Head inside the glass doors by the waterfall at the bottom floor of the Fowler Building in the Tobacco District, and you’ll find the District, a restaurant only open on Thursdays and Fridays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm for lunch and from 7:30 am to 10:00 am for breakfast (edited 2/3 to update hours and add breakfast!).


The Fowler Building is also the home of the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham, and their culinary program is why the District exists in the …

Serving Cuban food in an upscale yet unstuffy atmosphere, Gregoria’s Kitchen is located in an old house on Chapel Hill Road just up the street from La Vaquita. Lured in by the $20 three course meal, we checked it out this past week during Triangle Restaurant Week.

On a Friday night, we were warmly welcomed by two hosts and seated near a harp player. Despite low lighting, candles on the tables and the harp, Gregoria’s manages to feel casual and …

We used to regularly watch basketball games at the Tavern when it was located on 15-501. It was one of the few places in town that was large enough and off-the-beaten path enough that you didn’t have to fight for a spot to watch a game. When the Tavern moved to its current location on Markham just off 9th street, we had high hopes. We stopped in the first week it was open only to be greeted by oversized bouncers outfitted in mesh shirts …

Golden Belt finally has a permanent spot to grab a light bite to eat. Blend, a coffee/frozen yogurt shop, opened this weekend during Third Friday. From Blend’s facebook page, they will offer “Counter Culture Coffee, light breakfast and lunch fare sourced locally or prepared in house from local ingredients and frozen yogurt.”

We stopped in Friday night during their opening to sample a coffee and try a yogurt. The space is open and airy, filled with furniture made from salvaged wood from …

Pop’s is another Durham staple. It’s not a hidden gem or off the beaten path, but it is – simply put – one of the best restaurants in town. And once again in the interest of Carpe Durham becoming a complete dining guide for the Bull City, I wanted to do a quick post.

With both a static entrée list  and seasonal offerings, Pop’s is actually relatively affordable. Only the steak tops $20 and one could make a lovely dinner out of any of Pop’s wood-oven pizzas, all of which are $10. …

Bull Street Gourmet and Market, a gourmet food market and cafe, recently opened in the now always bustling Hope Valley Square. With Only Burger, Tutti Frutti, Rick’s Diner, Pop’s Backdoor and now Bull Street, I’m starting to envy folks who live on this side of town.

Welcoming and warm, Bull Street Gourmet and Market (an off-shoot of a popular market of the same name in Charleston) has a well-curated small selection of wine, …

Baguettaboutit, a new sausage/baguette truck, hit the roads of Durham last Friday night and it oddly feels a bit corporate. They already have t-shirts with a pithy slogan “wanted bread or alive,” clever sandwich names, a video screen in the front window showcasing their wares, and cute little pre-printed ordering bags.

The concept of Baguettaboutit is European-style fresh baguettes stuffed with a variety of sausage and sauce options. Their pre-printed ordering bags have their sausage baguette options and a design-it-yourself form. You walk up, write …

Not much needs to be said about Straw Valley Cafe, the pictures will speak for themselves. It is – to put it simply – a coffee shop/wine bar, but really Straw Valley Cafe is an artistic, mid-century paradise in the center of the hellish part of town known as New Hope Commons. Hidden beside a self-storage facility on the road that runs parallel to 15-501, Straw Valley Cafe was shamefully empty on a Saturday afternoon.

We ordered a mexican mocha – a rich spicy chocolate drink …

Yamazushi is a Japanese restaurant that’s been in the Woodcroft Shopping Center since 1986, owned by the same husband and wife pair, George and Mayumi Yamazawa. I’ve been once before, at least four years ago, and it struck me then as your standard sushi and teriyaki restaurant with prices that were somewhat steeper than the others nearby. I discovered on my recent visit that Yamazushi has undergone a transformation—they now offer a unique Japanese dining experience for this area, focused on kaiseki, a multicourse meal of small but thoughtfully planned …

A new bakery opened in downtown Durham at the end of November. Loaf is the storefront from Ron Graff and his wife Jamie, who have set up the stand with the same name at the Durham Farmer’s Market every Saturday for the past few years. We, like most, have regularly stopped by their stand to pick up a bite of one of the five or six loaves they have diced up for sampling and brought home a loaf. We are excited their freshly …