Haileys Country Kitchen

We stopped at Haileys for breakfast this morning.

They are located in what used to be a sports bar. It is a fairly large and empty space. About half of the restaurant is filled with tables. The other side is what used to be the bar and dance floor. They have turned it into an old fashioned soda fountain. Unfortunately, the space is still is huge and empty. It just doesn't work. The few farm implements on the wall don' fill the space at all.

The menu is typical country breakfast. Eggs, pancakes, etc.

My wife and I I tried eggs, home fries and sausage. It came accompanied by biscuits, gravy and grits. The food was not all that exciting.

The biscuits were pretty good. Moist and flaky. I asked for some jam for the biscuit and the waitress brought me a single packet of jam. Umm, I guess that's all they could spare...

The eggs were good. My scrambled eggs were kinda flat. Not at all fluffy as you would expect.

The sausage was pretty weak. Two overcooked sausage patties. I'm surprised that with all of the great sausage in North Carolina, that this is the best that they could do.


Please, please, please, someone open a creative breakfast place in Clayton!

I've visited this restaurant twice now, both times at breakfast. It's a very nice looking restaurant -- there's a large bar area that's been converted to a soda fountain, so I suppose they're trying not to let that space go to waste. I've no idea how well that side of the business is faring, because I don't think people get a hankering for an old-fashioned soda that early in the morning.

Anyway - the service is just fine. The servers are polite and prompt. No complaints there. The coffee got refilled often, and requested items were brought quickly.

The food was very good on my first visit. They had just opened and were running an insanely low-priced breakfast special and they were on top of things because I think they were really trying very hard to drum up business. The second visit, however, the food went downhill a bit. The sides were lukewarm to cool, as if they'd been made in advance and not kept hot. The grits were lumpy. Everything else was just "okay" with exception to the biscuits. Those were quite good.

I think all in all, my visits equal a somewhat average experience unfortunately. I will probably return at some point to give them another chance, though, because it's refreshing to see a local independently owned business instead of just another chain along highway 70. I hope they do well at the location, but they might have to step things up a little to succeed.

This ia a fairly new business in Clayton. I had been trying to make time to visit Haileys and I finally did this Sunday with my daughter and grandson. We arrived at 5 pm Sunday afternoon and we were the ONLY customers there. (red flag warning!) The waitress/hostess/server/bus person was very pleasant. Haileys has a smaller selection than most of its competitors. They were out of two of the entrees, meatloaf was one that both my daugter and I had wanted. We were told more would be delivered in the morning. Not sure what I wass to do with that information. I ordered the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. The portion sizes were suitable for a child under 12. The gravy on the hamburger steak sat there like whipped cream. My daughter and grandson had the cheeseburger with fries and slaw. Other than the bun being stale and the burger extremely dry, their food barely measured up to high school cafeteria quality. This meal with drinks (very small cups) came to 34 bucks before tip! I would have enjoyed food down they road from the "clown" or "king" more than Haileys Country Kitchen. Its sad to see a small business close as Haileys days are numbered.