Reel Cafe

I was physically assaulted by bouncer when I requested name he did not give me a name I was told this standard SOP. I naively allowed this to be allowed and then was informed I would not be allowed In establishment I had previously had two beer and was simply not ready to be randomly shoved into a wall

Went for lunch on a Sat. Just the right amount of people for a lunch crowd. The only reason for a 3 star for food was the breading on the fish and chip was way to heavy! The burger (chicken ) was good but not 4 star. Service was excellent. Would definitely go back but not ordering the same.

Derrick the chef was awesome and the food is absolutely amazing. 5/5

The atmosphere and service were amazing.

I wanted a drink, was denied because my id is expired (that’s fine). I went upstairs to go sing a song with my friends, the girl who saw my id followed my friends and I to the karaoke area and kicked me out (even though no one carded me at the karaoke section, she tried to tell them but they didn’t seem to care). If it’s a big fuss, card everyone! If I didn’t try to get a drink, I would’ve been able to do karaoke.

Brenna is the best bartender! She gives the best and fastest service with a smile! When I come back I’ll ask for her! ❤️

Oh boy! This will be a long one so buckle up and managers and owners hope you care enough to read about what’s going on at your establishment. I am a senior UNCW student who had the worst bar experience of my life tonight. I rarely go downtown as I hear a lot of negative things such as the bars are terrible, unsafe etc. and reel has always had similar reputation but have heard they stay afloat since they let people in underage. After being informed a lot of UNCW kids both underage and of age would be at reel tonight we decided to go for a change of scenery since we usually enjoy beach bars. As soon as we got there 2 bouncers were checking IDs, a male and a female. The female had platinum blonde looking hair and a beanie on. Before even checking our IDs they immediately start haggling us in an rude tone asking for money for a cover. The female checking my boyfriends ID proceeds to say it’s fake, to which the male says “oh wait! these are fake?” With a confused look on his face after already telling me I could go in. She proceeds to look at my REAL ID and goes “yeah that one looks fake too so probably.” Refusing to give our REAL!!!!! IDs back, I informed them I would be happy to call the cops, ALE, whoever to have them investigate if my ID was real or not. She proceeded to escalate FAST on me, already starting the interaction off from an extremely hateful now to aggressive tone, to tell me she checks IDs all the time and just has to do her job and if I don’t like that I can “get the f—- out” I proceeded to say that’s fine, give me my ID then and we’ll leave. The male bouncer tells me to watch my attitude. I proceed to say I’m shocked they think my real ID is fake considering I personally knew acquaintances and mutual friends from college that were in there right now drinking it up underage. She proceeds to get in my face and tells me “You wanna question my job I will have you and all your little friends arrested and have this whole place shut down because I don’t give a f—!!” I told her I didn’t have friends in there yet, just knew many people on social media bragging about getting in underage. The male bouncer who was trying to just deescalate the situation proceeds to say “since I’m a girl” I can just go ahead and go in if I calm down and hands me my ID back. I said no thanks. I would literally never go back to an establishment that treats people like this, especially considering I was 100% sober too and the way the female bouncer escalated the situation so aggressively and got in my face for me simply questioning them in a respectful tone on my real ID. Reel has a cool concept and would’ve loved to enjoy my first time there but your employees ruined that experience for me and not to mention the fact it’s just a older townie crew mixed with underage kids that I guess are getting in through paying money since they were demanding we pay our covers immediately before even having our IDs checked. Also, just FYI if a manager ever cares enough to read this post, reach out to me and I would love to show up in person with my REAL ID!! And provide additional details if needed if you care enough to solve the situation. Disgusting behavior and shame on you to the staff at reel tonight. Your bar has so much potential but the difference in what makes a good bar is the staff working and this is why I will continue to take my business to beach bars where I have never been haggled for money or had someone get in my face to threaten me over my real ID being “fake”.

The portions are huge definitely worth the price