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Stepping into Klara’s Restaurant on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, just across the street from North Carolina State University, I felt like I was coming home to Cleveland, Ohio. When I was growing up, one of the many groups of immigrants who had settled in the Cleveland area were Eastern Europeans and I grew very fond of the food they eat. So, it was a treat when my friend, Steve, said “Let’s go to Klaras,” for one of the last meals [...]

I once spent a summer in Colombia, South America, when I was growing up and one of the things I loved was that we would have arepas at each of our meals. Arepas are corn meal-based rolls or fried bread (depending on how they are made), that are a constant presence for Colombians and Venezuelans. I have always been on the look out to have a good arepa since then and on occasion there have been places in the Triangle [...]

Vegans and vegetarians (and even many of us meat lovers) are cheering because Raleigh has a new all vegan and vegetarian restaurant in town! Fiction Kitchen on Dawson Street started first as a pop up restaurant at Pinhook in Durham. Executive Chef and co-owner Caroline Morrison, after getting her culinary degree from Wake Tech, worked as a line cook at many of the Triangle area restaurants, creating all kinds of unique and flavorful vegan and vegetarian dishes.
She and Siobhan Summer [...]

If you haven’t already noticed the Triangle region is becoming a real Mecca for local breweries. Just this week, Fortnight Brewing Company announced it is fully funded and will be purchasing property somewhere in Cary. Fortnight’s beer will focus on making English beers.
Also this week, Crank Arm Brewing Company announced it will be locating in downtown Raleigh in the Warehouse District at 319 West Davie Street. Business partners Adam Eckhardt, Michael Morris and Dylan Selinger plan to feature two flagship [...]

Recently, it was our wedding anniversary, but someone forgot all about it. Yes, my husband was in the dog house and he knew it. In his defense, we were both super busy that week getting ready to travel out of town for a week and even I almost forgot about it. He sure made up for it though.  I’m happy to report, my husband is out of the dog house because he picked Babylon, a Moroccan restaurant in downtown [...]

One of our old favorite places to eat is Dalat’s Oriental Restaurant, a Vietnamese restaurant in Raleigh. I say old place, because we used to frequent this place much more often when we lived in Cary ten years ago. Now that we live in Chatham County, we don’t have a reason to go to Raleigh as often as we used to. Dalat’s is located in the Mission Valley Shopping Center, very near North Carolina State University.
The inside is nothing to [...]

Many students and faculty at North Carolina State University like to go to Nur Grocery and Deli, located in a strip mall on the corner of Avent Ferry Road and Western Boulevard. Mohamed Abdel-Hady, the owner of Nur Grocery and Deli, started this establishment in 1980 and has served inexpensive  Middle Eastern food there ever since, though it was originally located on Hillsborough Street. I vaguely remember it at the old spot. Anyone else lived here long enough to remember [...]

I was spending the day at NC State recently and decided to try one of the restaurants on Hillsborough Street. Just past the round-a-bout on the corner of Hillsborough and Oberlin Road is David’s Dumpling and Noodle Bar. Previously, this was the home of Red Hot and Blue, and later, Darryl’s.
When you walk in, the building has an Asian flair, the walls are simply decorated, mainly showing off the old brick walls, with murals of David Mao, the chef/owner and [...]

Most days when I’m at work, I’m too busy to think about getting in the car and traveling somewhere to eat lunch. I usually try to make lunches ahead of time, but there are days I just don’t feel like cooking either. These days there’s a solution to this problem and it’s called Lunchbox N’ More. Thao Beck, formerly one of the partners of the Mom’s Delicious Dishes food truck, has started a new business.
Each week Thao emails her menu [...]

My sister and brother-in-law wanted to get together the other night, so we decided to meet at Boylan Bridge Brewpub in Raleigh. They had taken a tour of the brewery a couple of weeks ago and were very impressed with their beer.
Boylan Bridge Brewpub is located in downtown, and has a really nice outdoor deck with a great view of the city. However the night we were there it was pretty cold, so we decided to eat inside. The menu [...]

Some restaurants in the Triangle region have become famous from being featured on shows like “Man Versus Food” and “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” and written about in magazines such as “Southern Living,” “Bon Appetit” and Zagat. The Pit is certainly one of those restaurants. Even though I have lived in the Triangle region since 1994, I had never had the opportunity to go to the Pit until my friend, Steve, said he had a coupon to use and he had [...]

Entering Hayashi-Ya is like you are coming to a place in Japan. In fact, their website says that the owner decorated the place to look like a little Japanese village. The wait staff may greet you by saying”“I-ra-sai-ma-se!” which means “welcome” as you come in the front door. Hayashi-Ya is located in the old Chicago Uno building in Brier Creek (North Raleigh). It is owned by Chang Park, who used to own the Hayashi restaurant in Wake Forest. He sold [...]