North Carolina - what's it like?

[Enzora]

I don't know much about specific restaurants in Raleigh or Durham, but it is a pretty diverse area, so I'm sure there are ones around. I do know plenty of great places in Chapel Hill. Pizza places (college town-duh) Mexican, lots of diverse Asian places (Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian) a really good Ethiopian restaurant, and a solid mediterranean deli, aptly named Mediterranean Deli. I've never actually been to the most popular Italian place in Chapel Hill, 411 West, but I've heard good things.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

From an earlier thread:

Alas, I have compiled a list of my favorite local eateries here in Charlotte, some are mom 'n pops and some are small chains. (Asheville to come later )

1) Cabo Fish Taco. This is good place here in NoDa that has excellent food. It's always packed and It's not a lot of food IMO. But for lunch, it's great. You can find more at Cabo Fish Taco

2) The Penguin. Legendary hamburger joint that was featured on Diners, Dives & Drive Ins. It's cool, the food is good if you don't mind a little grease and the environment is neat. It's really my style. They have the BEST fried pickles in the world The Penguin

3) Fuel Pizza. The original Fuel Pizza is actually right beside the Penguin and hence right down the road from my house. It's called Fuel because it's in an old gas station. (Esso) It's very cool and the pizza is second only to Mellow Mushroom IMO. Fuel Pizza

4) Mellow Mushroom. I got spoiled on this one in Asheville, then when we moved to 'the hood' here we found one in Charlotte(!!!) Too bad it closed a few weeks later. The Shroom

5) Zada Janes. This place is right beside Fuel and The Penguin and it has some of the best pancakes I've ever eaten. If you want breakfast, this is the place. I've never had their dinner though, so I can't speak for it. Zada Janes

6) Ri Ras. This is an irish joint up town that has really good food and is 'pretty' reasonable. It's cool, but small. Ri Ra

7) Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery. (As mentioned before) Another up town place to get that uptown feeling. It can get a bit pricey, but the food is good. Rock Bottom

8] Macs Speed Shop. This place is a biker bar themed restaurant with REALLY southern food. (Therefore I fit right in) It has some of the best and freshest hush puppies I've ever eaten. Really cool place. Macs Speed Shop

9) Phat Burrito. This place is a 'hole in the wall' but it's clean and the food is excellent if you're in the mood for some mexican. The website isn't much, but voila: Phat Burrito

10) Punchy's Diner. This place is pretty good and it holds significance to me because it was one of Dale Earnhardts favorite dives. It has homemade banana pudding that is to die for. I would reccommend eating somewhere else (if you want fancy) and going here for desert. NO WEBSITE (Those of you that have watched "Dale" the documentary will see the owner, Punchy Whitaker interviewed in the extra footage. Earnhardt's first job was working for Punchy in his shop right next to his diner)

11) 304 Pontiac Pointe. The food wasn't that good when I ate there, but that was a holiday and the place was miserably packed. It's in Albermarle (45 min away -- on the way to our local drive in theatre) and was a Pontiac dealership beginning in the 30s. As a result it still has the authentic vertical Pontiac neon sign, with indian head, that's lit every night. NO WEBSITE

12) Showmars. Quick serve food, but the lamb gyro is frickin' amazing.

Showmars

13) Old Hickory House BBQ, founded in the 1950s and still family owned, it that smells amazing everyday and the food is equally as good. NO WEBSITE

14) Brooks. This is a VERY small place that is right beside our mill. It looks pretty sketch, but everyone that has lived here says it has the best burgers in town. Not to mention, EVERY morning it is packed with tons of trucks, police officers and people, so breakfast must be really good. NO WEBSITE

15) Landmark Diner. Here in Charlotte, if you're hungry and drunk at 4AM, greek is the way to go! At Landmark you can literally pay $7 and get enough food to feed a horse. And FWIW, it has some of the best 2 layer cheese cake I've ever eaten. NO WEBSITE.

16) Boudreaux's. Cajun cuisine and some of the best breakfast I've ever had! http://www.boudreauxs.com/

17) M5 Modern Mediterranean at South Park. EXCELLENT Mediterranean food, good wine list and an awesome atmosphere. M5

[InvictaMan]

For a great, greasy fix at drunken 4 AM there is nothing like the Knife and Fork. Been serving inebriates for decades. There is also a big Greek festival in Charlotte. Great food and lots of Greek folks! And the Brown Mountain lights are visible from my perch on Linville Gorge. Love to go there at 1 AM to spot them on moonless nights.

[trinacriabob]

Hey guys:

Thanks for all the tips. I had a great time. Was in Charlotte from Fri, 2/13 through most of Sun, 2/15. Got to see very little, if anything, of Raleigh.

First and foremost, I took up the food suggestions. Went to Hugo's Diner for the Beltbuster breakfast. I had it after lunchtime, actually. It was a boatload of food and, if a person had that daily, they would need cardiac intervention. Went to the Landmark Diner later that night. I thought it would be in the shadow of downtown, but it is quite a ways out. However, the tall creamy New York cheesecake was fantastic, which is all I had, along with some decaf. They seemed to have an extensive menu. Also stumbled onto an Italian place called Villa Francesca - not bad. There were many eating choices.

The best way I can do the analysis is to do a compare/contrast with Atlanta, which is a city I lived in for 2 years and loved immensely.

Similarities:

1. The basic lay-out with freeway spokes into a central hub and a freeway ring road around it.

2. Nice new downtown with a similar business feel

3. They don't skimp on the brick, do they? We don't do as much brick on offices and strip malls out West because it "doesn't pencil" and because a seismic event will put cracks in it

4. Condo and townhome craze has materialized on the edge of the CBD

Dissimilarities:

1. The first one that stuck out is I was expecting a city in a pine forest and the houses to be more hidden in the tree canopy. There were more deciduous trees than there were evergreen.

2. Not as much traffic...that's a good thing

3. The city does not have "edge city" satellite downtowns at its belt freeway...in ATL, many of the secondary downtowns are out there (Cumberland, Perimeter/Dunwoody)...in fact, Charlotte really thins out, population wise, once you're at the belt freeway, particularly in the east and the south

4. People seem to be more mannered and genuinely nicer...again, it doesn't have 5 million people living there like ATL...I also went to church at the Catholic church near "the Green" (Tryon) and, for a downtown church, the people seemed much more relaxed than they ever would have been in a Catholic church in Buckhead/Lenox.

The areas I liked best were (a) the Sharon/Fairview area where they have a...drum roll...nice Barnes and Noble and Borders, and (2) the north areas up toward the lake (went to Northlake Mall for lunch).

That's what struck me. I didn't bother to head toward the Smokies or Appalachians since, with many of the leaves fallen, I wouldn't have gotten the effect I was looking for. I also heard the beaches are worth visiting.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Sharon/Fairview is nice, that's right up against South Park and one of the "old money" areas here in Charlotte.

The Northlake area is very nice as well. I like it out that way because it's still pretty sparse and "country" in a lot of ways. But that's also one of the big growth areas, so I'm not sure how long it'll retain those characteristics.

[trinacriabob]

Sharon/Fairview is nice, that's right up against South Park and one of the "old money" areas here in Charlotte.

LOL. It seemed that Sharon/Fairview closer to downtown was grander mansions and "older" money whereas Sharon/Fairview further from downtown, toward the belt freeeway, was newer mansions and/or homes that got a little smaller, so, therefore "newer" money. I enjoy seeing how cities are layed out and surveying the housing.

[InvictaMan]

Glad you enjoyed your trip to NC. I really liked hearing your impressions. It seems like a lifetime since I lived in Charlotte. When there, I lived in the Glen Hollow section, just south of South Park. At that time it was the up and coming place, the new money section; however, I had very little of it as a fresh grad building a career. That's what I always liked about Charlotte, there were always opportunities where ever for who ever, you just had to look for them. The Northlakes section is crazy. Over populated, swiftly developed, crowded and the traffic sucks. It reminds me of the South Park area when I lived there in the 80s, just on steroids and out of control. Way more new money than the south side had then. I truly love uptown Charlotte. If you have to live in the center of a big city in the South, Charlotte is it.

Now, I live in Mayberry, in my small hometown. The best benefit is I am in the middle of everything I love, Charlotte, Lake Norman, Blowing Rock, Linville Gorge and Asheville. Everything within about an hour. Hope you choose Charlotte for your future. You will love it and the folks there will be there for you. It really is a big city with a small town vibe.

Thanks for sharing and keep us informed.