Raleigh, North Carolina
This was my first time in Raleigh (other than for layovers in the airport). I spent two days at a downtown Marriot, and during that time Raleigh didn’t let me down. There were restaurants and cafes galore, dozens of drinking holes, and live music all in a bustling college town setting.
SCR Rating = 4/5
TL;DR - go here, order the chicken salad, put it in your mouth.
This was one of my favorite lunches from Raleigh. I ordered the chicken kabobs, and opted for a side salad and chicken salad as my two sides.
The chicken kabobs were on point; two skewers of grilled, moist chicken chunks that came with homemade garlic aioli. The combination was delicious, though it meant I had to hit the breath mints hard before piling back into the rental car with the lunch crew.
The side salad was simple, but nothing to write home about. I passed the homemade pita bread to my neighbor, as I’m still on the keto train.
The chicken salad was where things got weird . . . in a good way. It was savory, with the most lovely cinnamon and cardamom (and maybe nutmeg?) undertones. I could have eaten a plate full of the stuff. It was the highlight of my lunch. I dream about it to this day.
If you find yourself in Raleigh and you like Mediterranean food, then I highly suggest you check this place out. Just be sure to get there a little early. Once the lunch rush hit, the place was a madhouse. Although they didn’t look particularly understaffed, they had a hard time keeping up with orders. There were just that many people who wanted their tasty food. Definitely a good problem to have for a restaurant.
SCR Rating 3/5
Tasty, fast, clean, nice looking, classy joint.
I ordered the Chopped BBQ “Eastern North Carolina Style.” To round things out, we also got some deviled eggs as an appetizer.
Our meals came with complimentary biscuits, hush puppies, and butter, which I had to pass on (I picked a bad year to ride the keto train). The biscuits smelled and looked amazing; the look on my lunchmate’s face when he ate them told me passing up on them was a big mistake.
The deviled eggs were good, a solid three.
The Chopped BBQ was very good. It was juicy and already had a nice spice to it, though I opted to add some of the more vinegar heavy BBQ sauce from the table on there. The final product made for tangy, mouthwatering bites. This was a perfect keto meal for me.
The brussels sprouts with bacon were prepared in that sweet spot between not too squishy and not too firm. The coleslaw was simple and just fine. I’d order it all again — solid threes across the board.
SCR Rating 4/5
A quick plug for this food hall.
If you’ve got a gang of folks who all have different tastes, then this is a solid choice for dinner. All of the food and deserts there looked top-notch. I heard nothing but good things about the various dishes folks in my party ordered.
I had some charcuterie from Alimentari (first picture) to go with the Malbec offered at the bar. It was perfect.
Would definitely go back.
