Durham Restaurants
Durham has a number of great restaurants and nightlife in the city centers on many of them. While listing them all would take more time and space than I have, these are a few of the ones that I like.
Any restaurant page for Durham has to begin with
Karpenissi's own Giorgios Bakatsias who has
opened (and closed) more restaurants than any man
in Durham. His Vin Rouge
French Cafe and Wine Bar across Hillsborough
Street from the Garage has provincial food and a
large wine list. Service, ambience and the
ratatouille are all worthy of praise as
are the bar and deserts. Cafe Parizade
at nearby Irwin Square is Mediterranean in
inspiration with pizzas, pastas and some Greek
specialities. Especially fun is their Greek
Night when Giorgios can be seen dancing on the
table usually with several blonde sorority
girls. He has a lot of kefi and he is a seriously
good cook.
Blu Seafood and Bar owned by Chef Tim Lyons who came to Durham after stops in famous restaurants in Vermont, California and Key West where he worked under several well known chefs. He describes his restaurant as "upscale, casual seafood with innovative regional classics. In other words, our place is comfortable with great food, some local, some global, but always fresh." It has been described by my Durham friends who eat there as 'amazing'. It is at 2002 Hillsborough Road right by the intersection with 9th Street.
Also in the 9th Street area Cosmic Cantina
is a favorite of nearby Duke University students
and slackers which features a variety of Mexican
entrees and imported beers. It is a popular
hangout day or night. Elmos Diner is
another popular restaurant which, as the name
suggests, serves diner food, meaning American style
hamburgers, salads, sandwiches, soups and deserts.
For Middle Eastern food go to International
Delight's Restaurant on 9th Street where their
motto is
"
No
Ketchup".
Further down the street, Magnolia
Grill was ranked 11th in "America’s Best 50
Restaurants" by Gourmet magazine. Food and Wine
named chef-owner Ben Barker one of the 10 best
chefs in America. His wife and co-owner Karen
Barker was recently recognized by the Foundation
as the nation's most Outstanding Pastry Chef. If
you need any more reasons to eat here I don't know
what to tell you. It's at 1002 Ninth St a few
blocks down from the shopping district.
Papas Grille at 1821 Hillandale Road at Loehman's Plaza serves contemporary Hellenic and Mediterranean rim cuisine by chef Sam Papanikas. Winner of the Distinguished Restaurants of North America’s 2006 Award of Excellence. Live jazz and other types of music every Tuesday and Thursday. Specializes in fine steaks, pasta dishes, and fresh seafood plus offers appetizers or in Greek... mezedes. Another Greek restaurant is Spartacus which was one of my local Greek souvlaki shops when I lived in Long Island and then turned up in Durham a few years later. Located at what used to be South Square Mall on 15/501 by the new Super Target.
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Tucked away on the service road that borders 15/501 Business, a couple doors down from Spartacus Restaurant is the Blue Note Grill, your friendly neighborhood ribs and burgers bar and grill that has brought in some really terrific blues bands. It is an intimate setting for hearing some very professional bands and people even get up and dance. Lots of micro beer choices, many of them local, and I can vouch for the baby-back ribs and the pulled pork as well as the shrimp-stuffed jalapeno poppers. They have open blues jams on Tuesday, and live blues and traditional rock bands Weds through Saturday. I saw JW Jones here and they were the best blues band I have seen since the Nighthawks, twenty years ago. The grill is owned by Andrea & Bill Whittington who both cook there and is located at Boulevard Plaza Shopping Center aka 4125 Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard. This is the kind of place you really have to go out and support.
Pop's Restaurant at 605 West Main Street in Downtown Durham is situated in West Village between the old Liggett & Myers building and the West End Wine Bar and features Northern Italian specialties such as gourmet portabello pizza, shrimp linguini, basil-fragrant brick roasted chicken, and big bowls of mussels. Named one of the top new hot spots in the country by Bon Appétit magazine. Nana's Restaurant was named one of the best new restaurants in the nation by Esquire Magazine. Serving Southern regional cuisine with strong Italian and French influences, the restaurant's selection of wines has won the coveted Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine each year since 1994. It is located at 2514 University Drive in the Rockwood building. Chef-owner Scott Howell trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has worked at several notable restaurants and worked for a year in Italy at the prestigious San Domenico.
In the mid 1940’s out of their home on South Alston Avenue in Durham; Glen Bullock sold the barbeque on the weekends that he cooked in the family’s back yard. Bullock’s Barbecue is a third generation family run business that spans over six decades. Good food, family and dedicated employees, some who have worked at Bullock’s Bar B Cue for 35 years or more have made the restaurant what it is today, the area’s best place for barbeque. Bullock’s proudly displays walls of autographed photos that bare testament to the celebrities and sports greats who have taken time from their hectic schedules to sit a spell and enjoy Bullock’s good food and down home atmosphere. The New York Yankees, Dolly Parton, Jay Leno, Waylon Jennings, Robert Duvall and Kenny Rogers are just a few names that grace the walls. The barbecue, Brunswick stew, fried chicken, slaw, beans, hushpuppies and the best desserts you’ll find anywhere and lots of country cooking favorites too including corn, turnip and collard greens, candied yams and deviled eggs. Bullock's Bar B Cue is at 3330 Quebec Drive in Durham. You can e-mail them at: Whenpigsfly@bullocksbbq.com
Special kudus go to the restaurants who had the
vision to open in the new
American Tobacco Historic District in the Lucky
Strike Cigarette
Factory
. This massive real estate venture is one of the
major hope of downtown Durham and the success of
these restaurants will go a long way towards
attracting more businesses to the area. With a
million square feet of rental property that leaves
a lot of room for possibilities. The current
restaurants include my Carrboro neighborhood bar
and grill Tyler's with their pub food and
dozens of imported and micro-brewed domestic beers
which should be a popular place to go after Durham
Bulls games and maybe after Duke basketball games
too. Mellow Mushroom has gourmet pizzas and
a nice roomy bar. The Symposium Cafe offers
an upscale but casual ambience, together with food
and drink of superb quality at modest prices.
Their menu consists of gourmet sandwiches and
wraps, classic entrée selections, exotic desserts,
fresh fruit drinks, and specialty coffees and
teas. All three restaurants offer outdoor dining
with tables on or overlooking the man-made river
and waterfalls that flows through the grounds of
the old factory.
Other restaurants worth mentioning are Foster's
Market on US 15/501 which makes great soups,
sandwiches and salads. Rock Fish Seafood,
Maggiano's Little Italy and Firebirds
Rocky Mountain Grill which are all located at
The Streets at Southpoint and are national
chains but I am including them because they happen
to be good, as is PF Chengs across
Fayetteville Rd at the Renaissance Center. The
names of the restaurants pretty much tell you what
they serve. Satisfaction at Brightleaf
Square is a great place for pizza and to watch the
Blue Devils. Rick's Diner and Catering
Company is open 24 hours. Kemp's Seafood
House is popular for the southern fried
seafood that we love and our arteries hate.
Fishmonger's is a no frills seafood whose
motto is
"
We don't do it fancy -- we just do it
right."
Anyone who has been to the annual Independent
Christmas Party knows that the Fishmonger's table
with its oysters-on-the-halfshell and steamed
shrimp always draws the biggest crowd.
For those shopping at Northgate Mall, meals there don't have to consist of fast-food and sugary snacks. The Yamato Japanese Steak and Seafood Restaurant serves lunch and dinner with hibachi dishes cooked right at your table.
See also: Things to Do in Durham, Restaurants in
Chapel Hill, NC Barbecue, Durham
Hotels, Duke University,
Annual Events in
Durham,
Durham Photo Album and History of
Durham