Top Restaurants in North Carolina

Those that know me, know that I LOVE good food. When we go on vacations, my dad and I are the ones looking for local restaurants to visit. Because 1)they are more passionate about what they put out and 2) they use locally sourced supplies. In our many travels across our great state, we have eaten at several different places. Some good and, well, some not so tasty. A lot of times it’s the place that doesn’t look so good on the outside that has some of the best food.

In the past few years, North Carolina has become quite the food hub. The Food Truck industry has amazingly increased in popularity. And many can already attribute to North Carolina’s many different BBQ styles, particularly Eastern and Western style.

North Carolina has some awesome seafood providers along the beautiful crystal coast, so I thought I would start with our favorite seafood restaurants. Riverview Cafe is located on the New River in Sneads Ferry. They were greatly damaged when Florence went through in 2018, but have since rebuilt. The menus range from hamburger steak to chicken to mahi. I can tell you that the scallops are out of this world good. If you find yourself in the Sneads Ferry area, be sure to stop by Riverview Cafe. Oh yeah, and for dessert, get the key lime pie. The meringue on that pie is crazy high!! Another one of our most top rated seafood restaurants is the NC Seafood Restaurant located at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh. That place is rocking every day. If you don’t get there early, you can expect to wait awhile at lunch time. The food is so deliciously good!!! Be sure to take a friend to share the platter with because they are so generous with helpings you can definitely share.

Two of our best places for steak are the Peddler in Raleigh and the Clayton Steakhouse in downtown Clayton. In my honest opinion they are side by side the best. They are both small in size but are big on flavor!

Ohhhhh! My favorite food truck is The Humble Pig. I went to a wedding a few years back that they catered for and the beef brisket was amazingly tender and juicy. They have this white sauce called Alabama barbecue sauce and being from NC, where you eat either tomato base or vinegar base, that stuff was superb. Be sure to give them a follow and find them at their next location or event.

Two years ago we vacationed in Boone NC, by the way…..it is one of my most favorite places to visit. Absolutely breathtaking!! Anyways, we decided on a whim to try Vidalia in downtown Boone. The burgers were out of the ballpark good. My dad ordered the burger with a fried egg and vidalia onions on it. I ordered the bacon and pimento cheese burger. Awesome!!! When visiting the area, go to Vidalia.

And of course, who doesn’t love a hot glazed doughnut from the great Krispie Kreme. Originally starting in Winston Salem in 1937, they have grown to be one of the best doughnuts ever. There is one other doughnut shop that is pretty flavorful and that’s Duck Doughnuts. The assortment they offer is quite amazing!

A few places I look forward to trying in the future are Over Yonder in Sugar Grove, NC; The Beefmaster Inn in Wilson, NC; Brits Doughtnuts at Carolina Beach; and one of Ashley Christensen’s restaurants in Raleigh, specifically Chuck’s. As well as a few others.

I hope that we have helped you decide on some good places to eat throughout our amazing state of North Carolina. A friend once told me that people will always pay for good food, because let’s face it, you have to eat. So go and enjoy that next great meal.

Most of the restaurants in this article can be found on Facebook

Happy Eating!!!