Cha Da Thai

Located at 420 Jonestown Road in Winston-Salem, Cha Da Thai serves Thai cuisine daily. It is open from 11-3 and then from 5-10 Monday-Friday, 5-10 Saturday, and 11:30-10 Sunday. Lunch specials and vegetarian and vegan options are available.

One of Winston-Salem’s longest-running Thai establishments, Cha Da Thai made for a frustratingly uneven dining experience. To the restaurant’s credit, it’s very nicely appointed. The interior features decorative woodwork, plants, and even a fish tank. The ambiance here is cozy and inviting.

Cha Da also boasts a sizeable menu. In addition to the soups, salads, curries, rice, and noodle dishes you’d expect, there are more lamb, duck, and fish offerings than you’d find at many Thai places.

Everything else was a mixed bag. Servers are affable, but the kitchen is rather slow. The food ranged from off-putting to solidly satisfying, with nothing really impressing. An order of papaya salad was generously portioned but went too heavy on the fish sauce. A tofu green curry featured a flavorful, coconut-forward sauce that was both tasty and too thin, and the accompanying vegetables could have benefited from more eggplant and less cabbage. A chicken Pad Thai hit the desired level of spiciness and did not skimp on the tamarind. While it was sweeter than I’ve had elsewhere, it hit the spot overall.

Cha Da Thai’s setting would make it an attractive dine-in destination if only the food were more consistent. As-is, Winston-Salem has better Thai options.

Little Roadside Grill

 

Located at 1304 North Main Street in High Point, Little Roadside Grill serves American food. It is open from 11-8 Monday-Thursday, until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed on Sunday. Food specials change daily, and online ordering is available.

Little Roadside Grill opened a few months back in the former Kepley's Barbecue spot. It lacks the former establishment's pedigree and name recognition, but it serves up similar fare: sandwiches, salads, burgers, dogs, and barbecue plates (with cobblers and banana pudding for dessert if you are so inclined). Though named for its owner Jeff Little, it isn't a large space: a long counter with stools and a few tables. The no-frills ambiance fits the restaurant's concept well.

There were few patrons when I stopped by for lunch on a Saturday, and I couldn't have asked for faster or friendlier service. I went with a chopped sandwich with coleslaw, no side, and it was prepped very quickly. You can find Lexington-style dip on the table, but other sauces are available upon request.

The sandwich was a decent size, and the meat was prepared well (chopped medium and neither mushy nor dried out) if rather bland. Adding spicy barbecue sauce (a heresy for Lexington-style fans, I know) remedied that. For $6.50, I had no complaints.

Affordable, unpretentious, and fast, Little Roadside Grill won't win any barbecue championships, but it's a solidly satisfying local option.

Habenero Mexican Grill

Located at 2108 North Centennial Street in High Point, Habanero Mexican Grill offers Mexican cuisine from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Specials change regularly. Limited outdoor seating is available. Online ordering is offered through Grubhub.

High Point lost an underrated sleeper hit of a Mexican restaurant when Crazy Mexico decamped for Greensboro. Thankfully, the location didn’t remain empty for long. Habanero is still new – they don’t have their liquor license yet – but early indications suggest that they are a more than worthy successor.

As with the previous tenant, the nondescript shopping plaza location is bigger than it looks from the outside. My wife and I arrived on a Saturday night and had no problem finding a table. Staff were friendly and welcoming, and service here was excellent: attentive servers and a surprisingly fast kitchen.

Habanero boasts a large menu boasting everything you’d expect to find and then some: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, chimichangas, and more. We were in the mood for something different, so we started with an order of pepinos (cucumbers with salt, lime, and chili powder) to go with a steak quesadilla and a tropical (chicken, bacon, shrimp, pineapple, red and yellow peppers). 

Nearly everything was tasty. The cucumbers were refreshing, the meat in the quesadilla was tender, and the shrimp were flavorful (and paired well with the pineapple). About the worst that can be said is that the salsa (smooth and oddly sweet) was unimpressive, but that’s a relatively small bone to pick.

High Point does not lack for Mexican options, and Habanero may not displace an existing favorite. But much like its predecessor in this location, it has the potential to be one of the city’s IYKYK spots: unheralded, reliable, and worthy of wider exposure.

To Your Health Bakery

 

Located at 1263 Creekshire Way in Winston-Salem, To Your Health Bakery specializes in gluten-free baked goods. Vegan and keto options are also available as are coffee drinks and online ordering. The bakery is open from 11-6 Monday-Friday and 10-5 on Saturday.

My sweet tooth and my desire to eat healthier have long been at odds, and I wanted to get a sense of how keto desserts compare to their sugarfied counterparts. That led me to To Your Health. It’s a small bakery with minimal seating, but there’s quite a bit here: cakes, cupcakes, pies, cookies, donuts, and more. As expected, there were more gluten-free than keto/paleo options, but a helpful staff member was able to point me toward a few sugar-free offerings.

I ultimately went with a piece of pumpkin cheesecake, which proved to be a somewhat mixed experience. I knew the texture would be different from a classic New York-style, and it was. However, the sweet, creamy filling with warm spice notes proved to be plenty tasty in its own right. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same about the crust as the pronounced almond flavor was a bit off-putting. Finally, while I was prepared for keto desserts to cost more, $9 for one piece of cheesecake still stung.

To Your Health does a commendable job of providing options for those with food allergies and sensitivities, and if I were in that camp, I might rate them higher. I can appreciate the care they put into their offerings, but for me, they just weren’t worth the cost.

O'Brien's Deli

Located at 4001 Country Club Road in Winston-Salem, O’Brien’s Deli offers sandwiches and salads. It is open from 11-7 Monday-Saturday. Catering is available.

O’Brien’s is the kind of classic deli every city should have. It’s a small space – a few tables inside and a few tables out – but don’t let that or the line you are likely to encounter deter you. They crank out sandwiches quickly here.

Said sandwiches include about two dozen hot and cold offerings as well as the ability to build your own. The meats are Boar’s Head, but the desserts and soups are made fresh in-house. Check out the display case for salads and sides that might catch your eye.

O’Brien’s prides itself on its Reuben, and so I went with the “mini” version (a quarter rather than a half pound of meat) with a pickle for my first visit here. Ordering at the register was a breeze, and I was fortunate enough to snag one of the tables for dine-in.

Though I was a bit skeptical that the Reuben would match the hype, it delivered. I don’t know that it is without a doubt the best version I’ve had, but it is definitely up there. The grilled rye was nice and crisp, and I appreciated that they used both mustard and Russian dressing. That, plus the meat, kraut, and melty cheese, made for a very satisfying bite. At $10, the sandwich proved a good value, too.

Unpretentious and nostalgically comforting (for Northern transplants, at least), O’Brien’s is a well-oiled sandwich-slinging machine. Though that Reuben will be hard to top, I look forward to giving one of their other offerings (maybe a Cuban, maybe a Spicy Italian) a try.

Laurel Diner

 

Located at 300 West Park Avenue in Long Beach, Laurel Diner serves diner fare daily. It is open from 7-10 Monday-Thursday, 7-11 Friday-Saturday, and 7-9 Sunday. There are daily specials as well as a burger-and-pancake-centric secret menu. Beer and wine are available.

In business since 1932, Laurel Diner is a classic diner in almost every sense. It’s spacious and boisterous with striped booths that exude retro charm. The menu is appreciably huge, boasting everything from breakfast to sandwiches to pastas and much, much, more. About the only thing here that doesn’t recall a bygone era is the pricing, which is high even by 21st-century Long Island standards.

Laurel does at least offer rather generous portions (plus free coleslaw and pickles), but the food is nothing special. I went with a pastrami Reuben and a side salad in place of fries. The sandwich satisfied a craving though the meat was a bit chewy. It feels almost blasphemous, but I can get a better version down in North Carolina for about half the $20-plus cost. To Laurel’s credit, the staff were at least attentive and accommodating.

For those who grew up with diners like this or simply want a lot of options to choose from, Laurel Diner holds a certain appeal. Remove nostalgia from the equation, however, and it offers neither particularly good food nor a good value.

Kookaburra Coffee

Located at 69 North Village Avenue in Rockville Center, Kookaburra Coffee serves coffee, pastries, and breakfast foods daily. It is a cash-only business with no indoor and limited outdoor seating.

Doesn’t take credit cards? No place to sit? Line out the door? Given the first two, I suspected that this place must be something special for the third to hold true. Thankfully, I was right.

From coffees and teas to donuts and bagels and more, Kookaburra has an impressive selection. Whether you want a simple haht cawfee or something more extravagant, they have you covered. The baristas are amicable and adept at keeping the line moving.

For our first visit, my wife and I ended up with a NOLA cold brew (with chicory), a toasted marshmallow caramel latte, and a maple Berliner to share. Everything was good, and honestly not that expensive by New York standards. The coffee was smooth and not too sweet while the donut tasted fresh. Impressed, I returned the next day to snag a graham cracker latte and an Irish cream cold brew. The second round of Kookaburra drinks was just as satisfying as the first.

If you’re in a hurry or really want to be able to sit inside and eat/drink, you can try the Dunkin down the street. If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes, paying cash, and taking your coffee to go, then Kookaburra offers an experience that is hard to beat.