Raleigh, Durham & Chapel Hill Restaurants

Editor's Pick

An old favorite with a few nice upgrades

Team photos dating back to the days of leather football helmets hang so close together on the walls of the Players' Retreat that you can barely see the age-darkened wood paneling behind them. Hundreds of beer cans, some of them brands that haven't been brewed in decades, stand in neat rows on high, narrow shelves. — Greg Cox

The Players' Retreat

Greg Cox

Greg Cox is the restaurant critic for The News & Observer. Read Greg's Columns on newsobserver.com.

N&O Mouthful blog

The Mouthful blog focuses on all things food in the Triangle: where to dine, where to shop, what to eat, what to cook.

Featured Restaurants

Fins

110 E. Davie St., Raleigh, NC, 27601

News & Observer restaurant critic Greg Cox says: After relocating from North Raleigh to roomier, snazzier digs downtown, Fins is better than ever. Owner/chef William D’Auvray’s Pacific Rim fusion menu leans heavily to seafood and evolves with the daily catch, with ... more

Vincent's Italian Restaurant

6300 Creedmoor Rd., Raleigh, NC, 27612

"When my grandfather, Vincenzo Barresi founded our company, he had a very simple idea: to make the finest food possible - nothing less. There's no compromising of quality in the nature of efficiency; there'd be no short cuts; there'd be no ingredients that were 'almost as good'.

Busy Bee Cafe

225 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC, 27634

Greg Cox says the Busy Bee is emphatically not your grandfather's -- or even your father's -- café. It's a multilevel, multifunction gathering place that caters to the wants and needs of the modern urban professional crowd from sun up to long past sundown.

Ginza Japanese Steak House ...

1077 Darrington Dr., Cary, NC, 27513

Authentic Japanese Cuisin, Sushi and Teppanyaki! NOW OPEN!

Amedeo's Italian Restaurant

3905 Western Blvd., Raleigh, NC, 27606

Raleigh, NC is a long way from Reading, PA, yet Amedeo "Dick" DeAngelis made the trek to play football for the mighty NC State Wolfpack in 1954. Playing on a scholarship, he was a long way from home and he greatly missed "home cooking". The idea of opening a small ... more

Cheese Steaks