Wow are we stuffed! We just ate lunch at the Sawmill Tap Room, located on Lead Mine Road at Sawmill Road. We hadn’t previously been here for lunch and thought we’d check it out since we were looking for some good burgers and sandwiches that went beyond both fast food or chain restaurant styles.
It’s a beautiful and warm day out, just right for sitting outside. Sawmill has a great outdoor eating deck but we opted to dine in. The restaurant was steady but not crowded and not too busy for quick seating and service. The menu has a lot to offer with a nice variety of items on the appetizer list as well as the regular menu. We settled on the fried pickles for our appetizer. They were served at just the right time – not too soon but not too long in the wait time either. That says to me they were cooked up fresh and sure enough, our huge serving (which was the ‘smaller’ serving size) was brought out steaming hot with a side of ranch dressing.
For lunch I ordered the portobella sandwich, served on a kaiser roll topped with provelone cheese, a tomato, and a parmesean crumbled topping. My partner-in-crime ordered the club which was packed with quite a hefty amount of ham, turkey and applewood smoked bacon with cheese served on sourdough bread. Both orders came with a side of fries. Everything was good and neither of us were able to finish our meals.
I would have preferred the portobella be marinated or maybe served with a garlic spread, but the crumbled parmesean topping helped make up for some flavor. If you really enjoy the natural full flavor of a portobella then you will definitely enjoy this sandwich.
The club may have been a little too heavy on the meat and since it was served warm, it was close to being a little too greasy. Otherwise, it was really good.
The service was good and very laid back. We never felt rushed to leave or that our server was overwhelmed with too many tables. Our drinks were kept full and we had a nice, relaxing lunch.
Our meal total was around $24, a tiny bit on the ‘high’ end for lunch, but the portions were worth it and the food really was pretty good.
Sawmill also has quite a few brews on tap and has a full-service bar. It offers a great neighborhood bar and grill without being trendy or pretentious. There are several locations in the Raleigh area.
