Matt Barrett's Favorite Chapel Hill-Carrboro Restaurants
Being half Greek and spending several months a year in Greece I tend to go out to eat a lot. In fact when I am in Greece I go out to eat every night. When I am home in Carrboro we go out every Friday, usually on Saturday and at least once during the week and sometimes more. I guess when you get too old to go hear bands every night going out to eat becomes your entertainment. But I am hardly a connosieur or epicurean and atmosphere and company is as important as food which is why I usually sit at the bar. I feel really pitiful sitting by myself at a little table having my meal brought to me and trying to strike up a converstation with the waiter or busboy during their infrequent visits. Or going with my wife and staring at each other trying to make conversation until the food comes, like we can't talk at home. It is much more fun at the bar where you have the people next to you, the bar-tender and sometimes even the owner to talk (like at the Flying Buritto, Crooks, Tellulah's and Acme).
So these are the restaurants I go to and why I like them. You don't have to be like me and sit at the bar. I know it can be tough when you are a family with lots of kids to sit at the bar and usually the bartender is not too thrilled in this situation since he makes his money on tips. So I have included restaurants that are just as good if you sit at a table too. Usually on Friday nights my daughter goes to my mom's and Andrea and I have the night to ourselves (like a date but usually without sex). I come down from my home office and she asks where we should go and I say I don't know and then we get into a fight before going to one of the following places.
Acme:
American-Southern.
This is the most likely choice because not only is the food really
great but it is only about 200 yards from my house so if Andrea
and I have a fight she can walk home and leave me at the bar to
continue drinking until an hour that I know she is asleep and I
can go home knowing that in the morning she won't even remember
why she was mad at me. Acme has a decent sized bar and a couple
tables in the bar area where you can watch people coming and going
from the Orange County
Social Club next door.
Their menu is a sort of mixture of Asian-American-European-Mexican
and they give big servings. They don't mind subsitutions so if you
want a steak and you are on a low-carb diet you don't have to have
the mashed potatoes, you can have a salad or sauteed greens or whatever.
The menu is broken up into three sections. First are the appetisors,
some of which are a meal in themselves. If you get the Kalamari
Salad for example, which is a spicy slaw mixture with frie squid
mixed in, then you can probably share a main course.They have great
salads made from local organic greens from Eco-Farms. The next section
are the bowls but you would be surprised what they can put into
a bowl. Anything from scallops on a bed of cheese grits with squash
to pastas or a Korean Style Skirt Steak with mashed potatoes. Then
their plates include things like Char-grilled Flat Iron Steak, Pan-Seared
Pork Chops and BBQ Ribs (one item!), Southern Flash Fried Flounder,
Cast Iron Skillett Carolina Crab Cakes and..... you get the idea.
Very expressive names and food that lives up to it. They have a
couple burgers (my daughter goes for the Kobe Burger Deluxe) and
a number of deserts which I stay away from, getting my sugar intake
from the wine. Kevin, who is the owner, got tired of the coming
and going of chefs so now he does the cooking and I have to admit
that he does a great job and the food is as good or better than
it has ever been. You probably won't need reservations unless it
is a weekend or some special event. Their Sunday buffet is popular,
some people coming to eat, read the NY Times and kill a few hours
before OCSC opens up. Acme was chosen as a Top 10 Tastes of the
South by Southern Living Magazine. Acme is at 110 E. Main St in Carrboro and
the phone number is 919 929 ACME.
Crooks Corner:
Southern.
Similar to Acme (Kevin worked at Crooks for years) Crooks has the
reputation as one of the best Southern Foods restaurant in
the USA. It is well deserved because the food created by Bill Smith is as
good as it gets in the south. Usually we go to Crooks when we want
to impress someone from the north or Europe who thinks that the
south is made up of a bunch of hicks eating collards, hushpuppies and
fried chicken. Usually they order the collards and hushpuppies and
occasionally Bill does serve fried chicken but mostly we go for
stuff like jambalaya, steaks, their famous Shrimp and Grits and
Bill Smith's Soft Shell Crab. Sometimes we will just order a number
of sides like their hushpuppies, fried oysters (the best anywhere),
grits, cornbread and Hoppin' John and the world's second best fried
potatoes. (The best are Rolando's on the island of Kea in Greece).
Lots of choices in the beer and wine department and cool bartenders
like Matt Neal (son of Bill: the Patron Saint of Southern Cooking
who opened Crooks Corner many years ago)
and ex-rocker Mike Robb. Bill Smith makes an appearance in the dining
room every so often and Seasoned in the South, his collection of more than 100 recipes
and stories from his life growing up in Eastern North Carolina and years in the
kitchen at Crook's Corner will be published fall 2005 by Algonquin. The dining
room can get kind of noisy so don't come with any friends with hearing
problems or they will drive you crazy
saying "WHAT?!" to everything you ask them. The Patio is a
nice place to eat, though I rarely eat there since I am usually
at the bar. The New York Times said about Crooks Corner: "Sacred
ground for Southern Foodies... part neighborhood diner, part upscale
restaurant, Crooks Corner is a nightly celebration". A Nightly
Celebration. That pretty much nails it. In case you are
wondering the photo is a poster in the men's room at Crooks
which comes from Latvia. Crooks Corner is at 610 West Franklin Street,
Chapel Hill, telephone: 919-929-7643.
Southern Rail in Carrboro is where I do a lot of eating and even more drinking. It's the most interesting restaurant-bar in the Triangle in terms of decor or landscape or whatever you would call a turn-of-the-century railroad station and several old train cars connected by a big comfortable bar area that at around 11pm is filled with the coolest people in Carrboro. Owned by Chapel Hillian Mike Benson who is famous in Washington for his popular bar-restaurant St-Ex and his bar Pilar as well as for being a colorful charactor and an all around friendly guy. The menu is pretty simple with maybe 7 or 8 appetisers and the same number of main dishes and I have yet to eat something that I have not liked. I am one of the early birds who comes about 7pm, has a few glasses of wine with Rob at the bar and then dinner and depending on how many friends I run into I am usually out of there by 10pm. But on those nights that I have lingered I have witnessed the transformation of Southern Rail from restaurant to hipster hangout and have seen people in there that I had to hold myself back from asking for an autograph. I won't name names so as to protect the privacy of these local and not so local celebrities but if you are one of them or want to be one, or want to meet one this is the place to come. They serve lunch all day I believe and brunch on Sunday. Standout items are the Steak Frittes, the seafood appetiser, (whatever that's called), and the crab cakes are really good. All of the fish dishes they have featured have been given the thumbs up by my wife-girlfriend Andrea who is pretty hard to please who also has high praise for their salads. I would not mind a larger selection since I would be happy to eat there at least once a week but they do have nightly specials. There's a big outdoor area in the back that is fenced in so you can let your kids run free and not worry about them being run over by the occasional coal train that passes within 10 feet of the restored dining car. The old station building which was formerly The Station, a popular live music venue during the Golden Age of Chapel Hill Music is once again a live music place. Whether you are an old time Chapel Hillian hoping to run into some lost but not forgotten friends or a newbee who wants to make friends with cool locals this is a good place to plant your roots. Southern Rail is right by Carr Mill Mall on the railroad tracks of course.
411 West: Italian This restaurant is our Monday night hangout because they have half price bottles of wine which allows you to drink the wines you would not normally order in a restaurant. It works out for everyone since if you get a$20 bottle of wine it is only $10 and if you order a $50 bottle of wine it is only $25. This sounds obvious but as you can see by the math you can buy a cheap wine like you would normally drink for the price of about two glasses and you can buy a bottle of wine that would normally be too expensive for the price of a cheap bottle. They have a huge bar and good bartenders who know the food and know the wines and can help you decide. They have an extensive menu with a whole section of little pizzas made in their brick oven, lots of appetisers and interesting entrees. I usually go for the Italian Pie made with house red sauce, spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni, onions, green peppers and mozzarella or one of the many pasta dishes. There are usually a half dozen or so specials every day. The clientele is a mixture of Carolina types, visiting scholars and jocks, sorority chicks of the present, past and future and young guys who look like they come from the UNC Business School and of course there is always someone I know who I have not seen in ten years, also sitting at the bar. It is easy to have a converstation with strangers because like many Carolina people do, they speak loud enough so everyone can hear and join in on cue if they want. The bar is the place to be though and getting a seat on a weekend is tough if you don't get here early. I guess in the old days you would call this a yuppie hangout. I don't know what you would call it now. Maybe one of the few places where Democrats and Republicans can enjoy good food without getting into fistfights (by just talking about the Tarheels). Plus Stephanie Miller loves 411 West and I love Stephanie Miller.
411 West is at 411 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill. Telephone: (919) 967-2782
Carrburrito:
Mexican.
This is more of a weekday place for us but if you get a margatita
and sit at the bar it can seem festive enough for a weekend. It
is cafeteria style so you wait in line and then tell the server
what you want and then pay and pick up your drinks, sit and wait
and a few minutes later your food arrives. Everything is good and
it is relatively cheap, very friendly and a good place to see everyone
you know if you eat there often enough. Try their Pescado Asado Burrito: Grilled fresh fish wrapped
in a tortilla with black beans, rice, sour cream, salsa and lettuce or the Burrito
Mejor with everything on it which I usually get. Great chips, especially
the wheat ones and a selection of delicious home-made salsas which
are free. Carburritos is at 711 W. Rosemary St. Carrboro right on
the Chapel Hill/Carrboro border.
Flying Burrito: Mexican. This has been The Chapel Hill oldie restaurant for the last 20 years, the place when people come back to town they go to eat at least once. Of the restaurants listed so far this is the most funky, combining good Mexican-American food with fresh seafood, decent beer, a variety of margarittas, mediocre wine (but who drinks wine with Mexican food-certainly not Mexicans) and lots of atmosphere of the bluesy New Orleans variety. Andrea usually vetos the Burrito because she does not like the wine and feels like she has gained ten pounds everytime she eats here which has not been very often lately. Luckily for me when my friend Taylor comes to town this is where he wants to eat and so we have our 'business meetings' here which end up being long talks about ex-girlfriends and cohorts while stuffing ourselves with so many wings (battered or unbattered with ultimate sauce on the side) chips, salsa (habanero is the best but we get em all), and their queso dip (which I mix with the hababero salsa to give it an extra kick) that when our entrees come we wish we had not ordered them. That's OK. He takes his back to the hotel and I eat mine and feel guilty about it when I wake up in the middle of the night feeling awful. But I would go back tomorrow. The bar scene is old Chapel Hill and there is always someone I know there. For those who don't fill up on chips, salsa, queso and wings I love the taco salad, any of the smothered burritos, the Bbq chicken, and the fish specials are always good. Some people come to Chapel Hill just to eat at the Burrito. My daughter loves it and this is where we go when we need a breal from mommy. It is actually kind of convenient that my wife does not like the place. But that does not mean yours won't. The Flying Burrito is at 746 Airport Rd in Chapel Hill in the same little shopping center as Foster's Market and Hunan Restaurant (which are both pretty good if there are no tables at the Burrito).
Tellulahs:
Turkish. Even
though my pal Demir Williford owns this excellent Turkish Restaurant
in Chapel Hill, after three months in Greece the last thing I want is Greek food
or anything faintly resembling it. But after a few weeks I long
for it and with a lack of good Greek restaurants in town I am happy
there is a good Turkish one. With a decent sized bar area and friendly
bartenders and some great appetisers Tellulah's is a good place
to go on weekends if you get there early enough to get a seat at
the bar or during the week if you want to show visiting friends
how multi-ethnic Chapel Hill is. Chances are that there is not a
Turkish restaurant as good in their town unless they are visiting
from Istanbul or Washington DC. Plenty of meat and veggie dishes, you really can't
go wrong unless you just want a burger in which case get one of
the ground beef or lamb dishes and while it is cooking run down
the street to McDonalds and steal some of those little ketchup packages,
come back and make your own. Delicious bread and plenty of stuff
to dip it in. A crowd of international types mostly from the Eastern
Med (like me) that gets younger as the night gets older and by midnight
the place becomes a Turkish dance club. No, not belly-dances, though
there are plenty of bellies to be seen. Turkish dance music is like
eastern flavored high-tech disco and it draws the Turks, Greeks,
Syrians, Cypriots, Persians, Palestinians and Israelis from as far
away as Raleigh. Tellulah's is at 456 West Franklin St. in Chapel
Hill across from the Lantern Restaurant and the Courtyard. Their
number is 919 942-1533
The Lantern:
Asian.
As of this writing this is probably the most popular restaurant
in Chapel Hill and so we don't go very often because except on weeknights
it is hard to get a table. They serve Asian food which does not
mean Chinese. It means anything from that part of the world though
they add a contemporary gourmet twist. I assume. For all I know
everyone in Asia may eat Crispy duck soup with fresh egg noodles, oyster mushrooms and scallions
every night or each Asian family sits down for an appetiser of Sake and tea-cured salmon bento box with house pickled red cabbage and
ginger, wasabi, miso-mayonnaise, sticky rice and nori. But I doubt it. So if
you are looking for Chinese food go to Hunan or Jade Palace. If
you are looking for something special and gourmet, based on Asian
food (which is a pretty vast catagory) then come here. Terrific
bar in the back and you can eat there though on weekends it is so
packed it is like eating a meal on the NYC subway. Come weekdays.
Andrea Reusing and her brother Brendan Reusing are the chef-owners of Lantern
and their goal is to present simple,
authentic Asian food with the freshest available Ingredients. It is at 423 West Franklin
street across from Telluhlah's and next to the Courtyard. 919-969-8846
Margaret's Cantina: Mexican: If only Margaret's was closer to Chapel Hill I would spend a lot more time there. Great family atmosphere without being too family like southern fish restaurants that don't serve anything stronger than ice-tea. Mexican Food with a twist it began on Franklin Street then split into two businesses with Local 506 becoming a live music club and the restaurant moving out to Timberline Shopping Center. Margaret's his pretty hip and so it is packed with locals on weekends and you can pretty much expect to stand in line unless you get there early or late. If you don't feel like waiting go to Oishii Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar. Yes I know that when you are going out for Mexican food you may not be in the mood for Sushi but Oishii is friendly and has an endless menu and at least you have not wasted a trip to Timberline if you find a new restaurant to eat at. (This is how we found it)
Weaver Street Market: Who cares if the hot food is a step up from the prison cafeteria and changes almost as often as the seasons. On a spring or fall night there is no better place to eat than outside on the picnic benches on the lawn at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. The food though unimaginative is decent and you have an entire supermarket and deli to choose from so you are not restricted by a menu. Go inside and buy a bottle of wine or some imported beer, some cheeses, pates, chips, salsa, sushi, or get something from the salad bar (while someone guards your table) and pay very little for a nice meal. You can even see some of your neighbors on shopping trips and invite them to join you. If you are a social person then Weaver Street is the best choice for dinner. But they really gotta work on their menu. They need a serious chef and they need to pay him to stick around. All they need to do to improve the deli is to send a spy to Whole Foods and watch what they do. On Thursday nights in the summer they have live music on the lawn and it is a gathering place for the whole community with some kind of dinner being grilled by an organization of some sort, while there is a wine and beer tasting. The problem is that these Thursday nights stop just as the weather gets nice in mid-September. There is no reason they can't continue all the way to Thanksgiving and start again in April. But even if they don't we can still come there on Thursday nights to eat and drink. They also do the same thing with Jazz on Sunday.
The complaint on my newest hang-out in Carrboro, Glass Half Full is that the servings are small. But so are the prices. Thats because Glass half Full is what you might describe as a casual upscale tapas wine bar but I would describe as the closest thing to aa ouzerie-mezedopoleon that I have found in North Carolina. In case you are wondering what exactly is an ouzerie-mezedopoleon its a place that serves small plates that go with ouzo, the national drink of Greece. Its the way I like to eat, a little at a time and wash it down with wine (or ouzo when you can get the good stuff which they don't carry in North carolina-yet) The food is great no matter what you order and if you are worried that its not enough then order two. That being said it would not hurt to have some more substantial dishes on the menu and charging more since as we all know but are ashamed to admit, we Americans are glutans which is why the crappiest all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant has a longer lifespan than a restaurant that serves quality food and wine. If Glass Half Full were mine I would double the number of existing plates (adding some truly Greek meze dishes) and add another dozen hearty filling dishes. Its a beautiful restaurant and a great place to hang out and if you like to eat, drink and converse but don't want to get fat then this is a good place to come. Lots of wine choices by the bottle, glass or taste. Beer and hardstuff too and maybe if we can get the ABC to carry some decent ouzo this will be where all the Greeks can come and hang out and feel sort-of at home. Its a couple doors down from Wendy's and across the street from Open Eye Cafe on South Greensboro Street in Carrboro. Its got the best bar in Carrboro.
Akai Hana: Japanese. In a town like Carrboro where you can get Sushi at
Weaver Street Market or Harris-Teeter Supermarket for half of what
it costs in a restaurant why go to a Sushi restaurant? Because sometimes
you want to sit at the bar and watch the food being prepared and
enjoy the atmosphere, rather than go home with your little plastic
container with fake grass and tubes of soy sauce and chop-sticks
that splinter in your mouth. Plus there is a lot more than Sushi
and atmosphere at Akai Hana. There is a reason you can't get tempura
at a supermarket. Because it would be disgusting if they cooked
it up in the morning and stuck it on the counter all day with the
raw fish and rice. Tempura is one reason to go to Akai Hana. Also
their fresh sashimi-grade salmon grilled and served with teriyaki sauce and steamed
vegetables, or their noodle soups or their hot sake. If you are going to a show
at the Cat's Cradle this is a good place to go for dinner because
you won't have that bloated feeling you have after a Mexican or
large American meal that makes you want to just go home and watch
TV and go to sleep. A nice Japanese meal and you are ready to party
all night. The sad thing is that I don't see Josh's friendly face
anymore or hear him playing the piano, having moved on to wherever
it is that we all go eventually. But for me Josh still lives at
Akai Hana. It's at 206 W. Main St., Carrboro right
at the intersection of Jones Ferry Rd. 919-942-6848. Another good
choice for Sushi is Tsunami on Highway 54 outside of Chapel
Hill right before you hit the entrance to I-40.
Captain John's Dockside:
Seafood.
This converted steak-house in Chatham County is often overlooked
by the kalofages and epicurians of Chapel Hill. In fact if you walked
in and saw the dining area that looks like a college cafeteria on
acid you might be a little confused. But here is the story: Captain
John, who is not really a captain and whose name is Yannis, was
a partner in what was your typical fried seafood, hushpuppies, and
ice-tea, heart-attack producing North Carolina restaurant. He bought out the other partners
and began adding to the menu Greek and Italian specialties, broiled
fish, some new wines and then got his pal Clyde Jones, the Pittsboro
folk artist, to decorate the place. He transformed the restaurant
while at the same time he did not alienate his older customers who
could still come for their mountains of fried flounder, catfish,
shrimp, hushpuppies and fries. A couple times a week he has specials
like a monsterous plate of large fried shrimp or all you can eat
crab legs or baby-back ribs. I have to be honest and say I have
never been here on a weekend when for many Chatham County residence
going out for a fish dinner is as wild as it gets. But this is a
good place for a weekday meal with your family and it is inexpensive
too. It is on 15/501 between Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Pittsboro.
Panzanella:
Carrboro's Community-Owned Italian Eatery
at Carr Mill Mall
used to be our regular hangout but since Joe the Bartender left
we have not been going there much. The dinner menu is a little too
northern and not enough Italian for me but the lunch menu is good
as are the pizzas. They should serve the lunch menu for dinner.
The patio makes up for it and it is the best place to go on
a sunny day to have some pizza, panini, pasta, calzones, salad and
a couple bottles of wine with a friend, girlfriend or your mom and
then go back to work and get fired. This restaurant is still searching
for its identity but when they find it you won't be able to get
table (or a seat at the bar) on weekends. Even so, for Carrboro
people-watchers everyone in town eats here sooner or later. If you
sit at the bar it is guaranteed you will meet someone interesting
though you better talk fast because most people are only there for
as long as it takes to get a table. Panzanella prides itself on
using all natural ingredients including local organic vegetables,
free-range chickens, and hormone-free meat which for some people
is reason enough to eat there. The fact that the food
tastes good is an extra. I doubt you will need reservations
but just in case call 919-929-6626.
The Barbecue Joint is often overlooked because it is way out past Timberline in a little tiny shopping center on Weaver Dairy Road. Unless you live out there or play softball, or commute to Durham on the back roads you might not even know about it. But let me tell you, I will put The Barbecue Joint up against any barbecue joint in the state and my vegettarean wife will back me up because unlike most barbecue places which, let's face it, cater to rednecks or decadant southern writers, this one has a wde-ranging menu that features lots of vegetables, salads and fish as well as your favorite pit-cooked and smoked meats and the world's greatest french-fries. The rest of the menu is a great mix of French bistro, down home food, and New Orleans cookery in a very casual and fun atmosphere. The portions, lunch or dinner, are quite large and you will never run out of new things to try from their constantly expanding and changing menu. Chef and-owner Damon was the chef at the famous Henry's Bistro among other places. The The Barbecue Joint is at 630 Weaver Dairy Road, Cedar Falls Courtyard, Chapel Hill, (919) 932-7504. And as long as you are out there go next door to The Good Beer Store, with more good beers that you have never heard of than you will find anywhere.
Sandwhich is hidden away inside the courtyard and has the best choice of sandwiches in town, like Grilled Marinated Chicken with juicy grilled red onions, fire roasted red peppers, homemade pesto, and provolone on a ciabatta, or Grilled Gruyere, or a good old BLT. With beer and wine on the menu you can walk in, order your food and eat it at one of the tables they share in the courtyard with 3-Cups Coffee Shop. Lots of homemade desserts, salads, soups and lots of personality. Check it out for lunch or dinner. It is at 431 West Franklin in the courtyard. 929 2114
The Weather Vane: This restaurant serves a really good breakfast, brunch and lunch as well as an extensive dinner menu which is similar to Crooks and some of the other good restaurants in town without being redundant. You can take your parents here and be pretty sure of having a good meal in a nice atmosphere. Grilled Delmonico Ribeye Steak with sauteed mushrooms, green beans, and gnocchi in a buttery red wine sauce goes for about $18. Roast Half Duck perched atop dirty rice pilaf with a light creole mustard cream, Granny Smith apple golden raisin salad, and sauteed seasonal vegetables goes for $16. Lots of appetisers and salads and of course deserts and coffee. In fact being part of A Southern Season, which has to be the world's largest Gourmet Food store, they have a larger choice of wines, coffee, and beer than most places. The place to be though is the bar which is run by barman extraordinairre Mark Formatto who we all remember from the Pyewacket Restaurant. If you miss the Pyewacket you may have found yourself a new home. Even jazz-great Scott Sawyer is playing here. Drink and wine specials make this a good place to spend several hours in the same stool or chair. With FREE wine tastings every Monday-Thursday, 6pm-9pm in the wine department you can get a nice head start beforehand. Located at A Southern Season in University Mall. 919 929 9466.
The Skylight Exchange. This restaurant has almost a religious following which is pretty good considering that Dennis Gavin, the owner, started his business as a used books and record store, which it still is, and later turned it into a sandwich shop that looks like a luncheonette
in upstate NY (except for the thousands of books, records and CDs). If you are the type of person who doesn't like to order your food and wait patiently for it sipping your ice-tea then this is the place for you. You can browse through vintage albums, best and worst-selling books, CD's and even DVDs . The food is pretty good. Big sandwiches. If you like them sloppy and filling try the Turkey Rueben. At night it becomes the club Nightlite which has no cover. On Mon and Weds they have open-mike and on Tues they
have hip-hop, poetry open-mike. They even have a chess night. They are famous for their milkshakes but I have yet to try them. In fact I did not even know they were famous for them and I have been coming here once a week for about 20 years. The Skylight Exchange is at 405 and a half Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill right next to Fuse, across the street from Dips Country Kitchen.
Honorable Mention: Mamma Dips Kitchen is probably the most well known restaurant in town serving down home southern food from their new larger location on Rosemary Street. I have not been there in awhile nor have I been to Breadman's or Elmo's but these three are probably the
most popular family restaurants in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and to leave them out would make this page incomplete. All three have good food and in the case of Elmo's you have to wait on line to get a table on Sunday morning. Trilousa on Franklin Street next to the new Franklin Motel (where the bus station used to be) is a small Italian restaurant with about a dozen tables. The atmosphere is east-village Italian. The food can be great or not so great depending on the mood of the owner-chef.
I have been lucky and except for one time had great meals. But other people I know have not been. Still it is worth taking a chance on. Mediterranean Deli is owned by my old pal Jamel and though it is unlikely I would come here for dinner unless I just had to get out of the house and did not want to spend a lot of money but was really hungry. Great place for lunch with middle-eastern and Greek dishes, sandwiches, salads and a whole grocery store. It's on Franklin across from the Franklin Hotel.
Pepper's Pizza does not need any advertising help from me and if you are from Chapel Hill then you already know it. Rock and roll atmosphere with great pizza cooked by aspiring rock stars. Patio Loco has good Mexican food, atmosphere and lots of outside tables with a great view of Franklin Street and the McDonalds parking lot. Pretty lively on weekends. I have to include Elaine's and the only reason it is not up there with my faves is because every time I have gone it has been
packed. I managed to squeeze into the bar once and the food was great and I vowed to come back. But I haven't. I will though. And don't forget The Mill House in Carrboro where John Edwards had his farewell to the 2008 campaign party and incidentally has great food and an even better beer selection. My wife loves Lime and Basil and asked me to mention it too. It serves Vietnamese Food. You can also get a decent lunch at Fosters if you order their salad plate. They give you a choice of three salads. They also have
sandwiches and pizza.
Other North Carolina Food Pages:
NC Barbecue, NC Wines, Durham Restaurants, Raleigh Restaurants