August 27, 2026
Q&A: Crab cakes, who gets reimbursed for an unsatisfactory meal
Each week, we answer reader questions about food and drink in Charlotte
Q: Who has the best crab cakes in town?
Tom: I’ll put it this way, it’s difficult for me not to order crab cakes when I go to 300 East in Dilworth. Nothing fancy. Just a good, basic crabcake. You can order it as a plated dish with mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable Ashley Boyd is featuring that day or as a sandwich. Dressler’s in Midtown also does crab cakes right. On its appetizer menu, it comes with a corn & cabbage chow chow and basil aioli. As a grab and go order, the crab cakes at Lulu’s Express in Wesley Heights ususally top a lot of people’s lists. And as a vociferous locavore, I hate to confess that the crabcakes at Steak 48 in SouthPark and Eddie V’s Uptown also rock.
Q: If someone treated you to lunch and paid cash, but you alone were unhappy with your meal and the restaurant offered to make it right, should the refund go to you or to the person who actually paid?
Tom: To be honest, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which someone who didn’t pay should receive a cash refund. If the restaurant made an error, i.e., sent out the wrong dish, improperly prepared the food, or mishandled a disclosed allergy, it should certainly make things right. If the meal simply wasn’t to the guest’s liking, then, as the great philosopher once said (or maybe it was the game Outburst), “dems da berries.” Either way, a refund is reimbursement, so it should go to the person who actually paid. If the restaurant is feeling especially generous, it could always offer the disappointed diner a gesture of goodwill by way of a free appetizer or dessert on the next visit.
