Celebrated Cuisine

Chamas Churrascaria offers the culture and food of southern Brazil with its rodizio, a popular Brazilian style barbecue, and a wide variety of different cuts of slow-cooked beef, pork, lamb and chicken, which is carved at the table. Winner of Wine Spectator's online Award of Excellence.

The Four-Diamond restaurant and its executive chef Jason Cunningham are most noted for "regional neo-American" specialties. Fairview's award-winning wine list offers a vast and varied selection of the finest vintages.

Bon Appétit calls Four Square "exciting" and remarks, "The plates going back to the kitchen were licked clean." Owned and operated by executive chef Shane Ingram and his wife, former pastry chef Elizabeth Woodhouse.

Magnolia Grill, one of "America's Best 50 Restaurants," and its chef-owners Ben and Karen Barker are well-known for flavor and flair. The James Beard Foundation has named Ben "Best Chef in the Southeast" and Karen the nation's most "Outstanding Pastry Chef."

Once named one of the best new restaurants in the nation by Esquire. Chef-owner Scott Howell, "a man of formidable talent," (Food & Wine) serves Southern regional cuisine with strong Italian and French influences.

Winner of the Distinguished Restaurants of North America’s 2006 Award of Excellence, Papas Grille serves Hellenic and Mediterranean-rim cuisine and ensures that every facet of the dining experience from the silverware and place settings to the wait staff and cuisine, is impeccable.

According to Southern Living, "The doors open into a fantasy world the menu whirls you through the Mediterranean. The ebullient atmosphere reflects the personality of longtime Durham restaurateur Giorgios Bakatsias." Restaurant closes weekdays between 2:30 and 5:30pm.

Condé Nast Traveler listed Piedmont on its Hot List of the world's newest, hottest, sexiest restaurants, calling the eatery's rustic Italian and French influences "...an appealing combination of farm-fresh earnestness and contemporary style."

Recognized by USA Today within weeks of its opening, this former warehouse located in Downtown's Brightleaf District, now has high ceilings, an open kitchen, and wood-fired oven perfect for preparing northern Italian cuisine.

A Parisian-style restaurant and bakery, Rue Cler’s classic bistro cuisine combines the freshest ingredients and delicious French wines at a reasonable price during lunch, dinner, and brunch. Food and Wine praises the hot, powdered sugar covered beignets they sell by the dozen.

According to NC Home and Garden, "Taverna Nikos is proof once again that, in North Carolina at least excellent, excellent cuisine is not a monopoly of big cities or fat wallets." Greek Cuisine in an historic atmosphere.

According to Food & Wine, Tonali's "expertly executed Mexican staples (fish tacos, shrimp fajitas, corn salads) and modest prices ensure a packed house on most nights." Tonali's head chef, Andre Macias, was formerly a sous chef at Durham's acclaimed Four Square restaurant.

Named one of Durham’s best restaurants by The Boston Globe and given 3-1/2 stars by The Raleigh News & Observer, the French bistro Vin Rouge offers provincial cooking and an extensive wine selection.

Bon Appétit writes, chef Amy Tornquist is "known for her distinctive North Carolina-style cuisine; she makes her own bourbon-laced pimento cheese at Durham’s hottest restaurant." Lunch Tu-Fr 11am-2:30pm; Brunch Sa-Su 11am-2:30pm; Dinner; Tu-Su 5:30pm-10pm

Bon Appétit says this "coffeehouse-cum-bistro opens early to serve up the area’s best espresso-and-breakfast duo. Eleven bustling hours later, chef Matt Hardner cooks up spicy pan-seared sea scallops, grits cake, and tomato concassé."

Southern Living says "at Bullock's, the lines form early for chopped or sliced pork... great hushpuppies too." Chef-owner Tommy Bullock displays a "Wall of Fame" with all of the celebs who have dined on Bullock's best.

Local pub featured as one of Adam Richman's (of the Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food") favorite picks. According to Adam, "Dain is the perfect bar owner" and his place offers "great beer, great tater tots, and great service."

Food Network’s "$40 a Day" host Rachael Ray proclaims that Elmo’s is an "awesome pick. Everything here looks great! Try some eggs in their infinite variety...." Breakfast is served all day, plus there are lunch and dinner favorites.

According to The New York Times, Fishmonger's "is a gritty old bar and restaurant in downtown...fine for a quick, if caloric, lunch...you can't go wrong with the cleanly fried fish and chips."

Food & Wine writes, "The outstanding new Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University has an ever-changing exhibit of culinary art at its restaurant." Chef Giorgios Bakatsias provides a contemporary menu of seasonal recipes with fresh ingredients. Admission to the museum is not required.

The authors of Kids Love North Carolina suggest Rick’s secret recipe meatloaf, beef burgers, or Carolina pork barbecue. The combination of its casual atmosphere with its traditional menu makes Rick’s a favorite student and local diner.

Gourmet Magazine describes this taqueria as "immensely popular" and Durham, North Carolina as "a main artery for the fastest-growing Hispanic community in America."

One of five Tokyo-style U.S. noodle bars singled out by Bon Appétit, Twisted Noodles offers "authentic home-style Thai dishes that put an emphasis on seasonal ingredients and smart design."

Brazilian-Italian café offering chocolates, pastries, and coffee in a cozy cafe atmosphere. Amelia's menu also includes quiche, chocolates, and specialty cakes to order, plus more than 100 after-dinner cordials from around the world, Brazilian coffee, natural Brazilian juices, and Brazilian cheese bread.

Travel Channel's Man v. Food, a show that captures the local culture and flavor of places all over the United States, filmed at this family owned restaurant which features barbeque "pit" cooked over hickory and oak wood.

Food Network's Rachael Ray declares that Dillard's "barbecue is amazing." At this cafeteria-styled Durham mainstay, "they still cook it the same way: long and slow. It takes all night in the hickory smoker to get it right."

Country Home - "As owner of the beloved Foster's Market..., Sara Foster has built a reputation with her special brand of homey, delicious food." Foster honed her skills as a caterer and former chef for Martha Stewart.

"Food Finds" (Food Network) describes Guglhupf as "a little bit of Europe in the middle of North Carolina." Bakery features handcrafted artisan breads, pastries and desserts. Serves continental fare, featuring a full coffee bar with wine and beer. Enjoy the striking architecture of the café and courtyard for outdoor dining.

According to Our State, Hog Heaven's chicken and dumplings have "...the right texture on the tongue...." The magazine also noted that the restaurant, while known for its eastern North Carolina-style, hand-chopped barbecue, "...puts containers of its own Lexington-style sauce on all the tables."

Noted as a "rhythmic and savory restaurant" by Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine, Jamaica Jamaica serves authentic Jamaican food such as jerk fish, jerk chicken, rice n' beans, and yellow plantain.

A "bustling" taqueria "where the tortillas are made to order" made Gourmet Magazine writer feel as if he is in Mexico, not Durham, North Carolina.

"This spread makes one heck of a sandwich" says Bon Appétit magazine, who featured a recipe for Parker & Otis' Pimento Cheese Dip.

If chili-rubbed sliced brisket, hand-pulled pork, smoked turkey, and ribs aren't enough, the desserts "expertly prepared by two serious pastry chefs take this barbecue restaurant to another level," says Southern Living.

Feted by Food & Wine as a wildly popular Mexican popsicle stand selling paletas in both traditional Mexican flavors, such as mango-chile and tamarind, and quirky ones like honeydew-lavender and chocolate rosemary.

Feted by Food & Wine as a wildly popular Mexican popsicle stand selling paletas in both traditional Mexican flavors, such as mango-chile and tamarind, and quirky ones like honeydew-lavender and chocolate rosemary.

Gourmet Magazine writes that El Parsio's "tamales, not mentioned on the menu, are terrific, very good barbacoa, addictive gorditas (thick tortillas) with chorizo and chicharrones (pork cracklings), and two superb homemade salsas, smoky brick-red and spicy green".

"The barbacoa is so good at Taquería La Vaquita-so juicy and dark and perfectly seasoned-that it might almost be some long-cooked daube at a reputable bistro in Provence", writes Gourmet Magazine.

Travel Channel's Man v. Food, a show that captures the local culture and flavor of places all over the United States, filmed at the local restaurant joint that features homemade biscuits, burgers and desserts.