North Carolina Index
Favorite Chapel Hill-Carrboro Restaurants
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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 to (like at the Glass Half Full, Crooks, 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 and Saturday nights my daughter goes out partying and Andrea and I have the evening 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. |
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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(below). 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 an 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.
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Oishi: Imagine a sushi-master who looks like a Korean Elvis who takes the art of sushi-making to a whole new level. making food so beautiful you want to photograph it before you devour it. If there is a better sushi dude than CJ, I have yet to meet him. Sit at the bar and watch a master and you may be rewarded with a free appetisor, perhaps something that you would not have thought of ordering but will ask about next time you come in. His volcano-roll looks like no sushi dish you have ever seen. It looks like a volcano, and tastes even better. But sushi is only some of what they do here. The menu is extensive and there will probably be twenty or more things that you will want to try so plan to come back. I have been to sushi restaurants everywhere I have visited and lived and this is the best. It is located in Timberline shopping center right next to Queen of Sheeba Ethiopian restaurant which is also great if you decide you are not in the mood for Sushi as sometimes happens. |
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Sandwhich is no longer hidden away inside the courtyard. It has a new home on Franklin street right next to McDonalds 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. 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.
Where else can you get some good exercise, have fun, enjoy tasty morsels, learn first-hand about unique restaurants & insights about the downtown areas of Raleigh and Chapel Hill / Carrboro? TriangleFood Tour – Offers two Walking Food Tours in Downtown Raleigh & Chapel Hill / Carrboro. Guided food tasting tour with historical tidbits and unique insights are scheduled on Saturdays at 2:30pm, $28 + svc chg. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Tours typically fill up a week ahead. See www.trianglefoodtour.com for additional information, available dates and tickets. Other North Carolina Food Pages:
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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 
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 Anna 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 tacos, and the crab dip. 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 
A few years ago my friend Demir opened a Turkish restaurant called Talulla's which for a year or so became one of your regular hangouts. Then he sold the restaurant and as often happens when you have a friend and he sells his restaurant, you stop going there. Maybe the quality of the food goes down, maybe the service gets bad, maybe the whole thing just goes to hell and it hangs on for a couple years and then quietly disappears like everyone's favorite Mexican restaurant. Well, we would not have known because we never went back to Talulla's so whether it took a quality tumble or not I could not tell you. But a few months ago we went to Istanbul and then a couple weeks ago I had a craving for Turkish food so we went there. And then we went again. We started with the same appetisers we liked so much in Turkey. The Patlican Ezmesi, smoked eggplant puree with yogurt and tahini topped with chopped walnuts, Acili Azme, spread made of spicy red peppers, tomatoes, green peppers, walnuts and olive oil and the Kusbasili Pide, grilled lamb cuts mixed with tomatoes, onions and green peppers on what could be described as a boat-shaped pizza. We were surpised that he had Efe Raki, instead of the Yeni Raki which most places sell in Turkey and the USA. The difference is that Efe is pure distilled raki from grapes with nothing added, so if you want to call it 'healthy' go ahead. The last night we were there Andrea got the whole grilled fish, I think it was lavrak which in Greece we know as lavraki which they said was shipped from New York and before that from who knows where? Wherever it was from it was delicious. There are not many places to get a whole fish, simply grilled and seasoned Turkish-Greek style with olive oil and lemon, so go for it. The only thing they did not have which I had a craving for was midya dolmase (stuffed mussels) which you can find on every corner in Istanbul but unfortunately not here, though the owner said he might try to do it for a special. Well, it does not really matter because as my friend Cem told me in Istanbul, "they tell the tourists not to eat the mussels they sell on the streets. But I say you should ONLY eat the mussels they sell on the streets because those are the best." Talullas is at 456 W. Franklin Street and the phone number is (919) 933-1177. 
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.
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.
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 authentic Chinese food go Gourmet Kingdom(below). 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
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 
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 
Panzanella:
Gourmet Kingdom: Its one thing to find a Chinese restaurant in NYC where all the clientele are Chinese and feel that you are eating somewhere authentic. But when that happens in Carrboro NC it must be really special. There was an article in the New Yorker about this legendary Chinese chef who turns up at these hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the south and the foodies search for him and try to find where he is cooking before he moves on. Maybe he has found a new home at Gourmet Kingdom. I love the whole crispy fish in black bean sauce and the fish filets in szechuan sauce. In fact I had the leftovers for breakfast after spending the night thinking about it. The menu is mostly in Chinese. The clientele is mostly Chinese. The staff barely speak English. The food is mostly amazing. The sauteed green chile peppers are actually stuffed jalapenos and were too spicy for most of the people at our table but not for me. The pig's ears were about what you would expect pig's ears to be like. Worth trying just for the sake of water-cooler conversation but probably not a staple. The chinese greens and green beans make a healthy and delicious side dish. I have only been here three times (twice this week) but as I become more familiar with the restaurant I will add more favorite dishes. It is at 301 E Main Street in Carrboro right across from the Cat's Cradle.
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 Hotel (where the bus station used to be) is a small Italian restaurant with about a dozen tables. The atmosphere is east-village Italian and the food can be great. 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. 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 Milltown in Carrboro where John Edwards had his farewell to the 2008 campaign party and incidentally has great food and an even better beer selection. I spend a lot of time here and can recommend the mussels which change weekly and are always good, the chicken wings which are plump and juicy, and the nachos which may be the best in town. I have not seen John Edwards there lately though. If you have not gone to The Kitchen which is on Airport Road (Martin Luther King), between Flyleaf Books and Flying Burrito, then you are missing out. Nice little bar if you are solo and don't feel like looking pitiful at a table by yourself. But you may want to come with people so you can try everything, because everything we had was good. Sort of a French/Belgian menu, an upscale Milltown, though not pricey. 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. Oh yes, and for vegetarians be sure to check out Butternut Squash which is on the back side of the soon to be demolished University Square. For lunch in Carrboro you can't beat the sandwiches at Neil's Deli right between Open Eye Cafe and Tyler's Speakeasy.