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With summertime activities here, we offer some places worth stopping at. They can be the destination of a summer road trip, or a respite on your drive to elsewhere. Call ahead; hours shift and summer closings do happen.
1. Poole's Downtown Diner in Raleigh. Chef Ashley Christensen reimagined this classic diner as a fresh-from-the-market, chalkboard-menu-only spot and has, in the year and a half since, garnered kudos locally and nationally (in Gourmet, for example).
It still has a diner look – stamped-metal ceiling, red booths, banquette – but the food is decidedly more vibrant, from a slab of housemade butter to mussels with Dijon and white wine to braised short rib with spinach-ricotta dumplings. Roasted chicken excelled, as you'd hope, and even a simple salad of romaine featured the brightest, tightest-focused vinaigrette I've had lately.
The staff knows its stuff, a good thing since the menu is posted only on wall chalkboards: a cool idea that grows chilly when the nearsighted among us must get up for the fourth time to double=check the sides. It's not cheap (dinner Wednesday-Saturday and weekend brunch only; nighttime a la carte entrees run in the teens), but for a full-flavored stop, it's well worth it.
426 S. McDowell St., Raleigh; 919-832-4477.
2. Chef & the Farmer in Kinston. I haven't yet been here and it's the farthest on this list, but chef Vivian Howard is an Eastern N.C. native who's spent time with culinary stars Wylie Dufresne and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, so she's a good bet – and the place is a repurposed mule barn, so how far wrong could we possibly go?
The Raleigh News & Observer's Greg Cox calls it “a worthy destination in its own right” and notes that the weekly-changing menu leans heavily on organic and sustainably raised ingredients, such as crawfish-garnished green garlic soup; smoked mozzarella fondue poured around fried oysters; pan-seared vermilion snapper over spring peas; and braised beef cheek lasagna.
120 W Gordon St., Kinston; 252-208-2433.
3. Keaton's near Statesville. Fried chicken dipped in barbecue sauce. Surely no one needs more explanation than that.
Cool Springs/Woodleaf Road, Statesville; 704-278-1619.
4. Kahill's in La Crosse, Virginia. It's on Mecklenburg Avenue (1791 N., to be precise), in a fairly dreary stretch of driving northeast, and offers a menu ranging from fresh fish to filets to burgers.
434-447-6941.
5. Beef Burger in Greensboro. Once part of the much-vaunted chain called Biff Burger, this is a decades-old classic.
1040 W. Lee St., Greensboro; 336-272-7505.
6. The Sundae Shop in Midland. Carolina-style burgers and shakes are the specialty – besides sundaes, that is.
4400 Highway 24-27 East; Midland; 704-888-4200.
7. Sweatman's in Holly Hill. Barbecue as it was meant to be, and hash that defies understanding.
Only open Friday-Saturday and no phone, but you can Google directions; Route 453 North in Holly Hill, S.C.
8. Tony's in Gastonia. Milkshakes and dogs served fast.
604 E. Franklin Blvd.; 704-853-0018.
9. 12 Bones in Asheville is where President Obama stopped while campaigning, and its blueberry ribs have won acclaim from slightly less famous folk as well (sorry, “Good Morning America”).
5 Riverside Drive, Asheville; 828-253-4499.
10. Farmers' markets are a good bet, because you're getting local, fresh foodstuffs. (If you, like WFAE's “Charlotte Talks” host Mike Collins – who recently had a show discussing these very places – worry about cleaning the produce, throw a spray bottle of fruit and vegetable wash in your car. And plenty of napkins.) A few worth noting: P.R. Moore in Biscoe, McLeod's near McBee and Pee Dee Farms near Florence.
