Recent Reviews

Sono

Sushi seems to be a popular style of restaurant to open these days in Raleigh. One of the latest to open in downtown Raleigh is Sono. This restaurant opened a little over a month ago in the Hudson building beside the WTVD 11 studios. Sono has a small bar in the front of the restaurant, a sushi bar in the back and a dining room that will seat approximately 80 people. Sono is decorated completely in black and red with a giant oriental girl painted on one of the walls. It has a modern, trendy feeling to the decor. One thing that is a little tricky to find in Sono are the restrooms. In case you visit they are located directly behind the bar to the right.

I originally thought that Sono was going to be a strictly sushi only restaurant, however their menu had a decent selection of steaks, chicken, and seafood dishes. So, if you're scared of sushi but your friend/spouse/significant other wants to eat sushi, this might be a pretty good option for you. My favorite thing about sushi is that it comes out cut into individual pieces that are easy to share. I always am able to try a variety of rolls, because I end up eating a piece of sushi from everyone at the table. The evening that I visited Sono, they had several of large birthday parties in the restaurant. Typically, that means disaster for the kitchen, but the food actually came out in a reasonable amount of time. I ordered two rolls for my dinner, the Maryland and the Dancing Eel roll. The Maryland consists of crab meat, avocado, cucumber and masago. The Dancing Eel roll consisted of a California Roll wrapped in eel and avocado, topped with eel sauce. I also sampled the salmon and the Hard Rock Roll. Overall, I must say that the sushi is quite good at Sono and the wait staff is attentive. I believe that Sono has made a good start at setting themselves up to be one of the better sushi restaurants in Raleigh.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR 1/2

Cost? Tier 3

Sanitation Grade

Menu

Location and Contact Info:
319 Fayetteville St
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919.521.5328

Outdoor Seating

Spring is upon us and it's time for everyone to say I want to eat outside today, where can we go? So, here's a list of restaurants all the way from really cheap to super fancy that have some of the best places to eat outside in Raleigh.

Not too pricey

Logans @ Seaboard Station
You don't really have a choice with this place, all the seating is outdoor at a garden nursery.

Mellow Mushroom
Probably the reason why Mellow Mushroom is so popular is because of it's outdoor seating. People always hang out here even when the weather isn't warm. It's a great place to get good pizza and watch the traffic go by.

Village Draft House
This restaurant has recently taken over extra space in Cameron Village and has been able to double their outdoor seating area.

Village Deli
The Village Deli is another restaurant in Cameron Village that is really popular for it's outdoor seating. This place is really popular with all the college students in the area.

Rudino's Rooftop
One of the few places in the area where you can eat on top of the building. I really wish we had a few more of these places in Raleigh.

Chargrill
Chargrill is a Raleigh classic. Order a great burger and sit outside on their metal picinic tables.

Eh, i got some extra money

Zest
This place has great food, and you can sit outside inside of a white picket fence.

Winston's Grill
Winston's Grill is one of my favorite places to eat lunch. They have tables on the patio that surrounds the restaurant. Don't forget to order the freshly squeezed lemonade.

I'm worried not about the price

Nelson's or is it Fosters?
Nelson's has been closed for the past few months and will be opening up as Fosters restaurant in May. They have a really great outdoor bar area on the second floor.

18 Seaboard
Get a great view of Raleigh from this second floor patio.

The Mint
I haven't been outside on their patio, but it looks like a very cool place to eat.

One restaurant that has a limited amount of outdoor seating, but deserve a mention is Porter's on Hillsborough Street. Porter's will open all of the doors at the front of their restaurant and allow most of the restaurant seem like a covered porch.

Peak City Grill

I don't venture to far away from Raleigh for food, but I had the chance to visit Peak City Grill in Apex, NC last weekend. Located on N. Salem Street in downtown Apex, this restaurant is helping Apex earn it's motto "The Peak of Good Living." Peak City Grill completely surprised me when it came to food, menu selection, and decor. The restaurant is housed in a historic building that has been renovated with a great bar area and dining areas upstairs and downstairs. A piano is located downstairs by the bar and has a live pianist playing most nights from about 5pm-9pm. This restaurant has a little bit of an upscale feel, but without any of the stuffiness.

Peak City's menu changes practically every month and has a great selection of seafood, steaks, chicken and even lamb. The most popular item on the menu are what they call their blue chips. The Bleu Chips consist of homemade potato chips covered with bleu cheese, house seasoning, red pepper jelly and gorgonzola sauce. It sounds like and odd combination, but it also turns out to be a very tasty combination. Another appetizer on my recommended list is the shrimp hush puppies. The hush puppies consist of jumbo shrimp dipped in hush puppy batter and then deep fat fried. They arrive at the table in a brown paper bag with a side of remoulade. There are many great looking items on Peak City's menu, but our table ordered the filet, pork chops, and the sole. The sole was my main dish and it is a pretty creamy tasting fish which also came with crab meat and orzo pasta. I particularly enjoyed the orzo. It was a nice change from potatoes or rice. Overall, we received good service and great food. I'm sure that I'll be heading back for dinner some time soon.

After dinner there is a great new coffee and dessert shop called Common Grounds across the street from Peak City Grill. It makes a great follow up to dinner.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR 1/2

Cost? Tier 3

Sanitation Grade

Menu

Location and Contact Info:
126 N Salem St
Apex, NC 27502
Phone: 919.835.3593

Common Grounds Coffee and Dessert

Another great surprise that I found in Apex is a wonderful place for coffee and dessert. Common Grounds has recently opened on N. Salem Street in downtown Apex. It is a great looking coffee shop that is a perfect place to hang out, read a book, or do a little work.

Yes, Common Grounds has a full range of coffees and espressos, but what made me love this place was all the great looking desserts. I'm not talking about a couple of cookies and a piece of pound cake. Common Grounds has a very large selection of delectable desserts. Cakes, pies, gelato, cookies, and cream puffs are just a few things that are available and look delicious. I tried an iced mocha coffee and a piece of pumpkin cake made by a local Apex resident. Wow, wow, wow that piece of cake was wonderful ! I'm looking forward to the next time I get to visit Common Grounds and try another dessert.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRRR

Cost? Tier 2

Sanitation Grade (N/A)

Location and Contact Info:
219 N. Salem St.
Apex NC 27502
Phone: 919.673.1170

Dos Taquitos Centro

Dos Taquitos has been located off of Creedmoor Road for years and they have recently opened up a second location on Wilmington Street downtown. I have met dozens of people who tell me that Dos Taquitos is their favorite mexican restaurant and Dos Taquitos Centro seems to be following the same trend.

Dos Taquitos Centro is not your typical mexican restaurant. You can tell from the moment that you step into the restaurant. The decorations are different to say the least, but they really give this restaurant all of it's charm. A colorful, eclectic mix of mexican artwork and nick knacks. This downtown location of Dos Taquitos is not very large. They have a small bar which is located in the back of the restaurant and a dining room which will probably accommodate about 45 people. Dos Taquitos Centro likes to focus on fresh. They are the only mexican restaurant, I know of, that offers freshly squeezed orange juice at the bar. They even get all of the goat cheese they use in their dishes from a local farm in North Carolina.

I had heard that the steak tacos were wonderful and that I had to try them. They are really popular, because all five of the people in my dinner party ordered them. While we were waiting for out food we of course had chips and salsa as well as a cup of corn soup. The corn soup had a creamy broth and then lots of kernels of white corn. It was actually pretty tasty. The steak tacos all came out very quickly from the kitchen. The dish had two steak tacos, rice and pureed black beans. The steak had a great flavor and was pretty tender. Overall, they were very good steak tacos. After dinner there are a couple of dessert options, bread pudding and chocolate flan. I tasted of the flan and it was really great. It has the consistency of caramel, but it tasted like chocolate. You should definitely save room for that dessert.

At the end of the meal the waitress brings out a little present in a decorative box. Inside you will find your bill. Hey, I guess if you're going to ask for people's money you might as well make it fun.

Dos Taquitos was a little bit more pricey than I expected, but I guess that comes with the territory downtown these days. You should give Dos Taquitos Centro a try. I think that you will find it to be a pleasurable experience.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR 1/2

Cost? Tier 3

Sanitation Grade

Menu

Location and Contact Info:

106 S. Wilmington St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919.835.3593

Champa

Champa is a Thai/sushi restaurant located in the Brier Creek area. Overall, the decor is setup to be moderately fancy and the food is priced accordingly. They appear to stay pretty busy during the lunch hours, so make sure you show up a little early if you want to be seated right away. The menu has a decent amount of selections including Pad Thai, Thai Spicy Basil, Pad Prik Pork, and of course sushi.

I had heard a mixed review about Champa before I tried it for lunch. The most interesting part of Champa was that on the front of the menu they stated that they were complying with the new Raleigh water restrictions and that tap water was $0.50. Maybe I read it wrong, but it seemed to me that they were using the water restriction as a way to charge for water. If you are interested here is a link to the city of Raleigh's water restriction.

Admittedly, I am not a fan of peanut sauces on my food, so I don't often eat at Thai restaurants. Luckily, Champa did have a couple of menu items which did not have peanut sauces. I decided to try the fried tilapia with a sweet sauce and cashews. My friend who came with me for lunch got the Thai spicy basil dish which includes a chili sauce, bell peppers, onions and tofu. While my meal wasn't that filling, it was decent and I would probably eat it again. However, the Thai spicy basil turned out to be a pretty big hit. One weak spot for Champa is their service. It wasn't terrible, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

Maybe Champa shouldn't be at the top of your list, but don't be afraid to try it out sometime.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RR1/2

Cost? Tier 3

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:
8521 Brier Creek Parkway
Raleigh, NC 27617
Phone: 919.806.0078

Wild Wing Cafe

Contrary to their name, Wild Wing Cafe is not just a place to go get wings. They actually have a pretty large menu of burgers, chicken sandwiches, soups, and salads. WWC has 31 different flavors of wings and also offers the grilled chicken sandwiches tossed in any of the 31 sauces. Another great feature of WWC is the wing bar. I think that everyone hates ordering one flavor of wings and then you're stuck when it doesn't taste nearly as good as it sounded. WWC lets you have six different styles of wings to try with the wing bar.

I headed over to Wild Wing Cafe recently for lunch and looked forward to trying out their wing bar. Now, I must say that I have eaten some odd combinations of food with wings, but the WWC wing bar takes the cake. The bar consisted of chicken noodle soup, chili, fettuccini alfredo, tator tots, and six different wing flavors including BBQ, medium, hot, ranch, italian, and lemon pepper. Wow, that is a really interesting combination of food. Maybe they were cleaning out their fridge? WWC wings are not bad and combining them with tator tots is not half bad. However, Woody's still has the best wings Raleigh.

If you're looking for a smorgasbord of food then head out to Wild Wing Cafe for the wing bar.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RR 1/2

Cost? Tier 2

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:

7900 Brier Creek Pkwy
Raleigh, NC 27617
Phone: 919.957.2000

Fat Philly's Classic Cheesesteaks

Fat Philly's Classic Cheesesteaks recently opened in the new Walmart shopping center in Holly Springs, NC. They are planning to be the first to serve up a REAL Philly. "Ever had a REAL philly?" is the slogan on the back of everyone's t-shirt that works in the restaurant. Fat Philly's doesn't look like your typical steak and hoagie shop. It is a little more upscale when compared to the typical shop found in a strip mall. Fat Philly's is family owned and operated by local Holly Springs residents. In fact, when I entered the restaurant, I knew that it was a family affair. Jeff Mueller, the owner, was working at the grill, his wife at the cash register, and their kids were cleaning the tables and delivering the food to the table. Fat Philly's menu has salads, wraps, hoagies, and of course philly cheesesteaks.

There are plenty of options for cheesesteaks at Fat Philly's. They serve chicken or steak phillys with your choice of provolone, swiss, or cheese whiz. They also have a Pizza Philly on the menu that comes with marinara sauce and pepperoni as well as a cheeseburger hoagie that appeared pretty popular with kids. Other items of interest are the shoe string onions, homestyle chips and homebaked cookies. On my first visit to Fat Philly's, I decided to stick with a classic Philly Cheesesteak with onion strings and an order of the homestyle chips. My cheesesteak came complete with steak, provolone, green bell peppers, onions and mushrooms. The bread was good, the steak was high quality, it was not greasy and it was not overpowered with cheese. Overall, it was just about the best cheesesteak I have ever had. On top of that, the onion strings and homestyle chips were really tasty. I also really enjoyed the butterscotch graham cookies.

Overall, I think that Fat Philly's was successful is delivering a really good, quality cheesesteak. If you're a connoisseur of cheesesteaks, you have to put this place on your list of places to try.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRRR

Cost? Tier 2

Menu

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:
7272 GB Alford Hwy.
Holly Springs, NC 27540
Phone: 919.552.8053

February 4, 2008

South

As it's name indicates South is a southern style cuisine restaurant in North Hills. It is one of the many restaurants owned and operated by the urban food group. They also operate Vivace, Porters and Fraizers. South is probably one of the higher end restaurants in the chain. They have been in operation for a couple of years now and have gone through a few different menu changes trying to find the perfect mix. They offer a selection of appetizers, salads, and entrees with a southern flare. Serving dishes such as fried okra, fried green tomatoes, pecan pie salad, sweet potato ravioli, shrimp and grits, and fried chicken.

I have been to South several times, but I went back recently to try out some of their new menu selections. There were a lot of interesting selections on their menu to choose from, but I ended up with a house salad and the roasted grouper. The salad consisted of field greens, dried cranberries, country ham, cheddar cheese, and balsamic dressing. The cranberries in the salad were exceptionally tasty. They were nice and sweet. The roasted grouper came with buttermilk mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and a crab and roasted tomato butter. The grouper was also very good, but not great. And, the service was like the grouper. It was good but not great.

South is a good choice for lunch or dinner in the North Hills area and they have a really nice bar area for drinks after work. I think that you will find the food good and hopefully with a little more time South will get their food to great.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR

Cost? Tier 3

Menu

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:
4351 The Circle at North Hills Street
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: 919.789.0606

Mo's Diner

Mo's Diner is one of those places that isn't on everyone's radar. It's been around for over ten years in downtown Raleigh near the Moore's Square area. Mo's is located in a little old house painted a periwinkle/purple color on the corner of Hargett and Person Streets. Many people would assume by the name, that Mo's Diner is like a typical diner with the long counter and the salisbury steak special. However, Mo's Diner is actually an intimate restaurant without any kind of diner traits. Inside, the restaurant is decorated with many vintage French posters, black and white table cloths, red wooden slat chairs and curtains that you would expect to see in a house of that age. The dining rooms are in the preexisting bedrooms and family room of the house. They also have a few tables out on the front porch for warmer weather. Entering through the front door of the house, feels like you are going into someone's home for dinner. The mood is completed with a pottery barn cd playing for background music.

I had read a lot about Mo's Diner and how it was a really great place to eat. Many people put it in the one of the best restaurants in Raleigh category. Needless to say I had really high expectations based on what I had read. I knew that the outside of Mo's looks deceiving, but I was expecting the interior of the building to be a little nicer than it was. However, it did match the theme of the old house. Mo's has a pretty nice selection of American style cuisine and a really extensive dessert menu. One great aspect about the restaurant is that they bring out a basket of hot bread to the table before the meal. I don't think you can go wrong with hot bread. I decided to start out with a house salad and have that evening's special of salmon topped with crab meat and sides of corn, squash, and garlic mashed potatoes for my meal. My salad was good and my meal was good. But, I was expecting great things and I got a meal that I have cooked a hundred times at home. There was no flare or fancy presentation. There was nothing special about it. In fact, I think I'd be brave enough to say that I could cook that dish better than Mo's. Two of us got the salmon special and had the same opinion. However, everyone else at the table enjoyed their meals. The Seafood Stew and the gumbo seemed to be a hit.

This should still probably be on your list of places to take a date. It definitely has that romantic feel. However, I would have to say that although my food was good, after all of the hype I was a little disappointed. Most of the entrees are in the $22+ range and I don't think the food warrants the price. But, I may have to try Mo's out again and see if I can discover what everyone is talking about.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR

Cost? Tier 4

Reservations Recommended

Menu (NA)

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:
306 E Hargett St
Raleigh, NC 27601-1436
Phone: 919.856.0980

February 4, 2008

the George

Formerly April and George's, the George is a new bar/video art gallery/restaurant. April and George's was a wine bar with a large collection of eclectic art. It was a pretty cool concept, but perhaps not the perfect fit for Raleigh and Glenwood South. the George opened this past week with a few changes to the decor of April and Georges. There are now new six person booths in the restaurant, a few high top tables out front and some much nicer bathrooms. the George has a fairly large selection of what I would call appetizers and several dessert selections. Macaroni and cheese, cheese or chocolate fondue, quesadillas, smoked salmon and hummus are just some of the appetizers. Most of these items are either $5 or $6. Not too bad for the location of the George. the George is primarily a bar, but I really like the addition of the food. After having dinner at Mo's Diner, we headed over to the George. I really wanted something sweet, so I tried the Hazelnut sponge cake and the Almond cookies with butter cream dipped in chocolate. I noticed that these deserts looked strangely familiar and was somewhat surprised to find out that Hereghty Heavenly Delicious makes the desserts for the George. The hazelnut sponge cake was delicious. I think I could have consumed it in about two seconds. It was too bad that I was sharing. The almond cookies were good, but might not be everyone's favorite. They had a special type of butter cream icing that might throw a few people off.

I like the new look and food additions of the George. I plan to make it back there to try out some of their appetizers.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR 1/2

Cost? Tier 2

Menu

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:
414 Glenwood Ave
Raleigh, NC 27603
Phone: 919.601.1115

Woody's at City Market

Woody's has been around for a while down in City Market. They are just your average bar and grill with lots of lighted beer signs on the wall and a few random animal heads and fish stuffed and mounted on the wall. They have a smoking section up front and back through part of the kitchen is a non smoking section. And, there are plenty of TV's throughout the bar for watching the game. You wouldn't think that it should be on your places eat, but Woody's has some of the best wings in town.

Woody's wings are "famous" according to their menu and probably should be around the Raleigh area. They serve five different types of wings: sweet, medium, BBQ, hot and insane. Last week my co-workers and I tried out the sweet, medium and BBQ. I would have to say that the sweet and medium are great. They have a great flavor and they are really crispy. Definitely some the the best wings that I've had. The BBQ were good but not my favorite. Woody's cooks their wings for 20 minutes, so be prepared to wait at least that long for your food.

You might want to check Woody's out while you're making your plans for your Super Bowl party. I think their wings would probably be a hit.

Summing it all up....

Rating? RRR 1/2

Cost? Tier 2

Menu

Sanitation Grade

Location and Contact Info:
205 Wolfe St
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919.833.3000