The Mecca Restaurant

Located at 13 East Martin Street in downtown Raleigh, The Mecca Restaurant offers Southern food for breakfast and lunch daily and dinner every day except Sunday. There is a full bar, and private dining is available.

Calling a restaurant “The Mecca” sounds like the height of hipster pretention, but this place is very much the opposite. Founded by Greek immigrants in 1930, The Mecca is as old-school as old-school gets with classic décor, a comfortably familiar menu, and competent execution all-around.

While there are definitely more chic and comfortable places to dine, The Mecca oozes nostalgia. Red stools along a long counter, a black and white checkered floor, and heavy wooden booths give the look of a place untouched by time. The menu is equally immune to faddishness, offering Southern favorites (fried chicken, fried fish, and chopped BBQ), a few nods to the founders’ heritage (a Greek salad and Zorba’s beef tips), and the eyebrow-raising Garry Dorn burger (a veal cutlet sandwich).

Hungry from wandering around GalaxyCon, my wife and I bypassed sandwiches in favor of platters: fried fish and BBQ, respectively. Both came with a hushpuppy, slaw, and two sides (mac n cheese for both of us, butter beans for her, and fried okra for me). While neither dish was attractively plated, both tasted considerably better than they looked. After decades, The Mecca has making this kind of food down to a science. Both the fish and the okra were fried to a golden brown sans greasiness, the slaw was creamy, and the BBQ was not dried out. Admittedly, vinegar-based is not my preferred style, but The Mecca’s was as good as a rendition of that type as I’ve had anywhere.

For three quarters of the meal, service was courteous, prompt, and attentive. However, we made the mistake of ordering a blackberry cobbler after The Mecca got busier, and the dessert took so long to reach us that they ended up comping it. At under $3, it still would have been worthwhile, and much of The Mecca’s menu is similarly value-conscious. Both lunch dishes were under $10 apiece, and while the fried fish contained a disappointingly small amount of fish, there was still enough on the plate for a filling meal.

The Mecca is the kind of time-displaced icon that everyone should try at least once, but for those who are willing to trade innovation for simplicity, it’s more than just a novelty act.

Blue Zucchini & Co.

Located at 1506 North Main Street in High Point, Blue Zucchini offers burgers, salads, and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Food specials change daily.

Though its name may call to mind artsy vegan food, Blue Zucchini’s closest analog is probably Greensboro’s Iron Hen (minus its much-maligned owner) in that it supplies comforting American eats in a quaint and quirky albeit somewhat crowded space. That isn’t to say that there aren’t vegetarian options here – there definitely are – but rather that one should recalibrate expectations accordingly.

And what should one expect? Go during lunchtime on a weekday, and expect a brief wait for a table. Expect to gawk at the desserts positioned conveniently near the register. Expect to gawk at the brightly colored interior and either nod in approval or find it a bit much. Expect to be torn between at least two different sandwiches (and, possibly, at least two different sides) when perusing the menu.

These expectations dispensed with, my wife and I opted for a fried green tomato starter, a West L.A. (turkey, bacon, avocado, cheese, chipotle mayo, lettuce, and tomato on sourdough) and a Low Rider (roast beef, cherry peppers, Havarti, and horseradish mayo on a baguette), with cups of black bean soup on the side. Fried green tomatoes are one of our litmus test dishes, and Blue Zucchini’s rendition (with pimento and balsamic) proved to be a mixed bag. The tomatoes were both thickly sliced and thickly battered and were nice and crisp. However, they were also quite dry. Thanks to odd plating, only the two slices in the middle had any pimento (sandwiched between them). Fortunately, the sandwiches were less confounding. Gooey melted cheese and a nice kick from the horseradish mayo made the Low Rider a winner. The black bean soup’s addition of salsa and sour cream kept it from being one-note. Prompt service and reasonable pricing ($9.75 and $8.95, sides included) made for more points in Blue Zucchini’s favor.

It remains to be seen whether or not Blue Zucchini handles dinner entrees as well as it does sandwiches, but it has all the makings of a solid lunch spot – albeit not one worth more than a fifteen-minute wait.

Rascals Tavern

Located at 2270 Golden Gate Drive in the Golden Gate Shopping Center in Greensboro, Rascals Tavern serves upscale pub fare for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. There is a full bar, limited outdoor seating, and a brunch on Sundays.

The brainchild of owner/chef Jessica Borgione, Rascals Tavern is an inspired blend of old and new. The name and the ambiance (low lighting and lots of wood) recall an earlier era, but the menu offers modern twists on many familiar dishes. It’s a concept that holds a lot of appeal though the execution isn’t seamless.

My wife and I visited for Sunday brunch and found Rascals to be not quite full yet plenty lively. We were able to snag a table though there seemed to be plenty of room around the bar. While Rascals lunch and dinner menus offered quite a few tantalizing options – this is one of the few places in the area to offer Scotch eggs – the brunch menu was considerably more compact. Fortunately, it didn’t lack for appeal. Benedicts, hashes, and biscuits n gravy represented the savory side while French toast and blueberry pancakes accounted for the sweets.

We opted for a beef hash and a fried green tomato benedict, respectively. Both dishes were generously portioned and looked great. The benedict combined the expected poached egg and hollandaise with a fried green tomato, greens, Italian salami…and a blueberry reduction, of all things. The last component seemed puzzling, but it proved to be a saving grace as it balanced the saltiness of the salami quite well. The dish was a perfect blend of creamy, crunchy, salty, and sweet. The hash featured well-seasoned beef and crisp potatoes. Though tasty, it was rather dry, and attempts to remedy that led to a ten-minute wait for a small cup of ranch. Our poor server was hustling nonstop from table to table during that time, and at least at the time of our visit, Rascals appeared to be seriously understaffed.

That aside, service up to that point was fine, pricing isn’t too much of a reach ($12 and $10 for our two dishes), and food quality is a definite strength. I don’t get out to northeastern Greensboro much, but Rascals has enough character to make it worth another visit.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

In New York City, students at the Midtown School of Science and Technology cope with suddenly returning five years after blinking out of existence by taking a summer trip to Europe. Still reeling from the loss of his mentor, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) hopes to put his superhero career as Spider-Man on pause and tell his classmate M.J. (Zendaya) how he feels about her. But spymaster Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has other ideas, pressing Peter into service alongside Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), who claims to be a hero from an alternate earth (whom the media dub “Mysterio”). Their purpose is to stop the Elementals, a group of element-based monsters wreaking havoc across the globe.

Another Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios co-production, this sequel to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming occupies an odd position. On the one hand, it is very much a follow-up to this year’s Avengers: Endgame and is virtually inaccessible as a stand-alone movie. On the other hand, its more comedic tone and focus on high school antics contrast sharply with the Avengers’ cosmos-altering epic grandeur. This makes for a bit of an identity crisis, yet Far From Home is still a solidly entertaining film.

Much of the film’s appeal boils down to sheer charisma. Holland is arguably the best portrayer of Peter Parker to date, nailing the character’s nervousness and nerdy exuberance while still demonstrating quick-thinking and bravery. His banter with equally nerdy best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) gives the film humor, but his awkward exchanges with M.J., who seems to be trolling him at every turn, really shine. Jackson’s work as Fury, a paranoid, no-nonsense, perpetually aggrieved tactician, is a welcome addition to any Marvel film while Gyllenhaal takes a character often mocked for having a dumb costume and imbues him with legitimate menace. Those familiar with Mysterio’s comic book origins will not be surprised by the character’s trajectory (which Far From Home tries its damndest to play off as a shocking twist), but what is surprising is the effortless duality that Gyllenhaal brings to the role. He was once considered as an injury replacement for Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, and Beck’s heroic feats give us a glimpse of how he may have fared. At the same time, Mysterio also evokes Gyllenhaal’s unsettling work in Nightcrawler (the thriller about the deeply unethical cameraman, not the teleporting X-Men character).

On the opposite side of the camera, John Watts’s direction delivers fluid, kinetic action sequences and he handles the film’s tonal shifts well. Michael Giacchino’s score is a mostly fitting complement, save for the film’s cringeworthy inclusion of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” over a cheesy fallen heroes montage.

Beyond that, the Elementals are fairly ridiculous-looking stand-ins for actual Spider-Man villains (i.e. Sandman and Hydro-Man), and while their appearance is given a logical in-movie explanation, they still call to mind less refined CGI monsters from fifteen years ago. The plot is also but the thinnest of excuses to bring characters together, but for a good chunk of the audience, that will likely not matter.

When all is said and done, Far From Home is both too vivacious to be forgettable and too light to be groundbreaking. It occupies an ever-broadening middle tier of Marvel movies, which makes it still well worth viewing for anyone with any interest in the source material.

Giannos Stone Oven Pizzaria

Located at 114 Eastchester Drive in High Point, Giannos serves pizza and Italian cuisine (with a few Greek offerings) for lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday and lunch on Sundays. The restaurant offers a pizza and salad buffet from 11-2 on weekdays. Group dining and catering (via a mobile oven) are available.

There is something comforting in the familiarity of a local mid-range Italian place, and while Giannos is hardly the pinnacle thereof, it does fit the bill nicely, offering a good assortment of pizzas and pastas at fairly reasonable prices.

Should you go, timing can make a big difference in how your meal turns out. The lunch menu keeps most offerings under $10 and features the pizza/salad bar whereas the dinner menu bumps prices entrée pricing into the teens (salad included), but there’s a tradeoff. My wife and I stopped by between 12 and 1 on a Tuesday, which ended up being the thick of the lunch rush. It was very loud, and staff seemed beleaguered (though our server, Faith, did an excellent job despite the calamity). Once the crowd thinned out and conversation actually became possible, the environment was reasonably comfortable.

My wife opted for the pizza/salad buffet while I went with shrimp scampi and a Caesar salad. At $8.29 and $9.59 ($8.59 + $1 for the salad), both were quite affordable. Of course, “you get what you pay for” is in effect here, but at that price point, things could have turned out a lot worse. While bowtie pasta was a puzzling choice (theirs, not mine) for the scampi, the dish was otherwise very enjoyable: creamy and generously portioned with a nice lemon note in the sauce. A basket of fresh, warm rolls hit the spot as well. On the other hand, the dressing that accompanied the salad was closer to a ranch than a Caesar, and my wife found the pizza to be nothing special.

Given the type of cuisine and the quality of the service, Giannos merits a return visit when a pasta craving hits. But if the parking lot is ever three-quarters full, come back another time.

Yamas Mediterranean Street Food

Located at 624 West 4^th Street in downtown Winston-Salem, Yamas offers Mediterranean fare for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Outdoor seating, catering, and online ordering are available.

Courtesy of the Michael family (Mama Zoe Michael’s, Waldo’s Wings, CinCin Buger Bar), the Chipotlefication of Mediterranean has arrived in Winston-Salem. It is, thankfully, far more than just a gimmick, offering quality ingredients and bold flavors to complement the expected versatility.

Yamas’ approach is simple: start with a prefab favorite (such as a gyro or a falafel salad) or build a pita wrap, salad, grain bowl, or half salad/half grain bowl to your liking. Should you go the latter route, plenty of possibilities await. You can add up to three spreads (including a white chocolate babaganoush), a protein (there are both meat and vegetarian options), toppings (everything from feta to fries to marinated vegetables), and a sauce. Mild or spicy, vegan or meaty, it’s all fair game, and it’s all (unless you upgrade your protein to lamb for $3 more) only $8.99.

For my first time out, I went the half salad/half grain bowl route, starting with arugula and freekeh wheat and topped with hummus, babaganoush, tzaiki, gyro meat, tomato cucumber salad, feta, and toum garlic cream (!). The garlic cream was rather strong and something I might think twice about repeating, but everything else was delicious. The white chocolate babaganoush added a touch of sweetness while the fresh vegetables balanced the saltier spreads and protein. The portion was plentiful as well, and it was prepared promptly by patient counter staff who made ordering easy.

Though Yamas can get a bit loud when busy, it is absolutely worth braving a line (it will move quickly) and hunting for a table (or a spot at a long communal table). Tasty and flexible, the restaurant presents a winning concept that will hopefully endure

Deadwood: The Movie

In 1889, as the town of Deadwood celebrates South Dakota’s new statehood, Calamity Jane Canary (Robin Weigert) returns to rekindle a romance with Joannie Stubbs (Kim Dickens), now the owner of the Bella Union casino/brothel. George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), a gold-hungry mining magnate turned U.S. Senator from California, returns as well to pursue land for new telephone lines. Unfortunately for him, the land’s owner, Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie), refuses to sell. Meanwhile, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), once more a U.S. Marshal keeps the peace while his business partner, Sol Starr (John Hawkes), must contend with his lover Trixie’s (Paula Malcomson) antagonism toward Hearst. Finally, Trixie’s former employer, saloonkeeper Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), is suffering from liver failure. A sudden death threatens to throw the entire town into upheaval once again.

When HBO’s Deadwood series ended in 2006 after a three-season run, it was disheartening not only because there were more stories left to tell but because the then-finale was grim even by the harsh standards of this show: Hearst, having bullied and murdered his way to controlling the area’s gold mines and political offices, leaves victorious as everyone else must pick up the pieces. A follow-up movie was long-rumored, yet it seemed like it would never happen right up until the point when it actually did. Deadwood: The Movie never quite approaches the series at its best, but it is still a welcome and rewarding experience.

Astonishingly, given the decade-plus gap between series and film, the latter was able to return nearly all of the former’s cast (the major exceptions being the late Powers Booth and Titus Welliver, who was busy appearing in Bosch). Even more astonishingly, series creator David Milch wrote the script while battling the effects of Alzheimer’s. His dialogue remains sharp and retains Deadwood’s unique blend of profanity and lyricism. The returning talents allow for a strong sense of continuity, and the movie feels like it easily could have been a flash-forward episode from 2007 with everyone in old-age makeup.

With that being said, there are places where maintaining this continuity strains belief. Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif) was last seen as a middle-aged man suffering from tuberculosis in 1879 yet appears alive and well ten years later. Wu (Keone Young) has picked up little additional English in the intervening years, and Tom Nuttall (Leon Rippy) and “General” Fields (Franklin Ajaye) remain in town despite their historical inspirations having moved on.

This is not to say that there is no character development. The Bullock of the series was a notorious hothead while the movie finds him somewhat more rational (albeit no less formidable in a gunfight). Ill health having brought an end to his throat-slitting days, Swearengen takes on an almost grandfatherly aspect, albeit one couched in foul-mouthed pragmatism. Malcolmson and Weigert steal the show, however, as Trixie and Jane experience the most growth. The former, Swearengen’s top-earning prostitute when the series opened, is an expectant mother and the town’s moral compass, fearlessly calling out Hearst’s past misdeeds despite the potential dangers of doing so. The latter, who spent much of the series a drunken mess as she mourned the death of mentor Wild Bill Hickock, regains both confidence and competence. On the opposite end of the spectrum, so much of the series seemed to revolve, directly or indirectly, around the plight of widowed woman of wealth Alma Garrett (Molly Parker) that her diminished importance here is a strange sight.

Television has pushed plenty of boundaries since Deadwood went off the air in 2006, and what was once raw and shocking may have lost a measure of potency. Even in a vacuum, however, there is an inescapable sense that the movie’s plotting plays it safe, sacrificing surprise for satisfaction. And yet, if this truly is the end, it’s a fitting send-off: one that brings some measure of closure without resorting to cheap or cheesy remedies.