Cat Square Family Restaurant

Great food & service. The perfect small town diner. Folks are friendly. Princess is friendly & welcoming even to the new kid in town. :). They're closed Mondays but open the rest of the week. Give them a try. Burgers are local and hand pressed, salads are huge and the sweet tea is perfection.... Come on, Now!

I thought the Cat Square Restaurant would be a good place for an early dinner after visiting Hart Square village in nearby Vale on a Saturday in mid-May. It had been many, many years since I had been in this vicinity. A family friend had pastored Reeps Grove UMC in the 1980's, and I had visited the area then. I drove and the GPS guided us to Cat Square. When we pulled into the parking lot, hubby gasped and said, "this isn't where we're eating is it?" Slightly offended, I responded that this old gas station building really didn't look any shabbier than Keaton's BBQ Chicken in Cleveland, NC and we love their food. Neither of these eating places have any measure of curb appeal. We walked through the main area and into a room that probably serves as the "private dining room." A large curio-type display case, full of curios and with glass doors, took up much of one wall, and a very large metal knight in armor stood in another corner of the room alongside a large cardboard box spilling over with Christmas decorations. A different type of ambiance, for sure. The server quickly brought the menus and drinks, and we ordered our food. Hubby chose hamburger steak covered in sauteed onions and peppers along with fries, slaw and a roll. I had a "senior" order of fried flounder, with slaw, baked potato and hush puppies. Our food was served hot (if not quickly) and everything looked and tasted good. Hubby tasted my flounder, and I tasted his hamburger steak. Although Cat Square Restaurant didn't totally meet his high standards, he agreed that the food was satisfying, and the price was right at $18.00 total. He gave our server a $5.00 tip. For a crabby old guy, he can be a good tipper.

Hole in the Wall but that kind of place is often the best for good food and service.A bit out of the way being about 15 miles NW of Lincolnton NC but based on recommendations, had decided some time ago to give them a shot. Today was the day.Got up and went to get my hair cut before I get cast in the Lion King and then took a quick DNA test. Trying to straighten out genealogy from the 1750's and have an impasse with Ancestry.com with one of two paths so seeing if 23 and Me can give an additional insight.In any case, got the hair cut, took the DNA test and dropped it off at the Lincolnton Post Office and got to the Cat Square Family Restaurant around 1:00 pm today which is a Saturday.Parking lot was packed when we got there but most were in the front dining room while the back dining room still had plenty of space. Not much to look at from the outside being a repurposed gas station but don't let looks fool you.Food is great and Service is even better.Walked in and they have a slim staff with Covid and my wife asked if we should seat ourselves. They responded yes and we soon found a table in the back room. Always iffy if you get a back room because quite often, out of sight, out of mind. Not the case here. We had out first encounter with our server within one minute of seating and it was consistent throughout our dining experience.Cuisine is typical of what you would encounter in a diner or family restaurant but very well executed.Started with Mozzarella Cheese Sticks as an appetizer. When it was served, it as served with both Ranch and Marinara Sauces so we had a good choice. My wife likes the Ranch while I prefer the Marinara and while the Marinara was prepackage and not fresh made, that is better than a Marinara that does not have a nice fresh taste. The prepackaged was the better option in terms of quality.My wife ordered the Philly Cheese Steak along with Onion Rings. Both were great and portion size was such that she had extra for a later lunch.I had a BLT with Fries and both were great. I'm a bit of a purist because I consider a BLT to be the ultimate Sandwich and this one was very good although I do like my bacon a bit less crispy. I know I am a outlier but the sandwich was great anyway. Was surprised with the French Fries.Not undercooked, not pasty or grainy from being undercooked and not greasy but rather as close to perfect as I have found locally. They do not salt the fries as most places do and leave the amount of salt up to the consumer.Very good and will be back although note unfortunately, it's about a 40 minute drive from here so will not be a frequent as I would like.

Good ole family restaurant the food is great. The service is great. Especially for the location on the grill.

I have ate here serval times since I have moved to North Carolina the food is good and the staff are nice, I like the waiter Princess and I always try to tip nice, I would recommend this to anyone passing through the Vale Area

Highly recommend! I'm from the area and have never had a bad experience here! Bobbi is the best waitress and is very friendly! Makes you feel right at home! If you are from out of town and want a small taste of country living, this is the place!

Best and most reasonable priced restaurant for great food and great customer service! Bobbi and Princess are the best!!

Stopped in after visiting Hart Square (an interesting place) for lunch. We ate inside. It was not crowded. The food was really good. We had a cheesesteak and a cheeseburger, both with fries. My wife said the cheesesteak was the best in Lincoln County and she loved the homemade ranch dressing. Cheeseburger was top notch and we agreed the fries were just what you wanted, hot and fresh. Put that with great ice tea over crushed ice and very friendly service and you have a great place. The bill was very reasonable too.

Me and my mom went up there to pick up a order and the register lady was talking to a couple and then she looked right at us and gave us a dirty look and finally my mom said are yall done yet cause we're hungry and they lady said so where yall and my mom said yea cause your taking and then the worker said well we where just chitchatting and then we got are order and got home and they charged us extra for tarter sauce and ranch and they didn't put them in and when we called back up they said we could buy more

The people are nice, but it's a local spot. Don't think I would eat here again. The Philly was super greasy. This isn't a place a foodie would be satisfied, in my opinion of course.