviews

    2.0

    Dined on 4 April 2025

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 1
    Asked to change tables because of a large party. Waited 15 minutes for any kind of service. Food took half an hour to serve. Zucchini was ridiculous. No, I meant to write ridiculous. Waitress was extremely overworked but professional. Not going back.

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  5. James VIP

    Western NC16 reviews

    4.0

    Dined on 29 March 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    Normally, Red Onion has the best french onion. Not today! Very weak broth and a small amount of cheese. Chicken salad was delicious!

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  6. JaneE

    Greensboro4 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on 22 March 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    First visit. 4 diners. 2 ordered pasta dinners and both plated and served cold or room temperature. Reheated in microwave and served. Only: apologies ! What was the right thing to have done? Never reheat…a fresh plated meal should have been offered and served. Maybe offer discount on meal or complimentary dessert.

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  7. KKjester

    Jacksonville4 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on 17 March 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Service was great. Food was great. Cajun salmon, and crème brûlée was good. Nice place. The only issue was another customer was so drunk and loud, but that wasn’t the restaurants fault at all. He finally left and it was a lot quieter, and pleasant.

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  8. Pam

    Charlotte104 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on 30 December 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    The kitchen was a bit slow tonight, but service from Beck was attentive and the food was great as usual. The French Onion Soup gets a gold star. It's never salty, always delicious with oohy gooey cheese. My partner loved the fish tacos.

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  9. Tracy

    Greensboro6 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on 28 December 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Food was awesome as usual. Their Low Country Salmon is one of my favorite dishes on the planet. It is so good!!

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  10. Hayley

    Charleston1 review

    3.0

    Dined on 23 December 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3
    I had been here previously but this time was not as good. The food was average, which is probably to be expected with a college town. The chicken was not quality for my blackened chicken sandwich. My father in laws French onion soup tasted like burnt cheese and smelled like ramen. Finally, my husbands salmon was very small and not amazing. I unfortunately will not be coming back.

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FAQs

Red Onion Cafe offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (828) 264-5470.

Red Onion Cafe is rated 3.9 stars by 564 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

  1. Home
  2. United States
  3. Asheville / Western North Carolina
  4. Boone / Banner Elk
  5. Boone

Make a booking

2 people
19:00
Booked 4 times today
Google Map for Red Onion Cafe

227 Hardin St., Boone, NC 28607

Additional information

  • Area
    Boone
  • Hours of Operation
    Daily 11:00 am–9:00 pm
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Contemporary American
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Smart Casual
  • Parking details
    Appalcart (local bus, free of charge)<br />Boone Taxi (828-266-3860
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Additional
    Takeout
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Impressum
  • Cookies and Interest-Based Ads
  • Cookie Preferences
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