Who’s your favorite?

Terri Buckner suggests:

At last week’s hearing on food trucks, Aaron Nelson said that there are about 280 restaurants within the OWASA service district. The next day the Independent issued its annual “best of” survey. Since then I’ve had several conversations about personal favorites. So how about if we conduct our own mini ‘best of’ survey. We’ll define the OWASA service district from north to south as the Chatham County line to I-40 and from east to west as Lowe’s to White Cross. Within that area what are your favorite bars/restaurants in the following category? If there is enough interest, I’ll tally the responses and post the results next weekend.

Best lunch with a friend:
Best business lunch:
Best after-work happy hour:
Best family dinner:
Best breakfast:
Best weekend brunch:
Most romantic dinner:
Best beer selection:
Best wine selection:
Best local foods:
Best vegetarian:
Best vegan:
Best desserts:
Best Mexican:
Best Italian:
Best Mediterranean:
Best Indian:
Best American:
Best gelato:
Best cupcakes:
Write in your own category:

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10 Comments

  1. Duncan O'Malley

     /  March 7, 2011

    Best family dinner (value) – K&W Cafeteria

  2. George C

     /  March 7, 2011

    Best romantic dinner: Bonne Soiree
    Best Mexican: Fiesta Grill
    Best New York-style deli: Streets
    Best local foods: Lantern

  3. Terri Buckner

     /  March 7, 2011

    I was just chastised for pushing the OWASA boundary out to White Cross. For the record, that area is right directly next to the quarry so I think they should be included in any restaurant discussion. I vote for Fiesta Grill as the best Mexican also.

  4. Nancy Oates

     /  March 7, 2011

    Council member Ed Harrison also takes issue with our boundaries. Here’s what he has to say:
    You’re free to make your own definitions of things, but there is a clearly defined OWASA service district, and it is shown on the attached map. [No map was attached to the e-mail he sent me — NEO]
    The survey by the Chamber of Commerce of restaurant locations — “by grease traps ” — was supposedly based on the actual service district boundaries.
    Given that the Chapel Hill fire chief’s tabulation about 7 years ago of locations in the Town limits with ABC permits, came up over 200, it isn’t hard to see how there would be 280 restaurants in an area which includes the entirety of the zoning jurisdictions for Chapel Hill and Carrboro, plus an extension west on NC 54 (for public health
    reasons, if I recall).
    So if you contract your fictional district about 2 miles from the west, and extend it more than a mile eastward, and pull it in a bit on the south, it will be accurate.
    I happen to prefer accuracy.
    Ed Harrison

  5. Ed Harrison

     /  March 7, 2011

    Thought I’d give a follow up to the quoted email above. BTW, according to my email log, the email that went to Nancy had the map attached, with the email approaching 400 KB in size. Not sure what failed on Nancy’s end, but I sent it, and it displayed in the email that I sent.
    Realized that my friend Terri was the one who came up with the boundaries. Given her experience as OWASA board member (and a fine one) , she does know the actual OWASA service boundaries, but consciously chose to extend them west in order to include Fiesta Grill. Given the immediate vote for George for this reputable place, the extension apparently made sense. Having the eastern edge around Lowe’s does cut out about 20 percent of Chapel Hill (yes, that much), but it does barely take in Carolina Cafe, which has good sandwiches for good prices and outdoor seating. If George says Streets deli is good, then I’ll believe that fully, as he’s about my favorite eating companion after my next of kin. It’s in the much-lambasted East 54 development, which George recommended from two boards and for which I voted, along with everyone else at the Council table.
    Also good to see a traditional cafeteria getting a single shot vote. Fans of K&W should hope that current and future U Mall owners appreciate its special status in the area. Although the Council can tell that Mall that we won’t put our library there permanently, it can’t tell the owners which restaurants to keep. They almost lost my business lunch business when Bear Rock jumped about 4 miles to the east. But the Southern Season salad bar isn’t going anywhere else, unless elsewhere in the store.

  6. John Kramer

     /  March 7, 2011

    Great Delis: McAlisters and Jasons
    Best Restaurant in the Triangle: Nanas

    Oh, wait, those are in Durham. Where I shop.

  7. Terri Buckner

     /  March 7, 2011

    Best lunch with a friend: Buns
    Best after-work happy hour: Carolina Brewery
    Best breakfast: Neal’s Deli
    Best weekend brunch: Crooks Corner
    Best beer selection: Mill Town
    Best local foods: Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe
    Best vegetarian: Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe
    Best Mexican: Fiesta Grill
    Best Mediterranean: Mediterranean Deli
    Best Indian: Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe
    Best gelato: Sugarland
    Best cupcakes: Sugarland

  8. Mark Marcoplos

     /  March 9, 2011

    Fiesta Grill has been a major life-style enhancer out here in White Cross (just a few miles from the Quarry and Cane Creek Reservoir). The other major food sector that has put a dip in our hip and a glide in our stride out here in the Haw River watershed (which we protect as best we can for you OWASA slurpers, bathers, and hose-handlers), is the General Store in Saxapahaw. Great local food, deliciously prepared – and you are likely to run into multiple friends from the surrounding area. Local economies transcend arbitrary political boundaries and make the sales tax battle irrelevant.

  9. Elliot

     /  March 9, 2011

    Best Crepes: Crepes Veronique in The Courtyard (at least until the end of the month). The new owners can’t decide whether or not they want ALL of the businesses there to close.

  10. Nancy Oates

     /  March 10, 2011

    George — Make a romantic dinner date soon, as Bonne Soiree’s owners are packing up their operation and moving to New York, in April, I’ve heard. Don and I celebrate our anniversary every year with lunch at the Med Deli, but then, some might say we don’t know from romance. We do know desserts, though, and we’ve been very impressed with the bakery section of Whole Foods in the past year. The cakes we’ve had there recently seem to be homemade and very fresh. We’re divided on our vote for Best Chocolate Shop: mine is The Chocolate Door; Don favors Stam’s (now open in East 54).