Favorite Restaurants of CFF members--Post Here

fieldgrade said:

Red Barn in Angier is still alive and kicking. I didn’t know if they would survive covid, then the staffing crisis.

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Now I'm hungry.

fieldgrade said:

Red Barn in Angier is still alive and kicking. I didn’t know if they would survive covid, then the staffing crisis.

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Great looking plate and great news! At first I thought you were talking about Ron’s Barn and was excited. Sad they closed.. they were a good place back in the day.

my Kitchen

Jeppo said:

Firefighter lights the smoker at Cafe 71, Davidson County’s new BBQ restaurant

WELCOME, N.C. (WGHP) — Smoke is rarely a firefighter’s friend, but that’s exactly what Newlan Spears does best. Cafe 71 Smokehouse BBQ is the newest restaurant to open its doors in Welc…

myfox8.com

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🙁

Jeppo said:

Barbecue restaurant owner says lack of stable kitchen help forces him to close

A Davidson County barbecue restaurant has announced it will close for good after being open for less than four months. Find out why.

www.the-dispatch.com

🙁

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Sad and crazy at the same time. I don’t understand how no one is working, yet there are record breaking home sales (at ultra inflated prices) and the same for car sales, while there is a record low of people not working or not wanting to work. Where’s the cash coming from to pay for all of this?? Meanwhile places are going out of business left and right.

For anyone venturing out to Hilton Head, Frankie Bones is decent. Sort of a '60's era RatPack motif. Reminiscent of the old Frankie's in Charlotte. Lots of old black and white photos like Lauren Becall with Humphrey Bogart, Dean Martin with Frank Sinatra, etc.
Everything in Hilton Head is hidden, so you have to know to look for it.

I've been working in the Burlington area the last few days. I looked for nearby restaurants, 4+ stars mom & pops. An El Salvadorean restaurant shows up, that sounds different. I talk my coworkers into it, one of the guys has a fast food chain only pallet.
I'm not sure if I'd want to be there at night, but all of us thought the food was fantastic. I got shrimp Diablo, they were large, butterflied, and smothered in a savory, fresh tasting habanero sauce. With a heat that just kept building, perfect. If you're not used to hot, pick something else. The rice was not what you see in Mex restaurants. It appears to be cooked in a rice cooker with flavor and bits of pepper. I got the house dressing on the salad, I don't know if it has oil, it was a lime black pepper mix.
They serve breakfast all day, a coworker order eggs/chorizo, loved it. The chicken Chipotle is great as well. A few bites in, all three of us said we'll be eating there the next day. The waitress was great, I had her order for me. First impression when I drove up was it looks sketchy, go on in and eat!
El Carbonero Restaurant
517 West Elm St
Graham, NC

Pop N Shots said:

Sad and crazy at the same time. I don’t understand how no one is working, yet there are record breaking home sales (at ultra inflated prices) and the same for car sales, while there is a record low of people not working or not wanting to work. Where’s the cash coming from to pay for all of this?? Meanwhile places are going out of business left and right.

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There was a country buffet in Rockingham, NC that opened about a year ago, maybe two, that recently shut its door. @Sandman_NC might know the timeline better.

I thought the food was good. It didn't knock my socks off, mostly because I don't wear any, but it was still good.

I mean, how does a country buffet fold in this region?

When @ronn47 paid me a visit a couple of weeks ago, I treated him to our local country buffet (it was $14 and I didn't want him making a thread about it), but that place has been in business since before 1990. It's still going strong today.

So, it left me scratching my head at how one shuts down so quickly, and in a town that definitely had more people than the one I live in.

kcult said:

So, it left me scratching my head at how one shuts down so quickly, and in a town that definitely had more people than the one I live in.

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Maybe the Health Dept. shut them down because of customers not wearing socks. 🤔

kcult said:

There was a country buffet in Rockingham, NC that opened about a year ago, maybe two, that recently shut its door. @Sandman_NC might know the timeline better.

I thought the food was good. It didn't knock my socks off, mostly because I don't wear any, but it was still good.

I mean, how does a country buffet fold in this region?

When @ronn47 paid me a visit a couple of weeks ago, I treated him to our local country buffet (it was $14 and I didn't want him making a thread about it), but that place has been in business since before 1990. It's still going strong today.

So, it left me scratching my head at how one shuts down so quickly, and in a town that definitely had more people than the one I live in.

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That was a good solid lunch we had.
Plenty to chose from and you mixed and matched as you wanted.

ronn47 said:

That was a good solid lunch we had.
Plenty to chose from and you mixed and matched as you wanted.

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Different days, different meats. Wednesday is liver day. My favorite!

But they always have chicken. Spoiler alert! The secret ingredient is cinnamon.

kcult said:

There was a country buffet in Rockingham, NC that opened about a year ago, maybe two, that recently shut its door. @Sandman_NC might know the timeline better.

I thought the food was good. It didn't knock my socks off, mostly because I don't wear any, but it was still good.

I mean, how does a country buffet fold in this region?

When @ronn47 paid me a visit a couple of weeks ago, I treated him to our local country buffet (it was $14 and I didn't want him making a thread about it), but that place has been in business since before 1990. It's still going strong today.

So, it left me scratching my head at how one shuts down so quickly, and in a town that definitely had more people than the one I live in.

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I don’t know what happened but I do know the quality of the food went down. Makes me wonder if it was poor management along with so-so employees at the latter that ultimately brought the business to close.

It reminds me of how some folks make the mistake of making priorities and not having values. Priorities change while values don’t.

Jeppo said:

Barbecue restaurant owner says lack of stable kitchen help forces him to close

A Davidson County barbecue restaurant has announced it will close for good after being open for less than four months. Find out why.

www.the-dispatch.com

🙁

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So now there's Johnny's Smoke Shack or something like that there.
We went tonight.
Six working in the front, I could see six in the kitchen.
About 12 tables inside and the people in front of us were told about 20 minute wait - we'll get ours to go.

My opinion - a bit high on price, especially when theyre charging an additional .75 for just using a card. And the people getting rung up in front of us were given different prices than on the menu. Anyway, for what we got I thought it was a bit overpriced. But not bad food, honestly, just small portions tonight.

And service was bad, just very slow. BUT it's new and it was 6 on a Friday in Welcome, so we'll try it again sometime in a month or so.

Now onto a GREAT review: The Old 4th Street Filling Station, Winston Salem.
First, Im biased, it's true.
A) it's a WS staple (to me ha)
B) a BROTHER owns and runs it. He's a family friend, great guy.

Ok. So SuperBowl Sunday, the Sunday before V-Day.
We, my wife and I, went out that day instead of V-day because with her job she would be working late and be exhausted that night.
So on Sundays they close at 4p and serve a brunch menu all day.

She had french toast and bacon.
She liked it. Looked good.
BUT, what I got was the winner.
Eggs Benedict with pork belly, grits, homestyle hashbrowns (and they were spicy!!!)
Oh man was it good! Id never had pork belly before...lets be honest, it's just thick bacon, but so tasty.

HMP said:

Now onto a GREAT review: The Old 4th Street Filling Station, Winston Salem.
First, Im biased, it's true.
A) it's a WS staple (to me ha)
B) a BROTHER owns and runs it. He's a family friend, great guy.

Ok. So SuperBowl Sunday, the Sunday before V-Day.
We, my wife and I, went out that day instead of V-day because with her job she would be working late and be exhausted that night.
So on Sundays they close at 4p and serve a brunch menu all day.

She had french toast and bacon.
She liked it. Looked good.
BUT, what I got was the winner.
Eggs Benedict with pork belly, grits, homestyle hashbrowns (and they were spicy!!!)
Oh man was it good! Id never had pork belly before...lets be honest, it's just thick bacon, but so tasty.

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Man, that looks amazing!!!!!

Pop N Shots said:

Man, that looks amazing!!!!!

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Come on to WSNC and enjoy! Its right on 4th (go figure) downtown.
And, honestly, wasnt that expensive. Our meals (not counting her beverage) was only about 26 bucks total....really not that bad considering most greasy spoons we go to will cost us about 20 for us to get breakfast. So six more and definitely a step up in quality.

Lucky63 said:

Yep. We like it so much, we rented it out for our wedding reception. 😎

At least 4 great restaurants at that intersection.

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Already gotten married?
Mind if I spam you right quick? lol
My wifes shop is right there too, on Burke. Basically on the other side of Mozelles, under Joyners, across from Underdog.
Also - congrats!

If you're in Greenville and like any type of Asian cuisine, you should try Sakura Asian Express. It's delicious and addictive....nothing like the typical Chinese restaurant. It's also very healthy food.

Lucky63 said:

Sorry. Should have said liked. This was October 2010.

We still go there, Mozelles, West End, and we love Bernardin’s. Just have to go early to beat the crowds. Quiet Pint down the street has been one of our backup places the last several years too.

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We had WestEnd for late lunch/early dinner last weekend

AT&T gives us some money to have a meal at every 5 years of service. My 25th was back in September, and we have six months to have the meal. Needless to say, we were running out of time. So this past Sunday we decided on Beef ‘N Bottle Steakhouse.


They’ve been around since 1958. Pretty dang good meal…especially for what it cost me out of pocket. 😎

Get Off My Lawn said:

I've been working in the Burlington area the last few days. I looked for nearby restaurants, 4+ stars mom & pops. An El Salvadorean restaurant shows up, that sounds different. I talk my coworkers into it, one of the guys has a fast food chain only pallet.

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I met up with @Shady Grady there and had lunch. Since youre part of the Chatham County group, maybe we should meet up at Paraíso in Siler City. I actually liked it better than Carbonero.

I will edit to add pictures in a minute

noway2 said:

I met up with @Shady Grady there and had lunch. Since youre part of the Chatham County group, maybe we should meet up at Paraíso in Siler City. I actually liked it better than Carbonero.

I will edit to add pictures in a minute

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What's up with Siler City restaurants?!? Between this and The Broken Spit, why don't they have these types of mom&pops Put The Love In The Food restaurants near me?
That food looks different than what we had. Very fresh looking, did y'all try any heat? If so do you know what peppers they used? From the pics it looks less sketchy. The Pittsboro lunch is usually a 1/2 hr one way trip for me. When I make it, I'm usually working in Apex, Siler's even further. I DDG'd them.

Get Off My Lawn said:

That food looks different than what we had. Very fresh looking, did y'all try any heat?

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Yes, it was different than Carbonero. I didn’t try, or ask for, a spicy version, but I might next time. The food was very fresh and flavorful. Overall, I would say the place is not sketchy, but I was also the only gringo having lunch there that day.

noway2 said:

Yes, it was different than Carbonero. I didn’t try, or ask for, a spicy version, but I might next time. The food was very fresh and flavorful. Overall, I would say the place is not sketchy, but I was also the only gringo having lunch there that day.

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When I go to a latino restaurant, I take that as a sign of good things to come to my table.

My favorites change often. Here lately I am a big fon of Ester's Soul Food in Columbia. Generous portions and everthing I've had has been delicious.

Saturday night we had Date Night.
I picked the place, she picked the dessert.

I chose a pizza place and, well, it wasnt what we were expecting as far as atmosphere, but the taste was excellent!
I thought, "Oh it's a popular downtown spot, looks like small/individual pizzas, it'll be a great date night spot"
Nah. It's all 16" pizzas, Italian style, and the atmosphere was...well...just open. Lots of HUGE picnic style tables/seating. Not what we expected.
But, as stated, the pizza was ON POINT.

The pizza - Cugino Forno. We ended up getting two pizzas, a water, and a beer - was just under fifty bucks. But we've eaten three times on those pizzas and still have some left.



Next we went to ice cream at a new place on 4th by Foothills called Chill.
They do nitrogen infused ice cream, which makes for a nice scene when theyre making it. The ice cream is outstanding!...but it's not cheap. Eight oz for nine dollars. And that's WITHOUT the alcohol add-on, which is five or six dollars.
My wife had vanilla vodka added to her cookies and cream, said it was good but not that noticable. I had cookie butter (biscoff cookie) and it was excellent. But at 23 dollars with tax, I think we'll just go to Coldstone.


Both places were really good/tasty, but I dont know if we'll go to ice cream often/again. Pizza - for sure!

I like Eggs Up Grill in Simpsonville, SC...literally 2 blocks from the house. My wife doesn't care for it, but then it's a restaurant and she has a problem being able to pick ANY restaurant to eat at so her opinion is moot.

I'll get up way before she does and go have a bite to eat by myself. Simple menu, mostly breakfast stuff with a smattering of brunch/lunch stuff. Open 6 am to 2 pm every day.

And they are usually quite busy whenever I go. Since I'm by myself most of the time though, there's hardly any wait because I'll sit at the counter. And FAST. Since it's almost all breakfast stuff, everything just seems to come flying out of the kitchen. And the wait staff there are ALWAYS keeping themselves busy. My tea never gets empty and stuff gets cleared off the counter as needed whenever someone walks by.

We tried a new BBQ spot in Winston this past weekend, East of Texas. They just opened up but seem like they have their stuff together already. Brisket was really good, we got a two person platter and there was plenty of food for us. Awesome outdoor area.

@HMP might be a good date night stop, @Jeppo might be a different locale for a lunch meet.

HMP said:

Saturday night we had Date Night.
I picked the place, she picked the dessert.

I chose a pizza place and, well, it wasnt what we were expecting as far as atmosphere, but the taste was excellent!
I thought, "Oh it's a popular downtown spot, looks like small/individual pizzas, it'll be a great date night spot"
Nah. It's all 16" pizzas, Italian style, and the atmosphere was...well...just open. Lots of HUGE picnic style tables/seating. Not what we expected.
But, as stated, the pizza was ON POINT.

The pizza - Cugino Forno. We ended up getting two pizzas, a water, and a beer - was just under fifty bucks. But we've eaten three times on those pizzas and still have some left.



Next we went to ice cream at a new place on 4th by Foothills called Chill.
They do nitrogen infused ice cream, which makes for a nice scene when theyre making it. The ice cream is outstanding!...but it's not cheap. Eight oz for nine dollars. And that's WITHOUT the alcohol add-on, which is five or six dollars.
My wife had vanilla vodka added to her cookies and cream, said it was good but not that noticable. I had cookie butter (biscoff cookie) and it was excellent. But at 23 dollars with tax, I think we'll just go to Coldstone.


Both places were really good/tasty, but I dont know if we'll go to ice cream often/again. Pizza - for sure!

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Every time I go to incendiary I always end up with Cugino Forno pizza, it's too good to miss if I'm over there.
Burke Street Pizza holds a special place in my heart though.

RetiredUSNChief said:

I like Eggs Up Grill in Simpsonville, SC...literally 2 blocks from the house. My wife doesn't care for it, but then it's a restaurant and she has a problem being able to pick ANY restaurant to eat at so her opinion is moot.

I'll get up way before she does and go have a bite to eat by myself. Simple menu, mostly breakfast stuff with a smattering of brunch/lunch stuff. Open 6 am to 2 pm every day.

And they are usually quite busy whenever I go. Since I'm by myself most of the time though, there's hardly any wait because I'll sit at the counter. And FAST. Since it's almost all breakfast stuff, everything just seems to come flying out of the kitchen. And the wait staff there are ALWAYS keeping themselves busy. My tea never gets empty and stuff gets cleared off the counter as needed whenever someone walks by.

Simpsonville - Order Online

Order Online at Simpsonville, Simpsonville. Pay Ahead and Skip the Line.

order.eggsupgrill.com

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If you're in Simpsonville try a place called King Tut Grill, steaks, wings, etc. It's a little hole in the wall place but has had really good food every time I've been. Last time I was there steak dinner was anywhere from $14-22 depending on the cut.
http://www.kingtutgrill.com/ it's not Ruth Chris, or halls, but it's as good/better than other places in their price point.

Eggs up grill is generally very good, I've not been to that location but I've been to a couple others. If you like the vibe there there's another concept around called Another Broken egg that's similar prices/offerings.

Shortfields has some of the best burgers in that area of the state.

El Matador over in Taylors is the oldest mexican restaurant in the state, they've got great food and it's being run by I think the 3rd generation of the family that opened and grew up working there. They're super nice people, margaritas are great and the stuffed poblanos are about softball size.

myst173 said:

If you're in Simpsonville try a place called King Tut Grill, steaks, wings, etc. It's a little hole in the wall place but has had really good food every time I've been. Last time I was there steak dinner was anywhere from $14-22 depending on the cut.
http://www.kingtutgrill.com/ it's not Ruth Chris, or halls, but it's as good/better than other places in their price point.

Eggs up grill is generally very good, I've not been to that location but I've been to a couple others. If you like the vibe there there's another concept around called Another Broken egg that's similar prices/offerings.

Shortfields has some of the best burgers in that area of the state.

El Matador over in Taylors is the oldest mexican restaurant in the state, they've got great food and it's being run by I think the 3rd generation of the family that opened and grew up working there. They're super nice people, margaritas are great and the stuffed poblanos are about softball size.

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Yeah King Tut is just down Main St. from us. Drive by it a lot, just haven't been there yet.

The one time I was going to try it, they had just closed for the day.

Great BBQ place down the road my wife, SIL, and I are at again.

Bobby's BBQ in Fountain Inn, SC.

They wood cook/smoke in a screen in section of the restaurant. Restaurants set up for BBQ like this area my favorites! That's the fast right side in the pic below. The far left is a sheltered outdoor section that's often screened for weather with tarps having clear windows. The only access to that with the tarps in place are from an inside door.



I didn't take a picture of the restaurant, but I found one online. I did take a picture of the entrance, showing the No Concealable Weapons Allowed sign, not properly posted on the door (the sign is correct, but it's supposed to be posted not less than 40 inches or higher than 60 inches. The top of the sign is at about 32".

In SC, if the sign isn't posted per state law, it's not enforceable.

HOWEVER... the door leading to the sheltered outdoor section IS posted properly on the only door which enters the restaurant.

Which, ironically, means either I can't enter that section at all (if you ignore the fact that the properly posted sign is on the "outside" of the door's glass window and therefore backwards when viewed from the inside) OR that I can't ever leave the restaurant from that section with the tarps down, as there are no other exits!

Now, some people would say they'd never give a business their patronage at all if they post no guns signs. But Bobby's is a great place, Bobby himself is an awesome, outgoing guy who greets everybody when he's tending his BBQ, and if he's not going to post his business in accordance with state law, I'm not going to correct him on it.

Heck, for all I know, he did that deliberately.

If any of ya’ll happen to be out around Union County I definitely recommend Mary O’neills in Waxhaw. They do Irish breakfast for brunch on Sundays and their Shepherds pie is amazing! Plus the whiskey selection is the best I’ve been able to find. It’s a stones throw from our house and has become a weekly staple for us.

In the Smithfield/Clayton area........

Mexican: Tacos y Burritos California on business 70 in Clayton.

Sushi/Asian: Sushi Iwa on business 70.

Uncommon/unusual to Americans: So Hot Korean Hot Pot Restaurant in Cary.

Caribbean Cuisine: Caribbean Delights on business 70 behind McDonald's.

Asian noodles: Noodle Blvd in Raleigh

My wife and I love going to Noodle blvd in Cary! I really could eat there all the time, foods so good!

Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop in Manteo, NC. Picked up some sandwiches for wife and I when I left the range today. There is seating inside and outside on the water. It was very good. There is also a bar. Not sure what time the bar opens though. Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop

ECNC said:

Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop in Manteo, NC. Picked up some sandwiches for wife and I when I left the range today. There is seating inside and outside on the water. It was very good. There is also a bar. Not sure what time the bar opens though. Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop

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We ate there once when The Hungry Pelican was closed. My crew highly prefers The Hungry Pelican. It doesn’t have the seating or on the water eating but the sandwiches are amazing.

DCGallim said:

We ate there once when The Hungry Pelican was closed. My crew highly prefers The Hungry Pelican. It doesn’t have the seating or on the water eating but the sandwiches are amazing.

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Will have to try that out next Thursday.

ECNC said:

Will have to try that out next Thursday.

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Throw me a Godfather with no onions and an Angry Bird in the mail. I’ll owe you one.

I'm taking my mom to Martelle's today for "Mother's Day." Kind of, more or less. My wife is going to visit her mom this weekend, so that leaves me fending for myself, not that it is a problem. So, it's Martelle's for dinner (that'd be lunch for you less cultured folks from somewhere else).

Fridays are shrimp and ribs on the buffet. there are some other things, vegetables and what not, that I am not going to eat. Hey, it's endless shrimp and ribs! And they do have a gumbo that I could make a meal out of, have to eat a bowl of that. It's the best $13 dollars you can spend.

But alas, the place has been put on the market, the owners are getting older and the restaurant is a huge responsibility. I certainly hope someone will buy it who will keep a good thing a good thing. Great food, good atmosphere, homey (not homely) waitresses, good family business. You ought to plan a trip there.

They don't have a website, but here is a link to what I googled.