What's your Favorite Restaurant? (Greensboro, High Point: cost, shop, garden)

[distortedrumble]

Originally Posted by ibeg4sushi

What about Thai or vegetarian places?

thai pan - downtown greensboro
rearn thai- west market around the international mega market thingy - greensboro
dim sum - benjamin parkway greensboro
boba house and the other asian place (thats not the name of it) on tate street in greensboro

[Shea]

Originally Posted by clawhammerist

I love Thai, and a friend and I have made a practice of visiting every Thai place in the area that we can! A brief rundown:

I personally wasn't nuts about Downtown Thai when I tried it. Everyone with me agreed that the food was pretty bland (even when some of us requested extra spiciness), and the prices were quite steep. I'm sure a location like that is part of the reason behind the prices...but, for me, the food wasn't good enough to feel worth the money.

Sticking with the W-S area, I haven't tried the place in Clemmons, but it sounds interesting and will definitely be added to my to-visit list. My favorite Thai restaurant here is Cha-Da Thai, on Jonestown Road in a stripmall right at I-40. It's pretty popular, and service can be a bit slow...but the food is terrific, and well worth waiting for. Some of the dishes are delicious non-standard items (at least in my experience), but the usual Thai suspect are also featured. Everything I have had there has been totally tasty. The prices are quite reasonable, too.

In Greensboro particularly, I've been astounded by the sheer quantity of Thai restaurants! My current favorite over there is a newish place, Tara Thai, off of College Road south of the Quaker Village center. REALLY good, quite spicy if you ask for it to be, large portions for very fair prices, and still undiscovered enough to be calm and cozy most evenings. Their Tom Kha soup can't be beat!

Forget about the Thai place in downtown Greensboro. It was good the first time I went, when the restaurant was still pretty new, but it's gone swiftly downhill from there. Taste of Thai, while offering the best atmosphere and ambience bar-none among all the Thai establishments in the Triad, continually disappoints me with bland food (as well as one particularly nightmarish takeout experience, food- and service-wise both--but I digress). While not bad per se, it's just not flavorful the way I expect Thai food to be. They also have a satellite location in that strange new "international strip mall" or whatever it is on Market, and its food is similarly nondescript. Rearn Thai has been a solid standby for years, and the food is always tasty. Service for me has been hit-or-miss there, and their oddly-designed new building kinda gives me the creeps...but I still choose it on a fairly regular basis. I understand that there is another newer place on Market near Walker, but I haven't tried it or heard any reviews. Does anybody know how it is?

Beyond Thai, I recommend the following places:

-Sweet Potatoes, Trade Street in downtown W-S: very cool Southern fusion food (but not so fused as to be cutesy...I don't care for that sort of cuisine) served in substantial portions. Not cheap (although not ridiculous, I don't think), but worth it for special occasions.

-Liberty Oak, downtown Greensboro: delicious and creative spins on "traditional" American cuisine, plus some real surprises. I haven't been there in some time, but they used to offer special prices for early-bird dinners, which made eating here be somewhat of a bargain. Does anyone know whether this is still happening?

-Boba House, Tate Street near UNCG: this pseudo-Asian cafe serves up massive portions of soups, stir fry-type dishes, rice- and noodle-based meals, and more at prices appropriate for this student-dominated area. Many dishes feature imitation meat, which is quite tasty once you get past the concept, which makes some folks think twice. Lots of vegetarian and vegan options (perhaps exclusively these--do they serve any real meat?).

-Elizabeth's, far out Battleground Avenue past Brassfield in Greensboro: my favorite branch of this local chain (whose locations vary A LOT--the one at Quaker Village is perhaps my next favorite, and the one on Market is my least favorite...incredibly bland and boring food there, to me!) serves up great pizzas, pasta dishes, and enormous salads (get the Greek salad and add their special rotisserie chicken--it makes a great meal, and you'll surely have enough left over for lunch the next day) in a comfortable setting for very reasonable prices.

-Barberitos, somewhere in High Point (I get lost in that town every time I go through...) and Pisgah Church Road in Greensboro: this is a small southeast chain that features casual pseudo-Mexican food, with an emphasis on huge burritos. Better than Qdoba or Chipotle. Great for lunch! I find their menu options mystifying, and have had better luck simply ordering my food ingredient-by-ingredient (although it seems like I pay a slightly different price every time for the same end result...). However, once you get past that, the food is very fresh, flavorful, creative, and cheap!

In addition, let me second the recommendations for Pie Works, Stamey's, and Brixx (good pizza but smallish portions). Also, here's a vote for steering clear of the national chains that are way too prevalent in the Triad, and instead trying some of the restaurants that are unique to this area!

How Yummy Sounding! I would love to join your small group of amature food critics! I am a Chef who has just moved to town and what fun it seems to be and a great social gatherting as well. HHmm ever think of getting published in a weekly form in a local newspaper?

[roadpony]

In Winston-Salem:
Paul's - upscale Italian in a plain-box setting
Sweet Potatos - southern chic
Milner's - simply wonderful
Bell Brothers - for a unique local experience and true downhome cooking
El Sombrero - the best quacamole
Zevely House - for a special night out
West End Cafe - a neighborhood institution
Mary's Of Course - for Sunday brunch
Big Shotz Tavern - casual

And I just heard that my all-time favorite - South By Southwest - has closed. RIP

For more listings in Winston-Salem, go to http://www.smittysnotes.com/best-of-winston-salem.html

[NewDad]

thai:
1. Chang Thai - Clemmons/Advance - the most fabulous Thai around
2. Cha-da-Thai - W-S Jonestown Rd - second most fabulous Thai around
3. Downtown Thai - W-S (while the food was good they pissed us off by making us leave to make room for the next set of people - and I mean just as soon as we were all finished eating the asked us to leave) never been back since, won't even consider it

Italian:
I Bambini in Clemmons - I don't even have to mention any other Italian place as this place blows them away. They have at least 50+ items to choose from on their menu

[roygerdodger]

I like Hams, Henry James, Chu's Express, and Sir Pizza (all in High Point).

[LTrogdon]

Hams - Greensboro
Ganache- Greensboro
Steak Street - Greensboro
Harpers - Greensboro Friendly Center
Flemings- Greensboro
Green Valley Grill - Greensboro

[Niki]

I'm near Harpers all the time, but I've never been. What kind of food do they have? A mix? What are the prices like?

[Friars]

harpers not too bad. Good brunch menu on sundays

[COLTSFAN01]

Prissy Polly's BBQ in K-ville has some great pork bbq and their hush puppy rings are awesome! We also like Tripps in Gboro a lot. Outwest steakhouse in kville is good too, but pretty expensive. And we love to go to Buffalo Wild wings every now and then for some great wings, cold beer and to play the trivia (or poker games) on the TV's with their wireless game units.

[d_Random]

Best New York style Pizza in Greensboro...

Pizzeria L'Italiano
(336) 274-4810
219 S Elm St, Greensboro

Best than Elizabeth's or New York pizza on Tate street.