Some of my favorite Restaurants

A little Sunday evening fun.

Due to the surprisingly large readership of the Jimmy V's Steakhouse posting I thought I would take the restaurant idea a step further. I love to eat and over the years have found certain foods and restaurants across southeastern North Carolina where I enjoy a good meal. I expect I have lived and worked in more counties in SE NC than anyone I know so my eating places are spread across the entire region. The list below is not an exclusive list, just a small list of eating places that I will drive to for the purpose of eating there. For you who live in my current county I have left out naming restaurants there to avoid conflicts.

K&W Cafeteria..Not just any K&W, but the one in Berkeley Mall in Goldsboro NC. There are several of these cafeterias near where I live, but the one in Goldsboro seasons their food to the old country taste I remember from grandma"s house. None of the others do so, trust me on this one. When at this K&W I dine on one meal only, the country style steak and mashed potatoes. Cover them up with a order of grilled onions and this is serious eating. Add a vege of your choice, I like okra. Now, when you are finished, head right around the block to finish off this meal with a visit to Krispy Kreme. Note I did not say this was a dieters meal, this is serious eating for comfort food.

Weiner Works...Just a few of these left in existence, they used to be a chain called Weiner King. The closest and best is right down the road in Fayetteville NC. Actually right off I-95 and one stoplight at that on Person Street. I got onto this place when I worked in Fayetteville and called for business from the owner of the stores. There are 5 locations in Fayetteville, but I like this one. It is quaint, it is in section of town where things are not as prosperous as they used to be, and the ladies in this store know how to load up a serious dog. Now if you are a Carolina Packer person this dog might not be your choice as these are are not Packer dogs. My favorite hands down is the regular deluxe which comes covered with onions, chili, slaw, and cheese. Note I said "covered" , but maybe should have said "smothered", because the first class toppings are a meal themselves. If you desire add a order of fries, the fries are pretty good too as the owner requires fries older than 3 minutes to be tossed, so they are always hot. I prefer just two or three dogs as my regular meal.

Melvins.. Elizabethtown NC is not as good as it was when Pat Melvin owned them, but I still crave the "secret" chili recipe on their burgers. Since the buyout the joint has added cheese and fries and such, but the old timers like me know not to waste your stomach and calories on nothing but hamburgers all the way. "All the way" means onions, chili, slaw, and mustard. Comes wrapped in white paper just like old times. This place used to be a pool hall, but when people just kept coming in for the burgers, they ditched the pooltables and made room for sitting tables and sold burgers. The place is right downtown Elizabethtown and do not get alarmed by a line of people waiting, the line moves quickly. Well not as quickly as 10 years ago when people would be lined up over a hundred deep at busy times. Still the taste is still there and worth the trip. White Lake is right up the road, so bring the family, and make it a day.

Cafe Carolina... Several of these across the state. The two I visit are downtown Raleigh on Fayetteville Street and in Cameron Village up the road. There are many good things to eat here and I frankly have never had a bad meal here. However the taste of the Charleston Smoked Turkey sandwich is what keeps me coming back. The sandwich which comes wrapped in a tomato baguette bread, with bacon, lettuce, cheese, and tomato, is really enhanced by the red pepper pesto mayonnaise. It is some kinda good and worth the trip. The meal comes with a choice of chips and such. The atmosphere at these stores is upscale and quite comfortable too. Note the store in downtown Raleigh closes for evenings and weekends.

Elijahs.. Downtown Wilmington Chandlers Wharf...I have informed my wife, kids, and mortician, if I am either on my death bed or interned at Central Prison awaiting execution that my last meal is to be a bowl of Carolina Chowder from Elijahs. Put yourself between me and a bowl of this stuff and your life is not safe. The chowder is made with RICH CREAM, and comes loaded with shrimp, clams, and potatoes. Pepper it up and consider it heaven on earth. I bet if I brought a bowl of this to Saint Peter I would be a shoo in to heaven. Anyway, add a meal of Fish and Chips, which is some lightly fried Codfish and fries and you have my favorite meal anywhere. When I first went to Elijahs over twenty five years ago I dined on the Hot Crab Dip, which is divine on it's own, but once I got my mouth wrapped around the chowder if was love at first bite. I had never had any meal here that was not just delightful and the location right on the Cape Fear River adds to the dining experience. Did I mention that you should try the Carolina Chowder?

Parkers...Wilson NC, there are numerous Eastern NC Barbecue places out there and they are all good. In fact your tastes might be different than mine, so enjoy your favorite. I have tried many of them and still if I want some serious "cue Parkers in Wilson is my joint. I like good barbecue, but a crave Parker's barbecue. Once here I simply do not when to stop eating to my own detriment. If you are a serious Eastern NC barbecue eater, you know if they do not cook over wood nothing else matters, and Parker's does. Now the slaw and trimmings are frankly better elsewhere, but I will put up with less there to get this barbecue. I do like the corn sticks however. If you decide to try this place, be prepared as the place is really busy at mealtime. But the place is quite large so the wait is not long. Also, take some cash, they do not take credit cards. But they know their barbecue is that good so why bother.

Country Squire...Kenansville NC..I will be real honest with you and tell you the food here is not as good as it used to be. The owner who I know personally, however does something right since this year they are celebrating their 50th Anniversary. If you like out of the way places, with tons of great atmosphere, the Country Squire fits your need. They even have a small motel if you desire to stay the night. I usually get any of their steaks with the trimmings and settle in for a nice treat. The dining experience here makes you think you are back in old Ireland as a Country Squire. Make sure you try their Squire cheese was an appetizer. That stuff is good.

Arnolds Family Restaurant...Richlands NC..This is my hometown treat. When in Richlands I head for Arnolds and lay my teeth into a Big A Burger. For those who remember this is the original Tastee Freeze hamburger with that delicious sauce, sorta a Big Mac before there was a Big Mac. The original owner of this store was a fellow named Arnold Mobley, who passed on about two years ago, but even his heirs know not to mess with a good thing like the Big A. Oh, and try some fries too. They change their cooking oil regularly and few places will deliver to you those "white" fries that are so good. This place is convenient right on the way to the beach at Emerald Isle.

Sunset Terrace Grove Park Inn... I simply defy you to find a place to eat that has a better view anywhere. I will personally buy your meal if you can. The Grove Park Inn is one of those things that if you have not spend the night there, actually more than one night if possible, you need to put it on your bucket list. Grove Park Inn defies the conventional and is just a spectacular place. There are five restaurants on the premises and they all serve excellent food. However dining on the Sunset Terrace outside in mountain air is something that can not be described, only experienced in person. To set the scene, you are on top of a mountain, overlooking the mountains and downtown Asheville. Enough said. Your choice of food does not matter, because it is all good. When I used to work I had the privilege of staying there two to four times a year on expense account and I do miss it terribly. By the way if you are not on an expense account be prepared to pay some serious bucks for this experience, but trust me it is worth every single penny.

Pleasant Pizza..Lumberton NC...This is one of those hole in the walls you can drive right by and never know what you missed. Well I no longer drive right by, since I lived in Lumberton now over two decades ago. The pizza is darn good, the subs are first rate, and the spaghetti will hook up the first time. Ask anyone in Lumberton and ask people who have lived there where to eat in Lumberton and they will tell you if you have not tried Pleasant Pizza you have not lived. There have been numerous restaurants to come and go in this medium sized town, but Pleasant's has been the forever and will be as long as their food remains this good.

Riverview Cafe..Sneads Ferry NC..Now I am partial to this place since I have been coming here since I was 18 months old. Yeah, I did not eat anything then as my parents ate freshly caught oysters as I sat in my cradle on the bar, but I got the air in my lungs and when I got older knew it was something not to miss. This folks is just good down home southern cooking. They have seafood and it is fresh, hence the Riverview name, but they also have lots of good other stuff too. The atmosphere is truly down home and with good food this place just feels right. They must be doing something right as they just remodeled and celebrated their 65th anniversary. Now it is hard, real hard, to find. So ask before getting lost in Sneads Ferry.

My Kitchen...now this my friends is my most favorite regular meal. It starts in the spring when you plant some Better Boy tomato plants in the ground. The key here is water them just enough, keep the suckers pulled, and wait for warmer weather. Sure enough you get those delicious home grown tomatoes about late June or early July. You take these babies, get some bread, add some mayonnaise, place on several pieces of bacon, pepper and salt (salt on the tomatoes before you add anything else) and this my friends is something else. Recipe handed down so many generations no one can remember. I always wondered what the person thought who first put these ingredients together and took a bite? If you do not like a bacon and home grown tomato sandwich you are not human, but some alien species. Quiz: What are the things you can not buy? Answer: true love, scratch biscuits, and home grown tomatoes. Enough said.