Chang Thai

 

Located at 4162 Clemmons Road in Clemmons, Chang Thai serves Thai and Japanese cuisine. It is open from 11-3 and 5-8:30 on weekdays and 12-8:30 on weekends. Online ordering is available.

I was looking for lunch after walking around Tanglewood Park, and Chang Thai won out based on proximity. It definitely wasn’t a bad choice though it was hardly a memorable one.

Housed in the Tanglewood Commons shopping plaza, Chang Thai has the look of a place that has been around for a while. The woodwork and dark red seats seem like they could have been part of an Asian restaurant starter kit twenty years ago. That aside, Chang Thai is clean, well-maintained, and still plenty popular if the lunch crowd is anything to go by.

The menu here is split evenly between Thai and Japanese and offers about what you expect. For the former, that means soups, curries, fried rice, and noodles. For the latter, that means sushi, hibachi, and bento boxes. They’ll do sushi boats for groups, and if you want something higher-end, you can find ribeye and duck here as well.

I decided to play it safe for my first visit and went with a shrimp Pad Thai. It was a pretty bare-bones rendition compared to what I’ve had elsewhere: no carrots, no green onions, just shrimp, noodles, bean sprouts, a bit of egg, and peanuts. The noodles were well-sauced though the sauce was a bit sweeter than most. To their credit, Chang Thai did not skimp on the shrimp.

At $14 for a lunch Pad Thai (other proteins ran a few bucks cheaper), Chang Thai’s pricing isn’t overly steep. Service here can best be described as efficient.

All told, Chang Thai provided a decent meal in a convenient location. You can find better Thai elsewhere, but you could also do far worse than here.

718 Cafecito

 Located at 3612 Spring Garden Street in Greensboro, 718 Cafecito serves Puerto Rican/Dominican drinks and bites. It is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends, and closed Monday. Online ordering is available via DoorDash.

I was looking for both an afternoon caffeine boost and a new place to review for Hispanic Heritage Month. 718 Cafecito came up in a local Reddit post, and I’m glad that it did. This place is a hidden gem.

Housed in a nondescript plaza near Spring Garden and Merrit, 718 Cafecito is easy to miss unless you’re looking for it. Inside, it’s low-key but nicely appointed with plenty of seating, bright flags, and tasteful artwork.

The menu here includes coffee and matcha drinks, smoothies, frappes, crepas, and assorted pastries. You won’t find heartier fare – alas, no Cubano or arroz con gandules – but for lighter bites, they have you covered.

For my first visit, I went with the signature 718 Cafecito (Cuban espresso with toasted coconut, cinnamon, and sweet cream) iced and a guava pastry. Both were prepped quickly by a helpful barista (thanks for the pastry suggestion), and both were delicious. The latte was well-balanced with enough sweet and spice to take the edge off of the strong espresso. The pastry was flaky with plenty of guava.

While I don’t get out to this area of Greensboro all that often, I will definitely keep 718 Cafecito in mind when I do. This cafecito es muy bonito, en verdad.

Nonna Rosa's Pizza

 Located at 275 North Elm Street in High Point’s Stock and Grain food hall, Nonna Rosa’s offers pizza for lunch and dinner. It opens at 11 a.m. daily and closes at 7 (Sunday), 8 (Monday-Wednesday), 9 (Thursday), or 10 (Friday-Saturday). Online ordering is available via the Stock and Grain app.

Stock and Grain eateries generally fall into two categories: those that are not remarkable enough to justify their high prices (and seem destined not to last) and those that are expensive but worth it. Nonna Rosa’s falls squarely in the latter. I got to check them out during a make-your-own-pie Yelp event and liked them so much that I was back less than a week later. It was just as good, if not better, the second time.

Though Nonna Rosa’s offers calzones, salads, and a few apps, pizza is the star attraction here. It’s a classic style: thicker than a floppy/greasy quintessential New York slice but thinner than a true thick crust. It’s also a labor of love for the owner, who is, in the best way possible, a pizza history nerd. Nonna Rosa’s pizzamakers are both amicable and assured.

My wife and I ended up getting a Garlic White Pie (garlic parmesan cream, ricotta, mozzarella, and a bit of hot honey) to go. It took about fifteen minutes for them to make, looked amazing, and the smell taunted us the whole way home. The taste, however, was not to be outdone. Neither too spicy nor too sweet, the flavors were balanced nicely, and the creamy, cheesy texture made for a very satisfying bite.

With 16-inch pizzas running in the mid-20s, Nonna Rosa’s slings a pricey pie. There are definitely respectable pizzas in the area that can be had for less. Few, however, will leave you instantly craving more the way Nonna Rosa’s will.

Umami Station

Located at 2101 North Main Street, Umami Station offers Asian fusion cuisine. It is open from 11-9 Sunday-Thursday and 11-10 Friday and Saturday. Online ordering and party trays are available.

Housed in a former Marco’s Pizza, Umami Station is a no-frills eatery built for convenience. The pan-Asian menu includes hibachi, familiar Chinese-American dishes, ramen, sushi, poke, and wings. It’s standard as standard does, but that isn’t a bad thing if you know what you want and they have it.

In this case, I wanted a poke bowl. Topping options were, understandably, more limited than they would be in a place that specialized in poke. They also limit you to a single free sauce. Still, online ordering was easy, my food was ready on-time, and the price ($12) left no room for complaint.

 

Admittedly, I approached this meal with somewhat lowered expectations. While it was a bit spare (salmon, rice, cucumber, corn, avocado, and poke sauce that went heavy on the soy), it wasn’t unpleasant, and it satisfied a craving. Both the portion size and ratio of toppings to rice were decent.

I’d be lying if I said that Umami Station was impressive, but it is convenient, fairly priced, and, if not especially tasty, good enough for you to not regret it.

The Rivals of Amziah King

 

In Oklahoma, beekeeper/honey producer/bluegrass musician Amziah King (Matthew McConaughey) is called upon to solve a variety of problems in his community, including helping law enforcement to identify the source of some stolen honey. He is soon joined by Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass), his now-grown former foster daughter who has returned to the area after the death of her mother. Just as Kateri begins to find a sense of belonging, tragedy strikes, and she's left to right a terrible wrong.

Writer-director Andrew Patterson's sophomore effort is an ambitious hodgepodge of genres and tones. At different times, The Rivals of Amziah King is a heartfelt family drama, a black comedy farce, and a crime/revenge thriller. There are moments of shocking gore, moments of serene stillness, and even a  school sequence that plays like a live-action King of the Hill (right down to Scott Shepherd's turn as Amziah's heavily accented, Boomhaueresque colleague). This kitchen sink approach can be disorienting, and the film is not without other flaws. At its worst, it's gratingly sentimental, and it delivers its message with patronizing obviousness. That said, the parts that work work really well.

The movie's acting is a study in contrasts. McConaughey brings an intense upbeat charisma to Amziah. It's a quirky, showy performance that he somehow still pulls off. LookingGlass, a relative newcomer opposite McConaughey's industry vet, more than holds her own. Kateri has a steely resolve, but even at her most vengeful, she never loses her humanity. Kurt Russell makes the most of his minimal screentime, imbuing cutthroat crooked businessman Dob McCoy with folksy charm. The rest of the cast includes Jake Horowitz and Cole Sprouse as Kateri's shady-but-well-meaning allies.

Aesthetically, The Rivals of Amziah King is almost as uneven as it is tonally. The sun-and-soil visuals help to establish sense of place (even though the movie was not filmed in Oklahoma), but the editing features some rather jarring cuts. The score includes bluegrass and folk tunes as expected alongside heavy classical pieces. While the latter give certain moments some dramatic heft, they do feel overused to the point of intrusion.

The Rivals of Amziah King is nothing if not ambitious. Even if Patterson arguably stretched himself too thin here, he showed enough vision to suggest that viable alternatives to cookie cutter fanservice are still alive and well.

Grandpa Joe's Slaberia

 

Located in the Salem Bottleworks at 845 South Poplar Street in Winston-Salem, Grandpa Joe’sSlaberia specializes in focaccia pizza. It is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 to 10 Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday and Monday. There are multiple seating areas.

The owners of Bobby Boy Bakeshop opened this pizzeria a year ago, and I regret that it took me this long to check it out. Housed in a former Coca-Cola bottling plant, Grandpa Joe’s pays homage to the site’s history through its red and black décor. The menu offers salads, floats, and soft serve though pizza is the star attraction. It is served by the rectangular slab (about $8 per). Order at the counter, grab a number for your table, and wait for the oven to work its magic.

For our first visit, my wife and I split a trio of slabs — an Italian sausage, a mushroom, and a tomato and burrata — with a side of marinara. All three were excellent. The focaccia crusts were crispy while still retaining airiness. From melty mozzarella to savory, fennel-forward sausage, Grandpa Joe’s uses high-quality ingredients. The marinara was good: bright, fresh, and just a bit sweet. The mushroom slab came topped with arugula and shaved parmesan. Despite seeming like a gimmick (pizza? Salad? Why not both?), it proved an effective combination: the arugula’s bitterness played well with the mushrooms’ earthy flavors.

 

There will be a certain type of pizza connoisseur for whom anything that isn’t New York style is, by definition, fraudulent. For those with horizons broad enough to enjoy a thicker crust, Grandpa Joe’s is the best of that kind that I’ve found in the Triad.

Wallstreet Deli

 

Located at 7327 West Friendly Avenue in Greensboro, Wallstreet Deli offers sandwiches and Mediterranean fare from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays. Online ordering and catering are available.

The hours are limited and the location small, dated, and easy to miss – it’s in an industrial park set back from the road – but Wallstreet Deli seems to do brisk business nevertheless. Part of that is due to its proximity to area businesses although the friendliness of the folks working here certainly helps too. The same family that owned Jack’s Corner near UNCG owns this place. In light of that and of how long they’ve been around, I really wanted to like Wallstreet Deli. Ultimately, I found it to be solid if not impressive.

Though Wallstreet bills itself as a New York-style deli, it really isn’t much of one, and if you head in expecting that experience, you’ll leave disappointed. Approach it as a sandwich shop with some Mediterranean/Middle Eastern offerings, however, and it acquits itself much better. The menu features hot and cold sandwiches, burgers, salads, plus souvlakis, gyros, kababs, and falafel.

I was craving a cheesesteak, and the steak and cheese combo with fries fit the bill nicely. Even after adding mushrooms (an upcharge), it still came out under $15 pre-tax. I took it to go and found it satisfying. The sandwich offered a decent amount of meat and plenty of flavor. The fries were OK – not as crisp as they could be but not underdone or undersalted – though I would probably skip them on a future visit.

Wallstreet Deli is a fast, friendly, fairly tasty lunch option for anyone in the vicinity of the airport, but take proximity out of the equation, and you can find better Mediterranean and better sandwiches elsewhere in town.