Carolyn's Restaurant & Craft

I hate to bad mouth anyone’s business, but Carolyn is a piece of work. She was constantly crabbing at the person helping her out(her husband?). She told me water was in the cooler, so I reached in and got a bottle and brought it outside to my husband who stayed outside with the dog. I went back in to wait for our food. She was telling the man not to give me ketchup because I stole a bottle from a table inside and brought it outside. I told her I didn’t take ketchup, I brought a bottle of water that I paid for outside. She wouldn’t shut up about the ketchup. She kept crabbing at her help. So stressful! Another group ordered and then joined us outside. They were whispering about Carolyn’s crabby attitude and how she just wouldn’t stop. The food was OK. Not great. Luckily for Carolyn that she is the only restaurant in town, cause no one would go there. Listening to people fight and crab while you are eating is just not my idea of an otherwise beautiful day.

Delicious home cooked meal, and interesting banter in the kitchen. It felt like a dinner theatre experience in the best possible way. Owner is easy to speak with once you get to know her a bit. Great selection of crafts. Staff was very friendly. Would love to visit again.

This place is insane. The woman in the kitchen is so mean. How is this place around?! It doesn't make sense. Is it supposed to be funny or something?

Friendly service

We made our way past the broken lawn chairs chairs, picnic tables and uncut grass, past the pile of garbage on the steps..we should have stopped there. I guess we were desperate for fries and a coke! We listened to the Owner berate a poor girl employee a couple of times - even about using the ink in her pen! We had asked to have a fan turned on, the windows are dirty and bolted shut on a 30c day. Call us suckers for punishment I guess. We can make allowances for the havoc that the pandemic has played on small business and even be sympathetic to a point but when asked why she was still running this dump her reply was "What else would I do sit at home and watch T.V.?" Enuf said.

Awful food and we had to listen to Carolyn berate her staff member in front of us. Also she insists on having a seat at the table wtf? We were there with friends. Lobster roll lobster was half frozen and wet. Chowder had chunks of unmelted butter in it. Scallops were cut in thirds before frying. Do yourself a favour and skip this place! Go to Tiffany’s up near the rec centre for takeout. You won’t regret it.

I placed my order and turned to walk outside to enjoy the beautiful Fall day while waiting for my meal. That is until a woman behind the counter barked, “where ya going?” I said, “outside to wait.” “So I have to carry your order out to you?” the woman chided. I burst out laughing at the shock of a cafe server complaining about...serving! Oh, and that “server” was Carolyn, the proprietor. Such is life at Carolyn’s on Big Tancook. I was hooked. Carolyn is the perfect island ambassador. Unfiltered, authentic and refreshing. Exactly who you’d expect to find running the only cafe on a little speck of rock in the Atlantic. Hollywood should take note. In a world of political correctness, Carolyn’s provides no pretense, no fluffy greetings, up sells or color coordinated uniforms, just good food and candor. To be sure, just as Big Tancook is not a suburb of Halifax, Carolyn’s is not a vanilla, corporate chain. It’s a female founded, owned and operated, family business, grounded in the reality of island life. Her honesty should be celebrated for boldly daring to be real...and not confused with mean-spirited, rudeness. The world needs a little salt to make it more palatable and Carolyn provides just enough to amuse and remind, that island life is different...Isn’t that why we visit? Carolyn’s is an island treasure!

Carolyn’s is a must visit when you’re visiting Big Tancook! Best fish and chips I’ve had in a long time (super fresh and delicious)!! I’ve read some of the reviews on here and they are very unfair to Carolyn. She’s been described as salty and even rude. She is definitely not either! She is a local successful business owner who cares about getting people in and out on time for lunch (especially any workers on the island there to do a job and who need a quick meal to get back out to the job site). She will tell you right off the bat if she can’t serve you (if she’s busy) and there’s nothing wrong with that, at least she’s being honest and upfront. Her husband helped bring the meals over and was very sweet! The place is a typical canteen style restaurant and it almost feels like you’ve stepped back in time (with a large area dedicated to local craft sales - which I would be inclined to clear out and add more tables, but that’s just me...lol). Do visit, when you’re there. It’s definitely a fun experience!

Great food, friendly atmosphere.

This is a family run opperation. They had a explosive fight in the middle of our visit. We sat quietly and ate our very small very costly portions. The food very good. My fish wasnt fresh as I was told it was the freshest.Bring your own lunch is the best option

Caroline's is an experience to say the least.... the owner constantly berates her customers for the least little thing, and she routinely verbally abuses her staff.It's also rumored that she routinely demands half of any of the tips from her staff for the privilege of working for her..... pity this place could do so much better if the owner wasn't present but they don't seem to trust anyone.