Crystal’s Restaurant Page

AWESOME

  • General Store Cafe (Pittsboro, NC) - So far, this wins first place in Crystal’s book by a mile! Ingredients are all locally produced/grown/raised; gourmet but casual dining, with lots of personality. Had a meal there spring 2007 that brought me to tears, it was so good.
  • Pop’s Italian Restaurant (Brightleaf Square, Durham) - Amazing gourmet rustic Italian food and good service. You’ll need a reservation unless you dine early. Love the mussels!
  • Sitar India Palace (Shannon Rd/15-501, SW Durham) - deelish, lot of vegetarian options, not expensive, fancy interior, romantic setting.
  • Elmo’s Diner (Ninth St., Durham) - comfort food, great shakes, amazing menu; worth the wait. My favorite thing is turkey and cranberry with cornbread stuffing.
  • The Federal (Main St., downtown Durham) - Awesome burgers, homemade fries with garlic and cilantro
  • Piedmont (Foster St., downtown Durham) - Rustic French fare, great brunch deals, good wine list, yummy cheese and dessert. They buy much of their produce, cheese and meat from the Durham Farmers’ Market.
  • Nosh (Erwin Rd. near Duke University) Excellent, inexpensive food; plenty of vegetarian choices. Breakfast served any time. Staff is very, very nice; they also love dogs.
  • Toast (Main St., downtown Durham) Durham’s newest, cutest little Italian paninoteca (sandwich shop). Everything is tasty! Try warm goat cheese crostini topped with local honey and cracked black pepper… Two thumbs up for Toast!!!
  • Chubby’s Tacos This place turned my whole world around.

Very good

  • Anotherthyme (N. Gregson St., Brightleaf Square district, downtown Durham) - This is a special occasion restaurant for me and Clinton. Casual gourmet, romantic setting, great value. Reservations recommended. Note: Crystal recently demoted this restaurant from “awesome” to a “very good” rating because restaurant was unexpectedly closed on a day that Crystal & Clinton had reservations.
  • Akashi (Hwy 54, South Durham) - Awesome sushi and tofu bento boxes!
  • Vin Rouge (Ninth St, Durham) Frenchy french and delicious. Excellent service.
  • Tonali (Shannon Drive, Durham) Upscale Latino. A bit pricey, but extremely good!
  • Pupuseria Y Taqueria Orellana (N. Roxboro Rd, Durham) - $1.99 hot, fresh pupusas served with Mexican slaw and hot sauce. Divine with tamarindo juice on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
  • Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant (Guess Rd, North Durham) - This is a very strange and fascinating restaurant with great food. Dining room music is like a Chinese version of the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack. Waitress personalities range from ultra surly to bonkers. Famous for their Dim Sum.
  • Tupelo’s (Hillsborough, NC) “Southern coastal cuisine with a New Orlean’s accent” Super cute restaurant in one of the cutest little towns in North Carolina.
  • The Wooden Nickel (Hillsborough, NC) Great burgers and insanely garlicky fries, just the way I like ‘em.
  • Taqueria Lopez (Durham, NC on Hillsborough Rd.) OMG this is good Mexican! Try the tortas!
  • I Love Manhattan Pizza (Ninth St., Durham) - Really good pizza by the slice, very casual, pizza guy is nice. Try the spinach and fresh tomato pizza with garlic sauce.
  • Roma Pizza Shop (N. Roxboro Rd., Durham) - fresh, tasty pizza. Delicious crust. Good prices, and they deliver!
  • China Palace (Garrett Rd, SW Durham) - Very authentic and tasty Chinese food. We like the Chinese greens with garlic.
  • Brigs at the Park (Hwy 54, South Durham) - Diner, great breakfast and sandwiches!
  • Pao Lim (Durham-Chapel Hill Rd, SW Durham) - Chinese, Thai
  • Chosun Ok (Hwy 54, South Durham) - Korean
  • Park Diner (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Sandwiches, cafeteria style gourmet, casual. Unfortunately this place only does catering now…
  • Firebird’s Rocky Mountain Grill (Southpoint Mall, Durham) - American grill (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • Hunan (Chapel Hill) - Chinese
  • Tandoor Indian Restaurant (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Indian. I love the fish hot pot.
  • On the Border (15-501, SW Durham) - Southwestern, closed down now.
  • Amante Pizza (several locations) - great pizza; they deliver.
  • Mellow Mushroom (Blackwell St., downtown Durham) - great salads, pizza and other
  • Tyler’s Taproom (Blackwell St., downtown Durham) - one of the best hamburgers

Fair to good

  • Grayson’s Cafe (Chapel Hill Rd., Durham) Good omelets!
  • Cafe Parizade (Erwin Square on Main St, Durham) - Gorgeous and colorful with high ceilings, comtemporary art, white tablecloths and a great menu. Clinton took me here for our 2nd anniversary.
  • Watt’s Grocery (Broad St., Durham) Wholesome, organic food. The best part is their late night menu (’til 2:00 AM) with ice cream sandwiches and red velvet cupcakes.
  • Tosca’s Ristorante Italiano (West Village, downtown Durham) - Italian; very nice atmosphere.
  • Rockfish Grill (Southpoint mall) - fish and more (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • Parker & Otis (Brightleaf Square, downtown Durham) - breakfast and sandwiches
  • Spotted Dog (Carrboro) - Hodgepodge of things; many, many vegetarian options
  • Cosmic Cantina (Ninth St, Durham) Very funky little restaurant with cool rooftop patio; cheap Mexican food and beer
  • Pho Cali (Capitol Blvd, Raleigh) Good food but horrible atmosphere (smoky, loud TV, etc). Decent pho and other Vietnamese dishes.
  • Le Coco - now called Eno River Eatery (N. Roxboro, North Durham) - Diner style comfort food
  • Golden China (Durham, near Costco) - Very good and inexpensive vegetable hibachi.
  • Dale’s Indian Cuisine (Ninth St., Durham) - Indian
  • Don Cecelio’s (N. Roxboro Rd., North Durham) - Mexican; good vegetarian menu
  • Honey’s (Guess Rd, North Durham) - diner food
  • Kanki (15-501, SW Durham) - Japanese steakhouse and sushi
  • George’s Garage (Ninth St., Durham) - Hodgepodge (self-serve brunch, sushi, etc)
  • Grasshopper (Ninth St., Durham) - Asian fusion
  • Thailanna (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Thai
  • Mt. Fuji (Brightleaf Square, downtown Durham) - Thai and sushi
  • El Rodeo (Brightleaf Square, downtown Durham) - Mexican
  • El Dorado (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Mexican
  • International Delights (AKA “No Ketchup!) - Mediterranean
  • Bocci’s Italian (Fayetteville Rd., South Durham) - Italian
  • Sunset Grille (Fayetteville Rd., South Durham) - very good burgers
  • Blue Corn Cafe (Ninth St., Durham) - Southwestern
  • Baba Ghannouj (Hwy 43, South Durham) - Mediterranean
  • Moe’s (Southpoint Mall, South Durham) - Southwestern (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • PF Chang (Southpoint Mall, South Durham) - Asian fusion (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • Macaroni Grill (15-501, SW Durham) - Italian (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • California Pizza Kitchen (Southpoint Mall, South Durham) - Italian fusion (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • Cheesecake Factory (Southpoint Mall, Durham) - hodgepodge (CHAIN RESTAURANT)
  • Spice n Curry (Hwy 54, South Durham) - Indian
  • Orient Garden (Hwy 54, South Durham) - Chinese
  • Cafe Cafe (Raleigh) - Senegalese and Vietnamese
  • Alivia’s (Main St., downtown Durham) - French bistro and bar
  • Bombay Grille (Hwy 54, South Durham) - Indian
  • Durbar 84 (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Indian and Nepalese
  • Mad Hatter’s (Main St., Durham) - Cafe food and breakfast, great desserts.
  • Pizza Palace (Guess Rd, North Durham) - Very decent pizza, craaaaazy venue. Be sure to see what’s upstairs…
  • Sarah’s Empanadas (Hwy 55, south Durham) - Spicy cheese empanada is my favorite; gazpacho very good in the summer.
  • Symposium (American Tobacco Campus, Durham) - Very impressive decor, lovely atmosphere, food is fair to good, service is a bit overly friendly.
  • Guglhupf (15-501, SW Durham) - bakery, European cafe food. Pretty terrible service, very poorly organized, can get unpleasantly crowded on weekends and around weekday lunch. Cheese plate is very tasty, though, as is their espresso.

Eh, whatever

  • Kim Son Vietnamese Restaurant (Guess Rd, Durham) The food is just so-so. The bubble tea is nice but expensive. Decor has improved tremendously since spring 2008 remodel.
  • Twisted Noodle (University Drive, SW Durham) Thai food is okay; service is very bad.
  • New Dragon Inn (Guess Rd, North Durham) Used to be good, but new owner and new cooks are not good. Tastiness level has plummeted.
  • Rick’s Diner (University Drive, SW Durham) Blueberry pancakes are good, the music is nice. Very crowded on the weekends. Hate the atmosphere.
  • Banditos (Woodcroft Shopping Center, SW Durham) - Mexican
  • Torrero’s (Main St., downtown Durham) - Mexican
  • Nantucket Grill (Fayetteville Rd., South Durham) - Continental; pretentious and their free dessert doesn’t impress me. Pinenut salad is good, though.
  • Banh’s (Ninth St., Durham) - Chinese and supposedly Vietnamese
  • Pho 9N9 Vietnamese House (S. Miami Blvd, RTP) - Vietnamese
  • Benedict’s (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Diner
  • Randy’s Pizza (Hope Valley Rd, SW Durham) - pizza. Unimpressive.
  • Hot Pot (Hwy 55, South Durham) - Jamaican.
  • Carrburrito (Carrboro) - Burrito joint
  • Mama Dips (Chapel Hill) - Southern comfort food
  • Bali Hai Mongolian Grill (Ninth St., Durham) - You choose your own meat, veggies and sauce, then they cook for you. Novelty interesting, food and price not so good.
  • Foster’s Market (15-501, Durham) - coffee shop, wraps and sandwiches. Note: very disorganized system for taking orders, but self-serve coffee and casual atmosphere is nice.

Stay away

  • Flying Burrito Mexican Restaurant (Chapel Hill) - made us ill twice
  • Spice Street (Chapel Hill) - pretentious, bad service, boring menu
  • Serena Restaurant and Bar (S. Miami Blvd, RTP) - unbelievably good sandwiches and salads, but unbelievably bad service! Do not go there if you have a limited amount of time to eat or if you’re very hungry.
  • Texas Roadhouse (N. Pointe Dr., Durham) - salty, salty food; a lot of sales pressure
  • Jason’s Deli (15-501, SW Durham) - sandwiches supposed to be the “best”, but I find them to be dry and flavorless.
  • Saladelia Cafe (University Drive, SW Durham) - Sandwiches and coffee shop; used to like this place more but had a very bad cookie there recently, which tasted the way farts smell. I don’t think they have very sanitary cooking and serving practices.

Restaurants Crystal wants to try next:

  • Bennett Point Grill
  • Rue Cler
  • Nana’s