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The Best Restaurants and Bars in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill and the 919

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Raleigh Restaurant Reviews on NC Triangle Dining

February 2, 2021 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

Photos: Sam Jones BBQ Arrives in Raleigh

Front of Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Front of Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

If you’ve spent any time in North Carolina, you quickly learn about the area’s passion for barbeque! And whether you’re a fan of Eastern NC barbeque or Western NC barbeque, you’ll have legendary que shacks that you just have to try and check out. Skylight Inn is one of those barbeque classics and third generation pitmaster Sam Jones is part of that barbeque legacy. With his original restaurant in Winterville and now his newest location in Raleigh, you don’t have to travel very far to try out his top-notch whole-hog barbeque that’s smoked over oak. Located a couple of blocks away from the Red Hat Amphitheater, you’ll find his delicious smoked meats and Southern sides just a stone’s throw away from the downtown action. My first take-out meal was great and I’m looking forward to trying more off their menu. While it’s still early, I suspect they will get even better once they get settled in and that dining room will be packed with diners later this year. Here’s a quick photo preview of what to expect order online or give them a ring for a take-out order!

January 2021 menu of Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
January 2021 menu of Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Dining counter at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Dining counter at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
2nd floor private room at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
2nd floor private room at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Barbeque, smoked chicken and sides at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Barbeque, smoked chicken and sides at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Pork ribs at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Pork ribs at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Side patio at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Side patio at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Smokehouse at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Smokehouse at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

 

Sam Jones BBQ

502 W. Lenoir Street

Raleigh, NC 27601

984.206.2555

 

Location on Google maps

Filed Under: Photo Album, Raleigh Tagged With: NC Barbeque, Southern Restaurants

December 26, 2020 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh, a Haven for Coffee and Cats

Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

If you’re a fan of four-legged felines, you now have another option to get your scritches on: Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh! As far as I know, they are the second cat cafe we have in the Triangle in addition to the ground-breaking Cat Tales Cat Cafe in Chapel Hill. Located in a small house off of S. Wilmington Road, just south of downtown Raleigh, you can schedule some time in their cat room along with enjoying some hot coffee beverages and vegan snacks. They’ve also got a small patio out back to sip on your bevvy and enjoy some fresh air. I got in for a visit when they first opened in October and I’m happy to say they are already up to kitteh adoption #28 in late December! They are some good people doing some great work for our furry friends. Stop on in if you need a dose of kitty love, coffee or cat-themed items…

Coffee counter at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Coffee counter at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Interior of Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Interior of Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Cat room at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Cat room at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Cat room at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Cat room at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Chill cat at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Chill cat at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Black kitty at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Black kitty at Purr Cup Cafe in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
https://www.nctriangledining.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PurrCupCafe-VideoVisit.mp4

 

Purr Cup Cafe

210 Prospect Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27603

919.322.4003

Location on Google maps

Filed Under: Raleigh, Restaurant & Bar Reviews Tagged With: Coffee-Tea

September 6, 2020 by Ron Wen 2 Comments

Photos: The New Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille in Raleigh!

Front of Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Front of Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

When it comes to steakhouses, I’m a fan if you’re up for spending a bit more for a deluxe experience and special evening. The newest steakhouse entry in the Triangle is Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille! Based out of Texas, Raleigh is their first location in North Carolina. It’s a modern steakhouse experience with plenty of panache and style. The design is modern and open, similar to the Oak in Raleigh. The menu spans steakhouse favorites but one special item that Perry’s is known for is its famous pork chop! A smokey, succulent bone on tenderloin that offers a lot of deliciousness in one plate. I’ve only been able to stop by once and will add to this post when there is more information to share!

Hostess desk at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Hostess desk at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Main dining room at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Main dining room at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Wine room at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Wine room at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Bar at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Bar at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Bar at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Bar lounge at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Famous pork chop at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Famous pork chop at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Patio at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Patio at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille

4509 Creedmoor Road

Raleigh, NC 27612

919.827.4158

 

Location on Google maps

Filed Under: Featured, Photo Album, Raleigh Tagged With: Steakhouse

March 31, 2020 by Ron Wen Leave a Comment

The New Weaver Street Market in Raleigh, a Destination for High Quality Groceries and Food

Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Front of Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Into each life, some rain must pour and if you’re like me, figuring out how to manage sheltering at home from Covid-19 is readily at hand. One food and grocery option that may have slipped your radar screen is the newish Weaver Street Market in Raleigh! While I’ll always love my Teeters and Wegman’s, Weaver Street Market is a community owned supermarket that specializes in high-quality foods and is particularly vegetarian and vegan friendly. The market is legendary in Carrboro but its latest location (open in September 2019) at the Dillon Building in Raleigh may be a bit less known.

Produce section at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Produce section at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Interior of Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Interior of Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Located in the Dillon building on Hargett Street, Weaver Street Market has a premium corner spot with sidewalk and patio (2nd floor) seating. Inside you’ll find a great, organic produce market, butcher shop, frozen foods, bakery, wine shop, sandwich-pizza bar, hot bar and more! It’s like a cool, local Whole Foods complete with beer bar, community events and more. Prices seem right in line for what they’re offering and in more normal times, the Weaver Street Market is a great spot to just hang out and meet up with people. Weaver Street Market is also a co-op which is pretty rare for this area. You can become a community owner for $75/year which gives you access to coupons, invites to special events and a chance to vote in their elections or run for their board and influence the future of Weaver Street Market.

Wine area at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Wine area at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

So if you’re going to do some grocery shopping and live in downtown Raleigh, Weaver Street Market is a great option for organic and healthy food. They validate 1 hour of parking at the Dillon Building if your purchase $10 or more and will soon be offering curb-side pick-up. Check out their Facebook page to get the latest news, bon appetit!

Hot bar at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Hot bar at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

2nd floor dining area at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com

2nd floor dining area at Weaver Street Market in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Weaver Street Market

404 W Hargett Street

Raleigh, NC 27603

919.429.7800

Location on Google maps

Filed Under: Food, Raleigh Tagged With: Groceries

February 28, 2020 by Ron Wen

Wegmans in Raleigh, A Culinary Delight for Groceries and Convenient Eats

Front of Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Front of Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

I don’t know about you but I’ve been hearing about Wegmans for years! Relatives up north would regale me with stories about this mythical food emporium serving up amazing, restaurant-quality eats and gourmet groceries. Some fast facts about Wegmans Raleigh but it’s about 105,000 square feet and average in size for the chain. It’s the first Wegmans store in North Carolina and the 100th store in the chain, woohoo! Wegmans plans on opening up 6 stores in the Triangle ranging from W. Cary, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest and beyond. Along with Wegmans, there will be other additional restaurants coming to the Midtown East plaza, including BB Chicken, a fast casual chicken restaurant from Chef Ashley Christensen.

Lower level parking at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Lower level parking at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Upper level parking at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Upper level parking at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

So what to expect if you come here for a shopping excursion? Well to start, you’ve got two options for parking, an underground deck and an above-ground surface deck. For the underground deck, take a right into the village (Mercantile Drive) in front of Wegmans and you’ll be able to sneak into the lower deck and take an escalator-stairs to the surface. Take a right (onto Wake Towne Drive) along the main entrance by Trader Joe’s and you’ll be able to take another right into the main lot right in front of Wegmans. Overall there’s plenty of parking space and likely the lower level will be a lot easier!

Produce area at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Produce area at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Head on inside and you’ll find that Wegmans is a mix of gourmet food shop, groceries and wine store (See layout map above). Up front you’ll find the produce, bread shop, meat shop, seafood and delicatessen. To the immediate right is the grocery section (frozen, boxes, canned). To the far right the wine and beer area and to the far left, the coffee shop, prepared foods and dining area. Well if you follow the layout of most supermarkets, you’re likely to start with produce and Wegmans does a great job here offering up really great fruits, veggies and more. While the prices are a bit higher, they do have a great amount of variety to choose from.

Bakery area at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Bakery area at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Cake and pastry area at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Cake and pastry area at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

After produce, I’d head over to the baked pastries and bread area which are across from each other. From there, head on over to seafood, meats, over to the cheese area in back (which is phenomenal) and then to the deli in back. Wegmans offers up $5 rotisserie chickens, aged beef and an olive bar as some points of interest. And again, while prices aren’t cheap, the selection and quality is excellent with a lot of high-end foodstuffs that are hard to find elsewhere. In addition to the full-serve counter areas, Wegmans offers up a lot of it’s food options pre-packaged so you can grab and go ranging from pizzas, marinated meats to meal kits.

Butcher shop at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Butcher shop at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Cheese shop at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Cheese shop at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Delicatessen at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Delicatessen at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

So given how great their fresh produce, meats and seafood are, as you head over to the grocery area it’s a bit of a let-down! Wegmans grocey area is smaller than most stores and relies heavily on their in-house brand which is excellent quality. My cat LOVES the Wegmans Nature cat food if that’s a vote of confidence! One fun area is the bulk goods area where you’ll find a plethora of nuts, candies and snacks on full display and all self-serve. And then finally you hit the beer and wine area which is nearly a store in itself. I have yet to really check out this area but will report back when I do.

Bulk foods area at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Bulk foods area at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Retail wine at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Retail wine at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Now before or after you’re done shopping, you may want to check out Wegmans prepared food areas. First, there’s the hot and cold bars with about 100 items to choose from that will change seasonally beyond some regular favorites. You can purchase your food by the pound here for eating at home. The choices range from classic American eats to Asian along with a healthier salad bar area where you can mix and match your proteins.

Prepared foods bar at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Prepared foods bar at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Sushi at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Sushi at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

After the hot and cold bars, you can grab dinner from either the sushi area, sandwich area, pizza area, salad area or burger bar. All the food here is cooked to order for either take-home or for in-house dining in Wegmans dining room. The burger bar also offers beer, wine and cocktails if you need an adult bevvy with your meal. Wegmans does a great sandwich-sub at $6.50 for the medium chicken tender parm or meatball parm. Like most sandwich shops, you can choose your bread, cheeses, vegetables and condiments as desired.

Chicken parm sandwich at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Chicken parm sandwich at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Meatball parm sandwich at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Meatball parm sandwich at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
American Classic burger at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
American Classic burger at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

And the Burger Bar offers some classic grill eats along with frozen custard and shakes. The American Classic burger with American cheese, mustard, ketchup and pickles is essentially a high-quality knock-off of a McDonald’s burger so you may find it familiar. And the pizzas here are cooked in a wood-fired oven but do not have the complexity of a real Neapolitan pie but offer similar dough. You can pay for your food at the normal cash registers but if you want to eat at Wegmans, there’s a second set of registers near a casual dining room where you can tuck away into your meal.

Pizza area at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Pizza area at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Dining area registers at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Dining area registers at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com
Dining area at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Dining area at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

So what can I say?! While Wegmans is not perfect, it flirts the line between gourmet food shop, grocery store and food court pretty well. Pick and choose to get the best deals, I recommend downloading the Wegmans app to make things easier. And while the food court area is pretty average, it’s also pretty cost-effective and offers you some decent variety compared to say, Costco’s food court. And after a long day of shopping at Wegmans, that may be all you really need!.

Cash registers at Wegmans in Raleigh - nctriangledining.com
Cash registers at Wegmans in Raleigh – nctriangledining.com

Here are some passionate Wegman’s articles and I recommend you sign up for their Shoppers Club for digital coupons and more!

  • 25 things to buy at Wegmans — and 15 items you’re better off skipping
  • Business Insider – We visited the regional grocery chain that beat out Amazon and Costco to become the most beloved brand in America
  • BuzzFeed – 25 Reasons Wegmans Is The Greatest Supermarket The World Will Ever Know
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Wegmans

1200 Wake Towne Drive

Raleigh, NC 27609

984.233.8186

 

Location on Google maps

Filed Under: Overviews, Raleigh, Restaurant & Bar Reviews Tagged With: Groceries

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