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We all love the convenience of a fast food restaurant, but many people would prefer to have fresh, local, organic and sustainable ingredients in their food selection, including getting a sandwich. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have both? Well, that’s what the folks at Sandwhich in Chapel Hill thought too.
We recently got a Groupon for Sandwhich that gave us a great excuse to try this place out. I had heard some good things about it but never got [...]

When I first heard people talking about chicken and waffles I thought, “Hmm…that sounds like an interesting combination.” I also thought it must be a Southern phenomenon as most of the places I heard that were serving chicken and waffles were places in Georgia.
So when Dames Almost World Famous Chicken and Waffles opened in downtown Durham, I was delighted. I knew that I’d eventually try it out! Every time I’d come by, there was a huge long line to get [...]

Foodies in the Triangle region get really excited when Triangle Restaurant Week comes around. Triangle Restaurant Week is a week-long celebration of culinary excellence that features some of the top-flight restaurants in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill. Most of the restaurants will offer a three course meal for just $30 or some for $20. Considering that most of these restaurants would cost $60 or more for a three course meal, you better bet that we are going to attend [...]

I was very flattered to get a tweet from Kim @TriangleLocalista to meet me recently. If you are ever looking to find out where to shop, eat, or play, Triangle Localista is a great source to find out what’s happening in the Triangle area. Kim is very enthusiastic about our region, so it was really nice to meet someone who cares about this region as much as I do!
We decided to meet at the Page Road Grill, a new restaurant [...]

I have tried to go to Tracy’s Deli in Chapel Hill for about a year, but every time I got to the location, it was closed. If you work outside of the Chapel Hill area, it is hard to get to this place when it’s open. The only time you could possibly eat here is on a Saturday morning. Tracy’s Deli was open for a time for dinner, and I tried to come at that time too, but it was [...]

Our old neighbors were traveling through town, so we decided to try the new Pittsboro Roadhouse and General Store. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, one of our old favorite local restaurants was re-emerging to hopefully be a new favorite place to hang out. I think we left with mixed reviews and need to go again to really determine if it will be a regular hang out for us or not.
The new decor is really nice. I love [...]

When you first enter Milltown in Carrboro, you pick up the alternative vibe. The beer-brand logos on the walls, old booths and laminate tables remind you that you are next to a college campus. This place is a beer lover’s paradise.
The folks at Milltown opened across the street from Cat’s Cradle and the Carrboro Arts Center hoping to get a crowd before and after performances, which is a very good strategy. Milltown opened about seven years ago and has quickly [...]

We went out with friends the other night in Carrboro and decided to try Glasshalfull, a small plate restaurant and wine bar. The weather was so nice we opted to sit outside, which was quite pleasant.
We started with a beet hummus, which was something I could eat daily. The hummus was nice and light and had a pretty pink hue from the beets. The beets did not overwhelm the taste of the hummus. It was served with yucca chips which [...]

I have eaten at Watts Grocery several times for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it each time I have eaten there. The restaurant features ingredients from local farms, and typically uses items that are in season. Chef Amy Tournquist grew up in Durham and has been very committed to making this an icon in the restaurant scene and she has certainly succeeded in fulfilling her vision. But I had never been to Watts Grocery for brunch until a few weeks ago [...]

Neal’s Deli and Sandwich shop in Carrboro has its own special uniqueness to it. This small, funky little deli is reminiscent of  the delis of New York and is also a hippie hang out. It’s not a typical Jewish deli, but has many sandwiches that you would find in a Jewish deli, such as corned beef, Reuben and pastrami sandwiches.
I had read a lot about Neal’s Deli as this place became so famous it’s been featured more than once in [...]

 
One of my favorite RTP-area lunch places is Cafe Meridian, located off of Highway 55 near Meridian Parkway. This place has a variety of hot and cold dishes, some with a Mediterranean flair. The place was originally called Doce and was owned by George Bakatsias, but he sold it a few years ago to Rich and Gina Kazazian. It was a good move. The Kazazians take pride in their restaurant and consistently produce fresh,  high quality foods.
The menu has some [...]

A group of friends wanted to celebrate our friend’s upcoming wedding, so we decided to go to the Oakleaf Restaurant, located in Chatham Mills in Pittsboro, North Carolina. The Oakleaf recently opened in this old textile mill, and touts itself as an upscale farm-to-table restaurant. The menu changes frequently, depending on what is available at the farmer’s market. Many of the ingredients, in fact, are purchased at the Chatham Mill Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings, which is just outside the [...]

 
Both my sister, Nancy, and I are huge fans of “Top Chef” and “Top Chef Masters” on Bravo. Watching these creative chefs gets us excited about food and its endless possibilities. We both became big fans of Hugh Acheson, executive chef of several restaurants in Athens, including the 5&10. So, when my niece, Alexandra, was graduating from the University of Georgia, my sister immediately got on the phone to make a reservation at the 5&10 for her graduation dinner.
We were [...]

With the weather being so warm lately, I have been thinking about wanting to eat outside and I always loved to go to A Gracious Plenty on Cornwallis Road and Alston Avenue because they have a really nice patio section. I had noticed recently that the sign had been changed and was no longer called A Gracious Plenty anymore, so when my friend and financial consultant, Kent Thompson, asked me to go to lunch with him, we decided to eat [...]

The Triangle Foodie Tweetup met on April 25 at The Roost in Fearrington. It was threatening to rain earlier in the day, but ended up being a beautiful evening. Many fellow food and restaurant bloggers were at the event.
I was very excited to see Executive Chef Colin Bedford was outside manning the grill. The theme of the night was hotdogs and sliders, but, as you can imagine, these were served with special toppings. They also served fries that also had [...]

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 [...]

I’m not usually a big fan of sandwiches, but some places make them so well that they are a pleasure to eat. Toast, a little sandwich restaurant in downtown Durham, is one of these places. Toast opened up about three years ago and calls itself a Pannioteca (Italian sandwich shop).
Toast uses a farm to fork concept and buys ingredients that are in season and are local and pares these ingredients with meats and cheeses that they buy from Italy. The [...]

Driving to the quaint village of Saxapahaw can be a fun endeavor by itself. The rolling pasture land is beautiful and yet, you are a mere 15 minutes from Chapel Hill. In recent years, Saxapahaw has had a bit of a renaissance after the old cotton mill was renovated. One of the many establishments that is in the building is the Saxapahaw General Store.  Actually, the General Store had been operating as a gas station convenience store for many years, [...]

There’s a cozy new restaurant that has opened in downtown Pittsboro. The Small B&B Cafe is part of the Small Bed and Breakfast, on the corner of Small Street and East Street (also known as Business Highway 64). Owners Lisa Piper and Dave Clark recently moved to our little slice of heaven from Minneapolis, Minnesota where they used to run a coffee shop and cafe.
Lisa and Dave are continuing their tradition of serving seasonal, local and organic food in a [...]

Last night I ventured out again to meet fellow foodies at the G2B Gastropub in Durham. Andrea Weigl, food writer for the News & Observer, and Johanna Kramer, better known as @Durhamfoodie, hosted the Winter Triangle Foodie Tweetup event. I had never been to G2B before, so I was excited to try their food and also to meet a bunch of new people (even though I feel like I know some of them from reading their Twitter feeds and blogs [...]