16. Sunflower’S
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 833-4676
Address: 8 W. Peace St.
Description: An equal-opportunity eatery, Sunflower’s offers as many vegetarian options as it does meat-heavy sandwiches. Delicious combinations loaded with sprouts, cukes, carrot slivers, and half a dozen varieties of cheese populate the veggie side of the menu. Carnivores should try the Mighty Quinn, roast beef with horseradish sauce. Next door to Peace College and within walking distance of downtown’s state offices, the small dining room fills up quickly at lunchtime. It’s a bright and airy spot for a nosh, but if you’re in a hurry call ahead and pick up your sandwiches from the drive-through window. Sunflower’s takes only cash or checks during the lunch service.
17. Locopops
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 286-3500
Address: 1908 Hillsborough St.
Description: The Triangle’s favorite popsicle stand, Locopops’ creative flavors are inspired and ever changing. Mojito, chocolate-wasabi, mango-chili, watermelon-cilantro—the combinations are always surprising. The environment is spare and cheery, with children’s drawings and paintings on the wall and brightly colored Adirondack chairs. The popsicles are $2 apiece, which makes meeting a friend for Locopops a fun and cheap alternative to grabbing a latte. Locopops takes cash only.
18. The Cupcake Shoppe
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 821-4223
Address: 104 Glenwood Ave.
Description: The cutest little stop on Glenwood South, the Cupcake Shoppe draws the afternoon stroller-pushers out for a snack as well as the nighttime noshers who opt for sweets in lieu of cocktails. Cupcakes come in a baker’s dozen of flavors, from Plain Jane vanilla with vanilla buttercream frosting to You Mocha Me Crazy dark chocolate cake with espresso buttercream. They look as good as they taste, and the only complaint that resonates is that they lay the frosting on too thick. It’s a good problem to have.
19. Hayes-Barton Cafe
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 856-8551
Address: 2000 Fairview Rd.
Description: Hayes-Barton Pharmacy still fills prescriptions, as it has done for more than 75 years, and behind this Five Points’ landmark, the Hayes-Barton Cafe satisfies sweet tooths. The impossibly tall desserts—carrot, coconut, white chocolate-banana mousse pie, and lemon meringue pie—come in giant slices large enough to share. The warm red walls and 1940s-era decor set the mood for indulgence. The cafe serves lunch weekdays and Saturday and dinner Wednesday through Saturday. The Hayes-Barton takes cash only.
20. Bloomsbury Bistro
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 834-9011
Address: 509 W. Whitaker Mill Rd., Suite 101
Description: A favorite of its neighbors in Five Points, Bloomsbury’s reputation draws regulars from all parts of the Triangle as well. Inspired by seasonal ingredients, the menu changes every six weeks to offer a new lineup of French dishes with global influences. Options could include sautéed Carolina mountain trout over acorn squash bisque and fresh Miki noodles in coconut curry with tropical fruit. Fans count the service as some of the best in town.
21. Coquette Brasserie
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 789-0606
Address: 4351 The Circle at N. Hills
Description: The black and white tile floors, bentwood cafe chairs, and distinctive globe-light chandeliers offer a comfortable backdrop for Coquette’s warming menu of French bistro food. The bread is baked in house, and you’ll need lots of it to sop up the flavorful fennel-scented broth that accompanies the moules frites. Fish lovers can find a great variety of dishes prepared in creative ways—pistachio-crusted salmon, crispy trout with haricots verts, and grilled squid in arugula salad. Those seeking simply “Le Hamburger” will be pleased as well. The wines are all French, and the beverage director paid equal attention to the excellent selection of beers.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Address: 10 W. Franklin St., Suite 120
23. Neomonde
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 828-1628
Address: 3817 Beryl Rd.
Description: The Lebanese Saleh brothers have been baking bread and pita since they came to Raleigh in the 1970s. Their bread is found in restaurants throughout the Triangle, including their two locations of Neomonde, where they use it to make Mediterranean sandwiches topped with local tomatoes. Neomonde’s staples, especially the hummus, are delicious, and their inventive specialty pies, made with their pita dough, contain a variety of scrumptious fillings including spinach, cheese, and tomato-and-olive. The Morrisville location is a popular RTP lunch spot while the Beryl Road spot, near the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, serves N.C. State and environs.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Address: 137 S. Wilmington St.
25. Onlyburger
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Description: Unless you luck out and the OnlyBurger truck happens to be parked at your street party or festival, you have to do a little homework to find one of the best burgers in the Triangle. OnlyBurger’s restaurant-on-wheels changes its Durham location daily. But lots of fans follow them on Twitter and Facebook, keeping their big, fresh, juicy burgers on their lunchtime radar. Toppings include lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and mustard, and if you ask, mayo. Cheese and bacon are extra. Specials can include burgers topped with fried green tomatoes and an egg. Fries or chips are the only sides. OnlyBurger also cooks up a pretty good veggie burger.
26. The Berkeley Cafe
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 821-0777
Address: 217 W. Martin St.
Description: It’s a narrow little dive sandwiched between downtown and the warehouse district where the service is prompt and friendly and the burgers are divine. The Berkeley’s burgers come in 14 variations, from the Luau Lisa, with grilled pineapple and honey mustard, to the Del Mar, with guacamole and provolone. It’s the kind of place where you can sit and eat your burger and keep to yourself or chat casually with the cooks and waiters behind the counter.
27. Char-Grill
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 821-7636
Address: 618 Hillsborough St.
Description: This Raleigh institution marks half a century of burger slinging in 2010. Not much has changed about the place since the original Char-Grill opened on Hillsborough Street. Eager diners fill out their order forms and slide them under the glass to the cooks, who grill up sizzling burgers, fries, and chicken sandwiches. Hungry diners wait anxiously for their names to be called, then spread the grub out on a picnic table overlooking the traffic or eat behind the wheel. Burgers are fresh and juicy, and toppings are plentiful. Savvy burger lovers know to call ahead and cut down on wait times.
28. Snoopy’S
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 833-0992
Address: 1931 Wake Forest Rd.
Description: Snoopy’s has a big hot dog on its sign, the mark of its beloved footlongs, but its burgers rank among the best in Raleigh, too. It’s walk-up, take-out stores are beloved for zippy service and the late hours they keep, which means you’ll find a crowd lingering in a Snoopy’s parking lot, waiting for burgers or wolfing them down, almost any time of day. Snoopy’s has daily specials, including 99-cent hot dogs on Tuesdays. The original store on Wake Forest Road has been a landmark since 1978.
29. Royal India
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 981-0849
Address: 3901 Capital Blvd. Suite 103
Description: You’d never guess how pretty the dining room of this restaurant is judging from the outside. Hand-carved wooden screens, vintage black-and-white portraits of Indian royalty, and illuminated mango-colored ceilings give an exotic air to Royal India. The food is some of the most popular in the city, with butter chicken and chicken tikka masala consistent favorites. The lunch buffet is popular, as are the specialty meals including the vegetarian platter and the sizzling grill, which features lamb and chicken kebabs and tandoori shrimp.
30. Piazza Italia
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (919) 956-7360
Address: 905 W. Main St., Suite 18A
Description: Piazza Italia’s beautifully restored warehouse home, all warm wood and exposed brick, sets a lovely, rustic tone for meals that feature freshly made pasta and gelato. In Brightleaf Square, the restaurant is set up to recall an Italian village, with a fountain in the middle. Ravioli, stuffed with either ricotta and spinach or beef, pork, and veal, are always delicious. The kitchen also turns out good fish and shellfish dishes, including a filet of sole Milanese. You can buy fresh pasta and other ingredients to take home from the market section.