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 New Years Plans?
There is a New Years party just about everywhere you look,
but if you're looking for a nice dinner and a party afterwards,
then here are a few notable restaurants.
The Mint - The Mint
is one of the most searched restaurants on Raleigh Restaurant
Review. The Mint hopes to be one of Raleigh's premier restaurants
and is having it's opening night on New Years Eve. This 10,000
square foot restaurant located in an old bank building has
a dining room that seats 90, the "M Bar" upstairs,
and a heated outdoor patio. The Mint will be serving heavy
hors d'oeuvres and have a cash bar for New Years. They are
also located near all of the acorn drop activities. Here are
a few pictures of the new restaurant. http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.royster/Mint1207
Nelsons - Nelsons
restaurant will be having a New Years Eve bash starting with
a 4 course meal and finishing up with a DJ, dancing and champagne
toast, all for $55++. The menu will consists of the following:
Soup or Salad
Butternut Squash Bisque
Oyster Stew
Baby Iceberg
Caesar
Appetizer
Quail
Mini Lobster Pot Pie
Entree
Striped Bass
Cold Water Prawns
Filet
Chicken Breast
Dessert
Chocolate Torte
Sweet Potato Creme Brule
Coffee Cake
Riviera- Riviera
will be serving dinner until 11pm and will have three rooms
of music. They have a laundry list of DJ's lined up and plan
to have open decks available in their basement. There will
be a $10 cover and they will stay open until 4am. This restaurant
is also very close by the acorn drop.
Bogart's - If you're more of a Glenwood
South fan, then you might want to check out Bogart's for your
New Years Eve. Rocky Top Hospitality plans to serve a 4 course
meal at Bogart's for $40 and have three different parties
going in Bogart's, Red Room, and Hi-5. Admission to all three
parties is $20.
December 20, 2007
Globe
There isn't a lot of information out about Globe Restaurant.
They have taken over a space from a wine bar that was located
next to Red Room on Glenwood South. I went by today at lunch
to check out this latest addition to Glenwood South.
Globe as it's name reflects has a menu that consists of foods
from various regions around the world. The interior of the
restaurant looks to be a little more upscale than I expected
and is pretty interesting. The dining room is open except
for two tables surrounded by C shaped wood panels making them
feel semi-private. The bar area also looks nice and is separated
from the restaurant by a curved wooden wall that showcases
some type of pottery. However, the most interesting aspect
of the restaurant is a private dining room with an arched
doorway for an entrance. Inside is a fireplace, a long dining
table and shelving units with wine. Certainly a nice place
for a small private party.
Their lunch menu is pretty limited. I felt bad about convincing
my friend to try out this restaurant, when I really didn't
see anything that they would eat. There was a decent amount
of salads available and then three sandwiches. The goat cheese
sandwich, pastrami and swiss, and the beef and onion slider.
They also served a few entrees such as rice noodles and pulled
pork , house made fettuccine, braised short ribs, grilled
salmon, and a red curry coconut chicken. Since neither my
friend or I wanted to spend over $15 for lunch, we had to
choose one of the sandwiches. My friend ordered the pastrami
and I ordered what I like to call the heart attack on a bun
a.k.a. the beef and onion slider. While we waited for our
food our waiter brought out breadsticks, which I wouldn't
readily identify as food. In fact I think that I chipped my
tooth on one of the bread sticks.
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Our food arrived and I was a little scared of the glob of
cheese and beef on a bun, but I ate it anyway. The food wasn't
bad, but it wasn't great either. The best part of the meal
was the french fries. I was a little thirsty today and I wish
that could have gotten a refill on my tea, but refills were
particularly tough to come by at Globe.
One other item of note was down at the bottom of the menu.
There is a $2.50 charge if you split a meal and there are
no substitutions allowed. There are several people I know
who couldn't handle that no substitution rule.
Overall, Globe is pretty nice inside and the food is ok.
But, there is just nothing about the place that would make
me want to come back for a second visit.
Summing it all up....
Rating? RR
Cost? Tier 3
Menu (N/A)
Sanitation
Grade
Location and Contact Info:
510
Glenwood Ave
Raleigh, NC 27603
Phone: 919.836.1811
December 19, 2007
Glenwood
Grill
Glenwood Grill is really a well hidden restaurant in a shopping
center at the corner of Glenwood Ave and Oberlin Rd. There
are many people unaware of this nuvo southern style restaurant.
A little over a year ago they redecorated the restaurant.
Originally, it was decorated in black and white making it
formal and quiet. Now, they have used earth tones throughout
the restaurant making it much more warm and inviting. Glenwood
Grill is open for lunch and dinner as well as private parties
on Sundays.
It had been a while since my last trip to Glenwood Grill
and I was surprised to see the restaurant almost completely
full for lunch on a Monday. They have a "power lunch"
that they serve daily. The power lunch has items such as shrimp
and grits, Thai chicken salad, crab cakes, grouper wraps,
burgers, etc... Most of the lunch items come with a side of
either roasted potatoes, pasta salad, or potato salad. There
were a lot of items on the menu that I wanted to try, but
they had a turkey sandwich with grilled zucchini and roasted
red peppers on focaccia bread that caught my eye. I'm a sucker
for real turkey, not the deli meat. I asked the waiter if
they cooked a turkey breast and carved it themselves in the
restaurant. He told me that it definitely was a turkey that
they cooked and prepared. Unfortunately, when the sandwich
came out it was deli meat. I was a little disappointed, but
the sandwich and my roasted potatoes were both very good.
Overall, I was really impressed with the new look and the
food at Glenwood Grill. If you go for lunch make sure to go
early or call ahead for a reservation. It gets pretty crowded.
Summing it all up....
Rating? RRR 1/2
Cost? Tier 3
Menu
Sanitation
Grade
Location and Contact Info:
2603
Glenwood Ave # 151
Raleigh, NC 27608
Phone: 919.782.3102
December 15, 2007
Nelson's
Restaurant
Nelson's is a relatively upscale restaurant that also doubles
as the place to "go out" on Thursday, Friday and
Saturday nights. Whereas many restaurants that are upscale
can feel very intimidating or quiet, Nelson's has a very relaxing
environment. Nelson's has two dining rooms downstairs that
can be used for private parties as well as a very nice oyster
bar. Also, one of everyone's favorite feature of the restaurant
is the outdoor bar that occupies their second floor called
the Sky Loft. It's perfect for parties and has a great atmosphere.
In fact, I held my last birthday party up there. The staff
at Nelson's is great to work with and were very helpful during
my party. I'd recommend stealing my idea for yourself.
This past weekend I attended an impromptu office Christmas
party at Nelson's restaurant. I showed up a little early and
met up with some of my friends for dinner before hand. We
ended up eating at the Oyster Bar downstairs, since there
were three other parties happening that night in the restaurant.
Recently, Nelson's has changed their menu. It looks like they
have slimmed it down and added a few new interesting items.
The most original item on the menu is a lobster pot pie. I
love chicken pot pie, so that really peaked my interest. However,
our waitress suggested that I try the Wahoo since it was her
favorite dish on the menu. The Wahoo comes with rice, green
beans, and is topped with a type of tomato salsa. It ended
up being a great suggestion because it was delicious. It is
very likely that I will order the same dish again on my next
visit to Nelson's. In order to top off my meal I ordered the
apple turnover for dessert. (It's always nice to find a restaurant
that serves something other than cheesecake for dessert for
us non-dairy eaters). I think that I was supposed to save
a bite of my apple turnover for someone, but it was so tasty,
that I forgot.
Although Nelson's was having somewhat of a hectic night,
our service was still great and our food came out promptly.
That is often a tough thing to accomplish when a restaurant
is being occupied by large parties.
If you've never been to Nelson's give it a try for dinner
or just for a drink and appetizer upstairs in their Sky Loft.
I think you will like it.
Summing it all up....
Rating? RRRR
Cost? Tier 3
Menu
Sanitation
Grade
Location and Contact Info:
521
Daniels Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27605
Phone: 919.832.9815
December 11, 2007
Rockfish
Grill
Rockfish Grill is a chain restaurant based in Dallas, Texas
serving various fish selections for lunch and dinner. Rockfish
has a local restaurant at SouthPoint Mall in Durham. I had
the opportunity to stop by and try out Rockfish tonight for
dinner.
Upon entering RockFish grill it looks like a combination
of a log cabin at the lake and a 50's/60's diner. I don't
know if the two go together, but Rockfish put them together
anyway. After looking at the menu, I decided that if you combined
Chili's with Long John Silver, then you would get Rockfish
Grill. Mostly, because they serve fish and have an undertone
of Southwestern in their menu. OK, so I was at the lake cabin/50's
diner/southwestern seafood restaurant and decided to try out
the Perch with a Tomatillo Salsa, loaded whipped potatoes,
sauteed spinach and a "Southwestern" Ceasar salad
for good measure. Now, let me explain what Southwestern means
at Rockfish Grill. Essentially, you get some tortilla strips
and some salsa and slap it on anything and you've got Southwestern.
I have to admit the salsa and tortilla strips on a Ceasar
salad was really interesting. Again, I don't think the two
go together, but Rockfish tries anyway.
My entree came out and the first thing that I noticed was
that the potatoes didn't look whipped. In fact, it was some
mashed red skinned potatoes with cheese and bacon. I was a
little disappointed because I wanted some more creamy potatoes.
The fish, potatoes, and spinach were just not good. Honestly,
the best part of the restaurant was the service. It was excellent.
Unfortunately, I left the restaurant feeling upset that I
had wasted the room in my stomach for that food.
I spent $15.94 + tip for dinner and for about the same price
you could go to a Bonefish Grill and have a meal that is probably
10 times better than Rockfish Grill. If you need to eat at
SouthPoint, then just head over to Maggiano's.
Summing it all up....
Rating? R 1/2
Cost? Tier 2
Menu
Location and Contact Info:
8030 Renaissance Pkwy. #905
Durham, NC 27713
Phone: 919.544.9220
December 09, 2007
Fins
Restaurant
Fins has been in business for a while in the Raleigh area,
but about a year ago they relocated from their North Raleigh
location to Downtown in the Progress Energy II building. A
high end seafood restaurant, Fins is now on the corner of
Wilmington and Davie Streets.
I had the opportunity to go to Fins for dinner this weekend
and based on my first visit to Fins for lunch I was expecting
a great meal. Fins is a beautiful restaurant that has a big
city, high end feel. They have a very nice bar area with a
glass water fall that separates it from the rest of the dining
room. Fins also has a couple of private dining rooms available
for meetings or parties. The main dining room has a very quiet
and intimate feel, which would work for a romantic date. The
bathrooms are also very nice, and have rosemary mint hand
soap from their neighbor Iatria Day Spa. The soap really smelled
wonderful.
My friends and I started out in the bar area while we waited
for our table. We orded drinks and a lamb kefka mini burger
appetizer. This dish comes with three mini burgers on a bun
with a type of thick tomato salsa. They tasted great and one
person in our party almost ordered them for their main entree.
We transitioned after the appetizers to the main dining room
for our meal. The waitstaff was a little pretentious, but
it didn't really bother me too much. After looking over the
menu, I ordered that evening's special of striped bass served
with eggplant. The rest of the table ordered the snapper which
was served with a cashew sauce and rice. Fins is definitely
not cheap. Most of the entrees at Fins are typically $25+
and do not include soup or salad. As we waited for our meal,
they brought out a basket of bread with slices of sour dough
and wheat. The bread is served with a plate of butter topped
with chives. I'm not a big fan of chives in my butter, but
it was a little twist on the standard. I had a very long wait
for my food on my first visit to Fins, and tonight was no
exception. The food took a little too long to come out to
the table, but the waitress said that they had some large
parties ahead of our order. Once the food came out, everyone
was very happy with the dishes. The snapper in the cashew
sauce was delicious, but might be a little too spicy for some
people. My striped bass was good, but a little overcooked.
However, the eggplant that accompanied it was wonderful. I
don't think that I would order that dish again, but there
are several items on the menu that I want to try.
Overall, Fins is just a high quality restaurant. If you are
looking for a very nice place for dinner, then I don't think
that you can go wrong with Fins.
Summing it all up....
Rating? RRR 1/2
Cost? Tier 4
Menu (N/A)
Sanitation
Grade
Location and Contact Info:
110 E. Davie St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919.834.6963
December 7, 2007
Roly
Poly
If you're like me, then you struggle with picking up something
to eat that is healthy. There really isn't a lot of healthy
choices when it comes to fast food, especially if you're tired
of eating sandwiches.
Roly Poly is a wrap and salad shop that has two locations
in Raleigh. One downtown and another that has just recently
opened near the intersection of Edwards Mill Road and Ed Drive.
The most recently opened Roly Poly isn't exactly in a highly
visible area. It is tucked behind the 24 hour Eckerds on Edwards
Mill Road. I spotted it, just because I was curious about
the new construction in that area. I stopped by the Edwards
Mill location this week for lunch one time and then again
for dinner on another day.
Roly Poly has a very large menu of various hot and cold wraps
to order. Upon first glance it's pretty overwhelming. Luckily
the first time that I visited Roly Poly they had a special
that day called the Turkey Gobbler. It consisted of turkey,
cranberry, cornbread stuffing, red onions, lettuce and dijon
mustard. The wraps typically come in a 6" for $3.75 or
a 12" for $5.95. (If you're hungry I would go with the
12" the 6" wrap is not very big at all.) While I
was waiting for my wrap to be prepared, I was struck by the
cleanliness of the restaurant. It was obvious that they took
pride in the restaurant. I got my wrap and I took my first
bite. It was pretty good, but upon my second bite I discovered
that there was no turkey in the wrap. I guess they thought
I looked like a vegetarian. But, never the less, it was still
a good change for me from the same old lunch routine. I would
order it again, but next time I would hope to get some turkey.
Last night, I need to pick up something quick before I headed
out to a party and I decided to try out Roly Poly again. I
ordered a Hickory Chicken wrap, which is served hot. It consists
of chicken breast, cheddar cheese, onion, mushrooms, bacon,
and bbq sauce. The wrap is then grilled on both sides. I really
didn't expect it to be that great, but it turned out to be
really tasty and easy to eat on the go.
If you're looking for a somewhere to grab lunch or need to
order food in for the office, I think you should have a look
at Roly Poly.
Summing it all up....
Rating? RRR
Cost? Tier 1.5
Menu
Location and Contact Info
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