McCall’s BBQ & Seafood Restaurant

Best Southern BBQ buffet ever. I would die if they were in FL as I would sneak over lol! If you are in the area you got to try this southern GEM!!!

Little pricey for a buffet style Southern food but I love their food in general. Not so much with the dump here and dump there dessert choices. The servers are attentive and very good. Tricky though because if you come here all the time you will find out that some days The food being serve is different from other days. One of my friends was disappointed with that because the reason why she came back was that she wanted to eat the same good food she had the last time but that wasn’t the case. Some dishes are little salty for my taste but I would eat here all the time with no problem. Great job overall.

Was forced to eat here once. The options on the buffet were limited and the food looked bland and abominable. I just ordered off the menu instead and I ordered fries with my meal which were cold and halfway cooked. Atmosphere was alright. I would say this restaurant and golden corral are the same average rating. The benefits of this restaurant are I would say is the menu and drive thru.

Usually long waiting times to get a seat. The food is okay, as it has a bland taste. The menu is certainly not for the vegetarian type or for anyone that wants a larger variety of options. It is more of a country food buffet than anything else. The price is a little high for what you get.

We found this place after the Carolina Railhawks used them for catering. We loved the food they catered for one of our games and decided to try the local restaurant. Once you get past the initial appearance when you walk in (which is very basic), you’ll keep coming back for the food. Everything is homemade and delicious. My husband is a huge fan of the dessert bar. They’re price is reasonable for variety you receive. I would recommend to friends.

Each time I visit Raleigh I end up here because my relatives there love the buffet. The food is good, not the best but I enjoy the barbecue with slaw and the ribs. I wish they’d serve seafood on the buffet during the weekdays as their weekend crowds could tax even a nuns last nerve. I get that McCall’s is a barbecue buffet but my parnter along with many others are vegetarian. Their selection is mostly limited to the cold salad and dessert bar. All the hot veggies are cooked with meat and even the breads and rice are tucked on the hot bar between meat where there is a chance of cross contamination. I wish McCall’s would just start to cater to vegetarians just a little bit because it’s uncomfortable even for me as a meat eater to eat there when when my partner only the option of a salad.

Came through the drive thru window at 6:30 pm and waited at the order box so long that I thought it was broken. I proceeded to pull up to the window to see if the restaurant was closed. There were two employees talking when I pulled up, they turned around and looked at me and kept talking for at least another 5 minutes before coming to the window to take my order… I wasn’t even given an apology. This was the most rude service ever.

My family & I stopped by on the way home this weekend & found this restaurant. The health department rated the 100% and for good reason. Excellent service. They have a wide selection of food. Enjoyed the shrimp, fried chicken, BBQ, fresh sweet corn, & more. Very clean. Great experience. Will go if in Clayton again.

I’ve been eating at McCalls for years, it’s one of the places I truly missed when I moved from Cary in 2008. Now that I’m back in NC, I’ve been several times back here, and it’s consistently excellent. Its clean, it’s quick, its Eastern NC BBQ and seafood. It’s far better than GC.

Unfortunately food is not always the same quality. Never know if the same dishes you’ve had in the past here will be really good or not. One visit it will be delicious. Next time not so much. Pork barbecue is consistently good. So take your chances. I do. Because when it’s good it’s really good. And when it’s not its old tasting and not fresh.

Every time I have come here a little part of me dies. If your into mass quantities of food over quality product, this is your place.

This food is bland. As a vegetarian, the choices are very limited. Many of the vegetables are cooked with meat and therefore cannot be even by a vegetarian. The vegetables not cooked with meat are bland at best and overcooked mush at worst.
For a fellow whose grandfather ran a eastern North Carolina barbecue place, this is a imitation eastern North Carolina barbecue joint. It doesn’t have the grit and smell of the real barbecue pits. I would parallel it to the difference between Joe Crocker singing «you are so beautiful» and the elevator music version of the song. The same song but a different experience.
If you are hungry and need a feed trough at a reasonable price and not a vegetarian, this is the place.

The food taste great but it is extremely over priced. Great atmosphere.
Bad experience with waitress. My waitress told another waitress «oh it’s only $ 1.00. You can have that. It’s nothing to me.» A $ 1.00 is a lot to me so I kept mine. She did not get a tip. That was very rude and uncalled for, especially in front of customers.
I only eat here 2 – 5 a year because of the prices and now it may be less.

Can’t give it negative stars. Have been there several times because the group wanted to eat there.
Food is just awful.
Apparently some people think southern food only has two spices required: salt and grease.
Would not recommend this to anyone. Golden Corral is much better, and that ain’t saying much.

McCalls is good barbeque.
I’ve tasted the full range of their offerings, in every preparation style imaginable:
Fried, broiled, baked… whatever.
Here’s my breakdown.
Barbeque: A bit sweet for my tastes. They seem to tinge it with a bit of tomato sauce, as well. I’m a bit more of a fan of the style served at Smithfield’s. Just not enough bite for me.
My wife’s a non-​NC native, and she likes McCall’s, if she has to eat Southeastern NC BBQ.
It’s BBQ with training wheels (and too much sweetness… ugh).
Seafood:
Fried:
The quality is fairly average in term of quality. The shrimp is smallish-​medium sized. Clams are good.
The flounder is very good.
Broiled:
The broiled seafood is seasoned with a bit of Old Bay and something else. It’s here that the average quality is on display. It was made-​to-​order for takeout, and left my car smelling high for days after I took it inside.
Chicken:
Unremarkable. It’s just OK. Not awful, not fantastic. Just middle of the road.
That’s in fried and BBQ’d varieties.
Sides:
The coleslaw is on par with most slaw in the area. Vegetables like green beans are on par, and potato salad is decent.
Dessert:
The banana pudding is 4 stars+. I’m not usually a fan of warm banana pudding, but the the custard and meringue are homemade and delicious. Still wish they’d serve it cold, but that seems to be a matter of how your family made it.
The peach cobbler has a bit too much cobbler (very little, if any crust), and far too little peach.
It’s more like a soggy, peach upside-​down cake.
The Buffet:
I’ve eaten the buffet only once here, but that seems to be what most come for. It was decent, as most of the items I’ve mentioned are available (with the exception of some seafood).
One thing that was a standout were the chicken and dumplings. Good to excellent, depending on if you have someone in your immediate family who makes them.
Overall, this is a solid choice, but don’t expect to be blown away by the offerings.
If you want a more authentic take on Southeastern BBQ, go to Smithfield’s, or perhaps to one of our more traditional places in Goldsboro or Lexington.

I’ve been to McCall’s quite a few times now. I like their food. Don’t love it, & I will say it’s a bit inconsistent. I love fried chicken so that’s the first thing I put on my plate. Sometimes it’s really good, but a few times now it’s been so darn greasy that it just turns my stomach for the rest of the meal. They also have an amazing beef stew, but it’s not always available. So I go there with a craving for the stew & I can’t even have any. I also think they need a little more variety. They have 4 stations & the 2 middle stations have exactly the same food on it. I walk over there top check out what else the place is serving & it’s all the same stuff I just saw.
Anyway there’s enough food there I enjoy & go back for so I will return. (Also not high as another poster suggested).

I moved to NC in 2012 and didn’t find McCall’s till the following year and haven’t been disappointed since. I’ve had family and friends down from DC and everyone is very pleased with the service and food they’ve had. Whenever I don’t feel like cooking, McCall’s is my go to spot!

Not sure why it has taken this long to finally eat here. The restaurant was clean. friendly waiting staff. I ordered sweet tea and I shouldnt have. I needed seltzer to help keep down all the fat I think. Being that I have been detoxing and juicing for the last few days, I knew that I needed to eat this food slowly. The highlight was the BBQ chicken. I was thrilled to see that the sauce was red and thick and not thin and «vinegary». The collard greens were my least favorite, too much fat and they were sweet. The hushpuppies were good, rolls light and airy. The chicken pastry was delicious too. My intention was to sample a little of everything minus the potato salad… never had it in my life, never will… The blueberry cobbler was really yummy! I may come back in a few months, please don’t take away the BBQ chicken!

The food here is mostly fried with some BBQ. I tried the fried chicken (breast) which was tasty, fried clams (love em), fried shrimp (small), fried Scallops (minis), hush puppies (couldn’t eat enough of em), pulled pork (not a fan of the vinegar type here in NC), some squash vegetable & collared greens which were a little water logged.
I also had some fried fish which was was really good but the last bite tasted a little fishy. Although I had two plates full of food, I had passed on the dessert bar which really looked good with multiple choices of home made stuff. They also have a salad bar & soup bar (homemade) which was stuck in corner.
My service was excellent & very polite. I tried the Watergate salad I saw in the salad bar which was I believe pistachio pudding whipped up with marshmallows & other stuff. Never saw or heard of it before but I tried a little & I enjoyed it!
Two hours later I was belching up oil & the damn fried clams at the gym. However, well worth the money & kudos that they take care of emergency personell here. Make sure you ask for the cocktail sauce as they have it stashed! I believe they do change up the menu as a previous reviewer mentioned ribs which I did not see at my dinner service (a Tuesday)

Lunch buffet was almost $ 8 (drink not included). Pork BBQ was definitely Eastern style. Strong vinegar taste. Stew beef and gravy had a great taste, and the meat was really tender. Vegetable beef soup was pretty good. They also had clam chowder, but I didn’t try that. Salad bar was good, and it had diced chicken, which was nice. The potato salad, rice and gravy, corn were also good. Lots of desserts to choose from, with the banana pudding being my favorite.