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.

Sushi Sho

 

Located at 2213 Cloverdale Avenue in Winston-Salem, Sushi Sho offers sushi and Japanese cuisine for lunch and dinner daily. Online ordering and all-you-can-eat are available.

Now that High Point and Greensboro have multiple AYCE sushi options, it was only a matter of time before Winston-Salem got in on the act. The more, the merrier, and Sushi Sho clearly serves a need. That said, if you aren’t coming here specifically for flat-rate fish and rice consumption, there are better options.

Sushi Sho is reasonably spacious, which is a plus given how busy they keep. I stopped by for lunch around 12:30 on a Monday, and there was a fairly steady stream of customers before and after me. They seemed understaffed given the volume, but both the front-of-house staff and sushi chefs were hustling at a commendable rate. Tiffany (I think?) provided good service despite doing what looked like the work of at least two people.

Not wanting to commit to an AYCE experience just yet, I opted for a regular menu and took a seat at the bar. Pricing is another point in Sushi Sho’s favor. AYCE runs under $20 for lunch and under $30 for dinner. I went with the sushi roll lunch, which also proved plenty affordable: any two classic rolls with miso or salad for about $12. Even with the specialty rolls removed from the equation, there were plenty of appealing options. I ended up picking an Alaska roll and a spicy yellowtail roll.

 

Unfortunately, the food here was merely OK. The salad was mostly lettuce though the requisite ginger dressing didn’t disappoint. Typically, an Alaska roll is an “inside out” (fish on top) concoction, but not here. Composition aside, the salmon and avocado left no reason for complaint. However, the same cannot be said for the yellowtail roll. Dry rice, an absence of spice, and an abundance of crunch in the middle made this roll one I would avoid in the future.

If you have time and patience to spare, you can find a good value here, but on food alone, Sushi Sho is only so-so.

Mama Bear's Sweet Shop

 

Located at 3793 Samet Drive Unit 140 in High Point, Mama Bear’s Sweet Shop offers baked goods, ice cream/gelato, and coffee. It is open from 11:30-6 Tuesday-Friday, 12-4 on the weekend, and closed on Monday.

While its prices have gone up, Odeh’s Mediterranean Kitchen remains the gold standard for Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food in High Point. With this bakery spinoff, the Odeh family looks to continue to raise the bar. First impressions have been very encouraging.

Housed in the former Mandalay Asian Fusion space, Mama Bear’s is bright, clean, and spacious with plenty of seating. The selection is commendably varied: rolls, croissants, cakes, cookies, gelato, ice cream, and more. Whatever your sweet tooth yearns for, they have you covered. Coffee and espresso drinks are available as well.

For my first visit, I went with a slice of Dubai chocolate cake and a white chocolate peanut butter cookie. The cake was rich and chocolatey with a nice crunch, but at $7/slice, I’ll probably go with a less extravagant flavor next time. The cookie ($3.50) was a standout: moist and chewy without falling apart. White chocolate and peanut butter proved to be an underrated combination.

If you’re a fan of Odeh’s, enjoy a good pastry, or both, then Mama Bear’s is a no-brainer. Be forewarned that if you follow their social media, you may have a tough time staying away.

Curry 'n Spice

 

Located at 2140 North Main Street in High Point, Curry ‘n Spice serves Indian cuisine for lunch and dinner daily (with closures between 2:30 and 4:30 on weekdays). Lunch specials are offered on weekdays, and online ordering is available.

Housed in the former Lulu & Blu location, the recently-opened Curry ‘n Spice is, so far, very nice. The menu is appreciably huge, offering not only the greatest hits (breads, kababs, curries, etc.) but also a few dishes with Southern Indian, Indo-Chinese, Nepalese, and Afghani roots. Alas, there are no thalis, but there are plenty of options to satisfy vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Sometimes, variety comes at the expense of quality, but not so here. The kitchen put out consistently good food, and they will match your desired spice level. Vegetable samosas were fragrant and larger than those you might find elsewhere. A lamb rogan josh boasted tender meat and a spice-forward sauce. I’ve encountered versions of this dish where the heat overwhelmed the flavors, but Curry ‘n Spice’s rendition let the cardamom through. Even the rice (soft basmati with very long grains) was above par. One of our favorites ended up being an item we received by mistake (they let us keep it and still brought what we ordered): cheese naan. It was addictively chewy, cheesy, and buttery on its own and also worked well to mop up sauces.

Service at Curry ‘n Spice was attentive: the owner (we think) stopped by to make sure we were enjoying everything. As with the building’s previous tenant, the interior is classy and comfortable. Admittedly, the Latin jazz in the background seemed incongruous for an Indian restaurant, but that’s a very small nit to pick. For the amount and quality of the food, pricing proved pretty reasonable.

High Point has other Indian eateries capable of putting out tasty food, but consistency can be hit-or-miss. For Curry ‘n Spice to be firing on all cylinders early on is, hopefully, a sign of more delicious meals to come.

Top Tier Fruit & Juices

 

Located at 104 East MLK Jr Drive in Downtown High Point, Top Tier Fruit & Juices offers smoothies, juices, and fruit bowls. It is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Online ordering is available.

While I was sorry that Penny Path Café never reopened, Top Tier has been able to make great use of this space. It’s still small, but it’s brightly colored and inviting. If that doesn’t make you feel welcome, then the gracious and helpful owner (Jonita?) will. I stopped by not long after Top Tier opened its doors, curious but ready to cut a new business some slack while it got its bearings. That slack proved entirely unnecessary here (it helps that this was a mobile business beforehand).

Top Tier offers about a half-dozen smoothies as well as teas, juices, and other drinks, but the menu is only the beginning. They also offer a lot of customizability, from fruits to sizes and more. I came in with vague notions of a green smoothie, heeded a few recommendations, and ended up with a thoroughly delicious apple/kale/pineapple/honey concoction. The ingredients are fresh – no powders or concentrates in evidence – and, given the quality, not too expensive.

If Downtown ever manages to shed its image of “furniture and little else,” it will be because of businesses like Top Tier: tasty, healthy, and well-run.  

Sinners

 

In 1932, Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore (Michael B. Jordan), twin veterans of World War I and the Chicago underworld, return to Clarksdale, Mississippi to open up a juke joint. They recruit their younger cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), an aspiring musician, against the wishes of his preacher father (Saul Williams) and bring old friends and lovers into the fold. While the opening of their establishment draws out the Black community, it also attracts the attention of Remmick (Jack O’Connell), an Irish vampire who sees in Sammie a way to connect to his ancestors.

Writer-director Ryan Coogler has never been one to be constrained by genre. To a body of work that includes the hard-hitting biopic Fruitvale Station, the franchise-rejuvenating Rocky spinoff Creed, and the Afro-futurist spectacle Black Panther, he adds a mashup of neo-noir and Southern Gothic horror. The craftsmanship, the thematic focus on the dispossessed, and several recurring collaborators remain constants, but to a greater extent than his previous films, Sinners sees Coogler taking more cinematic risks. For the most part, they pay off bountifully.

Both visually and narratively, Sinners is full of striking period detail. The promise of the open road that the Moores traverse is punctuated by the sights of chain gangs and segregated stores while the raucous dancing of their opening-night celebration is darkly mirrored by the jig-performing vampires massing outside. Ludwig Gonarsson, Coogler’s go-to composer, outdoes himself here, offering a soundtrack that honors the Delta blues while reaching well beyond them. It features contributions from the likes of blues legends Buddy Guy (who also has a rare acting role) and Bobby Rush but also folk singer Rhiannon Giddens and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich as well as several of the musically inclined members of the cast (Caton, O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld, and Lola Kirke, among others).

The cast is rock-solid as well. Jordan – Coogler’s regular leading man – overdoes the Mississippi accent at times, but he otherwise succeeds in giving two very different performances as the cold, quiet, resolute Smoke and the friendlier, more charismatic Stack. In shades of one of Jordan’s best-known roles (Black Panther’s Erik “Killmonger” Stevens), O’Connell brings a sense of tragedy to a ruthless character willing to commit reprehensible acts. Even the supporting roles that seem stereotypical at first glance – a conjure woman who knows how to ward off evil and a perpetually drunk old bluesman — are given touches of complexity thanks to both Coogler’s script and the work of capable actors like Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo.

Speaking of the script, it manages to weave together many disparate influences (fans of Devil in a Blue Dress and From Dusk Till Dawn take note) without collapsing. The Moores’ names are pointedly Biblical and Sammie is loosely based on Robert Johnson, but Coogler wisely avoids making Remmick one-dimensionally devilish. The Irish vampire, who fled the English and many others since, tries to sell turning his victims as a means of providing them the egalitarianism that society will forever deny African Americans…albeit at the cost of their individuality. It’s a pointed critique, but thanks to the film’s energy, Sinners never slows down enough to feel pedantic. It isn’t until the prolonged final quarter or so when the contrived coincidences and conveniences begin to pile up to the point of distraction, but even the comparatively weak ending doesn’t come close to torpedoing the movie.

Some might argue that there is enough horror in history to make Coogler’s metaphorical marriage of the two unnecessary. However, it is unlikely that a more straightforward period drama would be able to captivate to the extent that Sinners does.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

 

In the early 1960s, astronauts Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are bombarded by cosmic rays during an interstellar flight, granting them superhuman powers. As the Fantastic Four, they operate as beloved heroes and protectors, promoting science and diplomacy in addition to thwarting criminals. However, a pair of arrivals soon threatens their idyllic status quo: Sue and Reed prepare to welcome their first child unsure of how their powers might affect him, and the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), herald to the godlike planet-devouring Galactus (voiced by Ralph Ineson), tells them that Earth has been targeted for destruction.

Its Space Age origins may mark the Fantastic Four as outdated, but at the time of the team’s creation, public-facing superheroes that were also a flawed, dysfunctional family were something of a radical idea. Adaptations – and there have been plenty over the years – tend to either acknowledge the 60s-spawned cheesiness with a wink or a nod or subvert it by cranking up the dysfunction. Neither approach has been particularly successful. If nothing else, First Steps deserves credit for trying something different.

That something is full-bore, unironic retrofuturism. The team wears bright blue costumes and battles foes such as Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser), the film’s production design nails a period-appropriate look and feel, and Michael Giacchino’s upbeat score is a good fit for the film’s tone. Speaking of design, whereas CGI quality in Marvel films has been hit-or-miss as of late, the team behind the First Steps manages to render characters that might look goofy in lesser hands – such as The Thing and Galactus – convincingly.

The film is also well-cast with all the leads displaying strong chemistry. Pascal is once again protecting a child, but don’t go looking for the hard edges of Joel Miller or Din Djarin: Reed is instead waging an inner war on the worst-case scenarios he can’t help but imagine. Moss-Bachrach (whom no one will confuse with looking or sounding like Jack Kirby but who is, at least and at long last, finally, a Jewish New Yorker playing Ben Grimm) does manage to occasionally evoke The Bear’s Richie, however, albeit the mellower post-“Forks” version. Kirby pushes Sue past one-note “protective mother” cliches, and Ineson’s voice – imposingly deep and threatening yet tinged with weariness (Galactus is clearly over having to feed on planets to survive) – suits the character well.

And yet for as well-performed as they are, the characters do not feel completely written. Reed, Marvel’s poster boy for “insufferable genius,” keeps the genius but does little more to offend than missing a few social cues. Ben lacks both his source material’s coarseness and hang-ups regarding his transformation while Johnny is a far cry from a hotheaded playboy. He and Ben may lightly needle each other but not in a way that suggests any real dysfunction. This idealization extends to the harmonious, unified world which the characters inhabit, a bland pleasantness that saps the film of tension and complexity. Matt Shakman, best known for his television work, is competent enough in the director’s chair, but the screenplay, credited to four writers, is downright weak.

Debuting shortly after the similarly retro-inspired and optimism-fueled Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a less cluttered affair. It’s a nostalgic sop of sorts to those who miss Star Trek: The Original Series’ sense of possibility through exploration and innovation, but amid Marvel’s increasingly byzantine mythology and countless clumsy attempts at either grit or relevance, is that simplicity such a bad thing?

Superman

A few years into his superhero career, Superman (David Corenswet) intervenes to stop the nation of Boravia from invading its neighbor Jarhanpur. In doing so, he falls into a trap set by Boravia’s financial backer, tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Luthor uses his metahuman pawn Ultraman to attack the hero physically while launching a media campaign to turn public opinion against him. At the same time, Superman’s relationship (as his civilian alter ego Clark Kent) with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is fraying, and he is forced to question his purpose.

For as often as he’s been adapted, Superman is a deceptively difficult character to do well. Faithful takes risk being stale and insipid while conspicuous attempts to try something different risk alienating the audience. But if there is anyone equipped to handle this balancing act, it is writer-director James Gunn, who brings both knowledge of and appreciation for the source material as well as a well-honed sense of how to make a movie fun. His version of Superman isn’t without its divisive aspects, but it’s also fresh and entertaining.

A good deal of how well this movie works can be chalked up to its impeccable casting. Corenswet (an actor of Jewish descent finally playing an allegorical Moses) bears more than a passing resemblance to the beloved Christopher Reeve. His version of Clark/Kal-El is still idealistic and powerful but also relatably human. Brosnahan’s quick-witted, resourceful Lois shows the character at her journalistic best, and the Daily Planet as a whole comes across as more relevant here than in some adaptations. Wendell Pierce as Perry White and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olson honor the classic versions of the characters. Something of a novelty for a Superman film, Clark’s super-allies are also given a chance to shine. Spinoff bait as they may be, Edi Gathegi and Nathan Fillion are in good form as Mr. Terrific Michael Holt (a bored tech genius) and Green Lantern Guy Gardener (an abrasive space cop with a terrible haircut). Previous Gunn films were known for balancing humor and earnestness with an incredibly vile antagonist, and that trend continues here. Hoult’s version of Luthor lacks the camp of Gene Hackman or the upbeat quirkiness of Jesse Eisenberg. He’s instead a toxic brew of selfishness, intellect, smug superiority, and petty jealousy, and Hoult nails it.

For as well-cast and performed as these characters are, the sheer number of them in a two-hour movie can feel overwhelming, especially to viewers unfamiliar with the source material. The Fortress of Solitude robots and Metamorpho might get nods of approval from comic books fans, but they may also leave casual viewers wondering if they missed something.

Beyond that and a few tired set pieces – a city-leveling fight against a giant monster feels like a cliché at this point – there is little room for complaint. Superman is bright and colorful, Gunn’s direction is energetic, and the Boravia-Jarhanpur conflict echoes enough of Russia-Ukraine (and Luthor of a Silicon Valley type) to strike a relevant chord without being obnoxiously polemical.

If you’re completely over superhero films or never enjoyed them to begin with, Superman isn’t likely to make you change your mind. But if you’re looking for something to rekindle any affinity (for the genre, the character, or even for some degree of hopefulness), it just might.

Smitty's Grille

 

Located at 838 South Main Street in Kernersville, Smitty’s Grille specializes in seafood. It is open from 4-9 Monday-Wednesday, 4-9:30 on Thursday, 4-10 Friday-Saturday, and closed Sunday. There is a full bar, specials change daily, and patio seating is available.

Smitty’s is a difficult place to properly rate. In terms of what it brings to Kernersville, it’s a breath of fresh air, a fun place to grab a drink, and a reliable source of seafood options. At the same time, if you’ve traveled a bit, you’ll recognize Smitty’s as a worse version of what you can find elsewhere.

Despite the unassuming shopping center location, Smitty’s atmosphere definitely stands out. The netting and pirate flags on the walls help reinforce a beach/nautical theme. There are also a variety of seating options from traditional tables inside and out to a seat along a wraparound bar.

The menu here offers chicken and steaks, but seafood is the star. You can get it in a sandwich, in a fried platter, in a pasta dish, in a taco, in a rice bowl….you get the idea. While there may not be many types of fish to choose from, the number of permutations still offers plenty of variety.

My wife and I opted to split a fried pickles appetizer and a fried platter with flounder, popcorn shrimp, oysters, potatoes, and broccoli. Our food came up relatively quickly, and it was hot and fresh.

The quality, however, rated as largely just OK. The pickles were nice and crisp, but the accompanying remoulade had a confusing sweet note (relish, maybe?). The “famous” potatoes were buttery though they would have benefited from some herbs. The flounder was thinly breaded. Both the shrimp and oysters were good and paired nicely with the accompanying tartar and cocktail sauces.

At $9 for the app and $26 for the pick three fried platter (including a $4 upcharge for oysters), Smitty’s pricing is higher than you’d expect for its atmosphere. Servers seemed friendly enough.

If you’re in Kernersville with a seafood craving, Smitty’s has a lot to offer even if the quality is hit or miss. However, if you’re willing to drive twenty-something minutes, Full Moon does a better version of much of what you can find here.

Young Cardinal Cafe

 

Located at 424 4^th Street in Downtown Winston-Salem, Young Cardinal specializes in breakfast/brunch and cocktails. It is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Specials change regularly, and patio dining is available.

I had been wanting to try Young Cardinal for quite some time, but it always seemed so busy. During our most recent Winston trip, however, my wife and I decided to bite the bullet and endure whatever wait we had to. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long one: the quoted fifteen-to-twenty minutes ended up being more like twelve. We ended up with a patio table perfect for people-watching (and likely not as loud as inside the restaurant would have been).

Young Cardinal’s menu offers up pancakes, waffles, omelets, bowls, and benedicts (among other things) for breakfast as well as sandwiches and salads for lunch. The biscuits/benedicts/omelets offer a good deal of customizability, including vegetarian options. There is also an assortment of coffee drinks, including several spiked coffees.

After briefly contemplating the French toast of the day (a bread pudding inspired concoction with a cherry glaze – probably amazing but more dessert than brunch entrée), I opted for the hot honey chicken and pimento Benedict with hash browns as the side while my wife went with the Young Cardinal breakfast (eggs hard fried, bacon, grits, and a biscuit with a side of gravy) and a millionaire’s coffee (Irish cream, Kahlua, Frangelico, whipped cream). Given how busy Young Cardinal was, we were expecting a bit of a wait for our food, but thankfully, that proved not to be the case. Service here is remarkably efficient and pleasant as well.

 

The food was good though had I been more ravenously hungry and subjected to a longer wait for it, I might have been more critical. The Benedict was nicely plated with the eggs done just right. The chicken cutlets were a bit thin, but they delivered the expected flavors (spicy and sweet). My wife appreciated the hard cook on the eggs and enjoyed everything on the plate. Pricing was moderate: $17 apiece for our dishes.

I don’t know if the other Andrews Group establishments run as tight a ship as this, but with food and service as good as they are here, it isn’t hard to see why Young Cardinal always seems to draw a crowd.

Breakfast Brunch

Located at 4623 West Gate City Boulevard in the Sedgefield Crossing Shopping Center in Greensboro, Breakfast Brunch serves diner fare and all-day breakfast. It is open from 7-8 Monday-Saturday and 7-3 on Sunday. Family meals are available.

Laugh at the name all you want, but Breakfast Brunch offers some seriously good eats for its price point. It’s housed in a former Mexican restaurant, and the walls retain the same bright palette (reds and yellows and oranges) albeit with some farm-inspired décor. This fusion approach – a Southern diner with Mexican influences – can be found across the menu as well. Breakfast offerings include the omelets, biscuits, and pancakes you’d expect from the former, along with sandwiches, salads, fried fish, and pastas later in the day. Any place that offers chicken and waffles, fettuccine carbonara, and quesadillas has variety going for it at the very least.

For my first visit, I opted for one of the chef’s specials: the breakfast molcajete. Served in the namesake sizzling stone mortar, it came loaded with homefries, onions, tomatoes, chorizo, smoked sausage, peppers, cheese, and two eggs cooked to order (scrambled in my case). The portion was huge. As it easily yielded two meals, the $11 price felt like a steal. However, this wasn’t a case of quantity above all: it was quite tasty too. The potatoes were crisp and well-seasoned while the chorizo added a spicy kick. Throw in prompt and polite service, and Breakfast Brunch seems like a winner for anyone seeking better-than-average diner food.

Located at 4623 West Gate City Boulevard in the Sedgefield Crossing Shopping Center in Greensboro, Breakfast Brunch serves diner fare and all-day breakfast. It is open from 7-8 Monday-Saturday and 7-3 on Sunday. Family meals are available.

Laugh at the name all you want, but Breakfast Brunch offers some seriously good eats for its price point. It’s housed in a former Mexican restaurant, and the walls retain the same bright palette (reds and yellows and oranges) albeit with some farm-inspired décor. This fusion approach – a Southern diner with Mexican influences – can be found across the menu as well. Breakfast offerings include the omelets, biscuits, and pancakes you’d expect from the former, along with sandwiches, salads, fried fish, and pastas later in the day. Any place that offers chicken and waffles, fettuccine carbonara, and quesadillas has variety going for it at the very least.

 

For my first visit, I opted for one of the chef’s specials: the breakfast molcajete. Served in the namesake sizzling stone mortar, it came loaded with home fries, onions, tomatoes, chorizo, smoked sausage, peppers, cheese (feta, which actually worked in this dish, strangely enough), and two eggs cooked to order (scrambled in my case). The portion was huge. As it easily yielded two meals, the $11 price felt like a steal. However, this wasn’t a case of quantity above all: it was quite tasty too. The potatoes were crisp and well-seasoned while the chorizo added a spicy kick. Throw in prompt and polite service, and Breakfast Brunch seems like a winner for anyone seeking better-than-average diner food.

Paris Banh Mi

 

Located at 2703 West Gate City Boulevard in Greensboro, Paris Banh Mi serves Vietnamese sandwiches, coffees, and desserts. It is open from 9-8 every day except for Tuesday. Online ordering and delivery are available.

In need of a quick meal near the Colosseum, I decided to give Paris Banh Mi a try. Knowing that the gold standard of banh mis (Saigon) was just up the road, I entered this chain eatery with lowered expectations. While Ban Mi Paris’s rendition of its signature sandwich doesn’t compare favorably, it still offered a good overall experience.

If nothing else, Paris Banh Mi has menu variety in its favor. In addition to the titular sandwich, there are sandwiches on croissant buns, Korean corn dogs, apps, teas (regular and milk/bubble), coffees, vermicelli bowls, pastries, and more. Whether seeking a snack or a meal, a vegetarian or an omnivore, you will find something here. It also helps that the location is reasonably spacious, brightly lit, and clean.

 

I went with a special combination banh mi (pork roll, jambon, BBQ pork, pate, mayo, and veggies) and a jasmine green iced tea. After placing my order at the counter, there was a very short wait before it was called out for pickup. The sandwich was appreciably larger than banh mi I’ve had elsewhere, but at $8.25, it was also more expensive. It tasted fine, yet it gave the sense that something was missing: more heat from the jalapeno, more of a pickled flavor from the carrots, more flakiness from the bread. The tea was refreshing (and not at all sweet).

Paris Banh Mi wouldn’t be my first choice for a banh mi in Greensboro, but its variety and expediency make it a decent option for a fast Coliseum-area meal.

Boulder's Bar & Grill

Located at 2758 NC 68 Suite 103 in the Heron Village shopping center in High Point, Boulder’s Bar & Grill serves pub fare. It is open from 11-9 Tuesday-Sunday and closed Monday. Outdoor seating on a dog-friendly patio and online ordering (via Toast) are available.

Named for the owners’ late Yellow Lab, Boulder’s features a canine motif throughout. This, the establishment’s cleanliness, and a few intriguing menu options help distinguish it from the average sports bar despite the requisite noise and screens. As a newcomer to High Point, it’s off to a good start, albeit with room for improvement.

Boulder’s is seat yourself, and between the dining room, the bar, and the patio, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to. The menu offers the wings, apps, and burgers that you’d expect as well as a few pleasant surprises. They offer several variations of a fancy grilled cheese, grouper in a sandwich or in fried bites, and a surprising number of salads.

For our first visit, my wife and I went with a pretzel app and then the pimento bacon burger and the meatloaf sandwich, respectively. Overall, the food was satisfying if unremarkable. The soft pretzels were in sticks rather than twists, and they came with a pair of dipping sauces: a mustard (OK) and a queso (tasty, with a nice green chili kick). The meatloaf sandwich was simple – meatloaf, ketchup, and Swiss on sourdough – though it made for a deceptively filling meal. While the meatloaf was seasoned well (savory with just a hint of sweet), the “spicy” ketchup didn’t deliver any heat. I went with onion rings for my side, and they were crisp and nicely battered. The burger was good if a bit of a mess to try to eat.

New restaurants often need a little time to get the hang of service, but that wasn’t the case here. Our server was on top of things, and the kitchen turned around food fairly promptly. You’ll pay in the mid-teens for a burger or a sandwich (side included) here, which isn’t unreasonable. The onion rings were a dollar upcharge and well worth it, but a dollar to swap the burger’s onions for pickles seemed excessive.

Boulder’s has potential, and I’m curious to see what kind of specials they come up with when they are further established. In the meantime, it’s a solid option if you want a lively atmosphere.

The Old Fourth Street Filling Station

 

Located at 871 West Fourth Street in Winston-Salem’s West End, the Fourth Street FillingStation offers American cuisine for lunch and dinner. It is open from 11-9 Monday-Thursday, 11-10 on Saturday, and 11-3 for brunch on Sunday. Online ordering, reservations through Open Table, and outdoor seating are available.

While the name calls to mind a gas station-turned-pub, the Fourth Street Filling Station is a bit more upmarket than that. It isn’t fine dining but rather a place where you can get a steak. The worst that can be said about this place is that it isn’t terrible innovative: apps, salads, sandwiches, a few seafood and pasta dishes, and the aforementioned steaks. In the grand scheme of things, however, there are far greater culinary sins than not offering anything unique.

The Filling Station boasts a spacious patio, and even as it got busier, our group of four was able to enjoy a comfortable meal. Our server was friendly and helpfully offered drink recommendations, and the kitchen didn’t leave us waiting long for our food.

The menu boldly claims Winston’s Best Calamari, so we decided to put that to the test. While there may be a match out there somewhere, the Filling Station’s version is quite good: a generous portion, well-breaded, not overcooked, and paired with both a superb cocktail sauce and a tangy remoulade. My entrée – a jambalaya – was likewise very satisfying. I’ve had jambalayas that were disappointingly dry, and I appreciated the gravy in this one. Though it offered no heat, it was still flavorful, and the shrimp were sizeable.

 

The Filling Station isn’t cheap – most entrees in the twenties and sandwiches in the mid-teens – but given rising food costs, the prices aren’t out of line for what they offer.

If you’re looking for a “nice meal” destination with solid food and plenty of seating, the Filling Station presents an appealing option provided that you are OK with the somewhat predictable menu.