Capra's Deli

 

Located at 2640 Willard Dairy Road in High Point, Capra’s Deli serves soups, sandwiches, salads, and pasta dishes for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday (and 11-4 on Saturday). Premade take-home meals are available for pick-up, and Capra’s also offers online ordering as well as catering platters for events.

 

Capra’s has been in business for more than forty years and undoubtedly has a loyal local following. I gave it a try in 2019 shortly after moving from Greensboro and wasn’t impressed. A more recent visit last week yielded a similar take. The menu features everything you would hope to find, and nothing was substandard. However, nothing was exceptional, either.

 

Though Capra’s does give off a few Italian market vibes, don’t come here expecting Giacomo’s. The meats are Boar’s Head, yet the sauces at least seem to be made in-house. If nothing else, ordering is convenient and efficient. Order/pay and pick-up lines are clearly labeled, and I didn’t have long to wait for my food.

 

Having previously rolled the dice with an Italian sub, I went with an Italian sausage all the way (onions, peppers, sauce, cheese). At $7.75 (bag of chips included), the price for an 8-inch was fair. The sandwich packed a good bit of heat, from both the fennel-rich sausage and the hot (though green were requested) peppers. The spice was definitely welcome in this case, and it made up for the sandwich’s so-so bread.

 

If a hot or cold Italian sandwich is your comfort food craving, Capra’s is a perfectly decent option for fulfilling it, and you can definitely do a lot worse. However, if you're from the New York/New Jersey area (I actually grew up in the same New Jersey town the Capra family relocated from, and maybe that has made me picky), then you have probably had better.

Sweet Dough Bake Shop

 

Located at 2758 NC 68 North in High Point, Sweet Dough Bake Shop offers baked goods and coffee drinks daily. Outdoor seating and special orders are available, and dairy products are sourced from Homeland Creamery.

 

Lose one bakery, gain another. The same weekend that Amoroso’s shuttered its Palladium location, Sweet Dough opened its doors a short hop down 68 next to Small Batch. Early impressions are favorable. Sweet Dough’s storefront is bright and clean with plenty of seating. The bakery cases proudly display a variety of goodies from cupcakes and cakes to cinnamon rolls to pies to puddings. Though sold by the slice, whole cakes and pies are available, too. The drinks menu boasts hot and cold coffees as well as milkshakes and floats.

 

For my first visit, I picked up banana pudding and a slice of key lime pie to share as well as a white chocolate mocha frappe. Pie prices run a bit high here ($5.50 for a not-huge slice), but there was otherwise no room for complaint. The staff were welcoming, and they will customize coffee drinks to your liking.

 

Both of the desserts went over well. If “banana pudding” calls to mind a bright yellow, artificially flavored paste, prepared to be amazed by how much better an authentic version can be. Here, it’s lighter and laden with real banana. The key lime pie was likewise legit, bringing just the right amount of tartness.

 

Though its location’s previous tenants didn’t have much staying power, Sweet Dough’s tantalizing selection of caringly crafted baked goods is reason to hope for greater longevity.

Triad Food Truck Roundup: Smokiin Mac, Havana Flavor, and J.J.’s Cuban Kitchen

 The Triad is home to an impressive number of food trucks. In addition to those based in Greensboro, High Point, Kernersville, and Winston-Salem, several trucks from the Triangle or down Charlotte way make regular appearances in the area. This may come as a surprise to those whose fleeting interactions with food trucks are limited to the occasional festival. However, you needn’t wait for such an occasion to present itself. Many will make their rounds at local breweries, with Bull City Ciderworks, Oden Brewing, (Greensboro), Potent Potables (Jamestown), Brown Truck Brewery, Cork and Grind (High Point), and The Brewer’s Kettle (Kernersville) frequently playing host. For those looking for a new source of bites on the go, consider one of these:

 

Smokiin Mac

 

A gourmet mac and cheese concept, Smokiin Mac delivers a tastes-as-good-as-it-sounds experience. The menu includes mac and cheese bites, loaded fries, and green beans, but the mac and cheese dishes are the main attractions here. Get them plain, or go for BBQ chicken, brisket, lobster, or surf and turf. A vegan jackfruit option is also available.

 

So far, I’ve tried the brisket mac and the Carolina chicken mac, and both are phenomenal. The four-cheese sauce is incredibly creamy, and the contrasting sharp and smooth flavors add complexity. The brisket comes with bits of bacon while the chicken brings slightly sweet spiciness. At $15 and $13 respectively, they are filling, and they are worth it.

 

Havana Flavor

 

Normally based out of an Exxon in Summerfield, Havana Flavor will sometimes pop up in random residential neighborhoods in Greensboro/Jamestown/High Point. They are worth tracking down when they do, but for whatever reason, they usually take quite a while to set up.

 

The food, however, makes up for the inconvenience. Havana Flavor’s menu is fairly expansive for a food truck, boasting everything from classic Cubanos to Hawaiian sandwiches to a version of a tripleta and more. The Cuban Love (guava jelly in place of mustard) is as far from the original as I’ll venture because the original is just that good here. The meats are tender, the bread is authentic, and portions are filling (especially if you are willing to add a side of plantains). At $7 per sandwich and $4 per side, pricing is perfectly reasonable, and Jose and his crew turn around orders quickly. Havana Flavor offers as good a Cuban sandwich as I’ve had anywhere, and if you find yourself craving one, make this your preferred option.

 

J.J.’s Cuban Kitchen

 

A Kernersville-based truck, J.J.’s Cuban Kitchen runs a small menu of Cuban favorites. Cubanos, plantains, yuca fries, croquetas (ham croquettes), and fritas (Cuban burgers) are among the offerings.

 

The food is solid, but it is neither the best nor the cheapest ($10 Cubanos/$4 sides) of its kind in the area. The Cubanos use the right kind of bread, are assembled and pressed well, and are plenty filling, but they are also a bit dry. Among the sides, the tostones (fried plantains) are bigger and the maduros (sweet plantains) are less sweet than what you might find elsewhere. The owner, Jerome, runs the truck with his family, and all have been pleasant to deal with.

 

J.J.’s Cuban Kitchen wouldn’t be my first choice for a Cubano (maybe the lechon or frita burger knocks it out of the park), but it’s still worth a look if it lands at a brewery nearby.