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.

Damn Yankees Deli and Catering

 

Located at 234 North Main Street in Kernersville, Damn Yankees Deli and Catering offers sub sandwiches for lunch and dinner. It is open from 10:30-7:30 Tuesday-Friday, 10:30-4 on Saturday, and closed Sundays. Hero of the Day sandwich specials change regularly. Online ordering is available.

 

Kernersville isn’t where you’d expect to find a legit New York-style sandwich shop, but here we are. Damn Yankees came about when a Long Island couple repurposed the former Deli on Main, revamping the menu and adding a lot of personal touches. Like many classic sandwich shops, it isn’t much to look at – blue walls, a deli case, a fridge, and a few tables – but the menu is where it really shines.

 

About that menu: Damn Yankees boasts more than two dozen sandwiches, and that’s excluding kid’s menu and daily special offerings. Each can be turned into a salad or paired with a side salad, and there are a few desserts as well. They even have knishes! The sandwiches range from simple classics (a BLT or a chicken salad) to glorious-sounding meat-and-gravy concoctions. While the meats are Boar’s Head, the breads and sauces are all made in-house

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For our first visit, my wife and I opted for the daily special (a Basilicole with balsamic chicken, basil pesto, tomatoes, arugula, and fresh mozzarella) and a Meat Head (pepperoni, salami, meatballs, melted mozzarella and sauce) with a side of potato salad. Earlier reviews suggested that Damn Yankees was still finding its footing – and adequate staffing – and so I anticipated a bit of a wait. Fortunately, there proved not to be much of one. For made-to-order, food was prepared fairly quickly, and co-owner Steve was a personable presence at the register.

 

Damn Yankees may charge more than most – both six-inch sandwiches were north of ten apiece – but you get your money’s worth here. They decidedly do not skimp on the toppings. The Meat Head lived up to its Ron Swansonesque name, offering very good meatballs and a quality tomato sauce (fresh and just slightly sweet). The soft, thick hero roll held everything together nicely. Even the potato salad exceeded expectations. The Basilicole was tasty as well though we’ll probably go in a different direction next time.

 

Kernersville is lucky to have Damn Yankees. As a New Jersian, I can say they make a damn good sandwich. 

Fridas Mexican Kitchen & Cantina

 

Located at 550 Pineview Drive in Gateway Plaza in Kernersville, Fridas Mexican Kitchen and Cantina serves Mexican cuisine for lunch and dinner daily. It is open from 11-10 Monday-Thursday, 11-11 Friday and Saturday, and 11-9 on Sunday. Outdoor seating and online ordering are available.

 

Some of the best Mexican eateries are tiny, easily overlooked hole-in-the-wall establishments, and so expecting much from Friday’s – large and prominently visible from 66 – seems counterintuitive. While Fridas may not be the best Mexican restaurant in town, it still acquits itself fairly well.

 

Having been once previously for take out, my wife and I stopped in most recently for a Cinco de Mayo lunch. We were expecting busy, and it was, but Fridas' staff seemed up to the task. There was no wait for a table, and service was prompt and efficient.

 

The restaurant is named for the artist Frida Kahlo, and her visage can be found everywhere (sign, menus, wall art, etc.) here. If that isn’t Fridas' calling card, then the margarita menu may be. This, however, is an undue slight to the establishment’s unusually strong taco game. The menu boasts two kinds of fish tacos, three kinds of pork tacos (carnitas, pastor, and pibil), birria, and even de canasta (fried tortillas). There are, of course, plenty of non-taco offerings too, ranging from fajitas/quesadillas/burritos to salads to various chicken/steak/seafood and vegetarian dishes.

 

We opted for elote, a vegetarian burrito, and tacos de cochinita pibil and were mostly satisfied. The elote came slathered and packed all the right flavors, but it was served chilled rather than hot, a confusing (and slightly disappointing) choice I’ve not seen replicated elsewhere. The burrito was enormous and full of delicious squash. At $8.25 on the lunch menu for what amounts to two meals’ worth, it was a bargain. The tacos (three for $11) were generously filled and quite tasty though absent the expected spiciness. A side of charro beans was top-notch.

 

All told, Fridas made for a better-than-expected lunch. It may not sway you from your allegiance to another spot, but it shouldn’t be passed up, either.

Kernersville Bagel

 

Located at 931F South Main Street in Kernersville, Kernersville Bagel serves up bagels, bagel sandwiches, coffee, and desserts. It is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

 

The sister store to Greensboro’s venerable New Garden Bagels, Kernersville Bagel upholds the same high standards…and offers more seating. My wife and I went during opening weekend expecting to find the selection picked over, but we were pleasantly surprised to encounter plenty of availability. On a good day, expect to find a dozen or so varieties with plenty of spreads to go with them. While business was brisk this Saturday morning, the hard-working staff was hustling and able to keep pace.

 

We ordered a pair of bagel sandwiches to eat in and a half-dozen bagels to go. The Taylor ham/egg/cheese combo, a New Jersey staple, is done justice here. As with the New Garden store, the bagels offered at Kernersville Bagel are some of the best in the Triad. Transplanted Yankees (especially fellow members of the tribe) will feel right at home here (grab a black and white cookie to round out the experience) while Southerners may find themselves culinarily converted. Only bad luck (i.e. they run out of your favorite type of bagel) can let you down here: the bagels certainly won’t.

J. Pepper's Southern Grille

 

Located at 841 Old Winston Road in Kernersville, J. Pepper’s Southern Grille offers locally sourced Southern cuisine for lunch and dinner daily. There is a full bar, and patio seating is available. Food and drink specials change daily.

 

Much like Lucky 32 in Greensboro, J. Pepper’s offers dressed-up versions of familiar Southern dishes. Maybe it was a confluence of favorable circumstances (warm, sunny day + patio seating + not too busy), but “the Kernersville version” made for a surprisingly outstanding lunch.

 

Though the inside is dark, J. Pepper’s patio is an open and inviting space. My wife and I showed up for a midweek lunch and were seated without any wait. One look at the menu told us that we would have difficult decisions ahead as J. Pepper’s offers no shortage of enticing options. After mulling over a few sandwiches, we settled on a fried green tomato starter, shrimp and grits, and a southern salad. The first two are among my go-to dishes when available, so J. Pepper’s had a high bar to reach to leave an impression.

 

Fortunately, the food more than hit the mark. J. Pepper’s fried green tomatoes and shrimp and grits fall among the top five versions that I’ve had anywhere. The former paired really well with a sweet and smoky bacon jam while the latter featured sizable shrimp, very creamy grits, and hints of sherry in the sauce. The southern salad was no slouch either as it came topped with large chicken tenders that were both crisp and juicy. Speaking of salads, a deviled egg Caesar is a winning choice as an entrée side option. All this made for a very filling meal (and leftovers), which is fortunate as I can only imagine the desserts.

 

J. Pepper’s pricing was right where it should be for a restaurant of this type: entrees in the teens and apps in the $8-$11 range. Kate provided friendly and attentive service, and we weren’t left waiting long for anything.

 

Whether we caught J. Pepper’s on a particularly good day or whether the establishment is criminally underappreciated remains to be seen, but for a nice lunch in Kernersville, look no further.

Amalfi's Pizza Italian Restaurant

 

Located at 503 Nelson Street in Kernersville, Amalfi’s serves pizza and Italian cuisine for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Food specials change regularly, and catering is available.

 

Amalfi’s is Kernersville’s iteration of a type of restaurant every town should have: the classic, midrange red sauce Italian eatery. True to form, it looks dated inside (latticework, brick accents, and a big wall painting are at least pleasant if familiar) and out. However, beneath the tired aesthetics lurks surprisingly competent execution.

 

Having been previously impressed with the pizza (it’s not Mario’s, but it’s legitimate New York style that reminded me of what I grew up with in New Jersey), my wife and I decided to give Amalfi’s a try for a Valentine’s Day dinner. We called in a pick-up order and hoped that the wait wouldn’t be horrendous. We arrived to find a long pick-up line, which, thankfully, moved fairly quickly: kudos to the hard-working staff for being able to handle the evening’s considerable demand. Our food was ready and still hot when we reached the front of the line, and it survived the drive back to High Point without any issues.

 

We ended up going with mozzarella sticks, linguine aglio y olio, fettuccini a modo mio, and tiramisu, and there wasn’t a dud in the bunch. The mozzarella sticks had a nice bit of crunch and paired well with the housemade marinara. The aglio y olio, surprisingly hard to find elsewhere, packed a garlicky punch while the fettuccini offered well-cooked shrimp in a slightly sweet pink crab sauce, another rarity. While tiramisu is a whole lot more ubiquitous, Amalfi’s rendition held up well.

 

None of Amalfi’s food is cheap, but it isn’t a poor value, either. The two entrees were $13 and $21, respectively, but both came with a choice of soup or salad as well as bread. Portions were generous, too. Only the mozzarella sticks, at $9.49, felt like a reach.

 

Amalfi’s is unlikely to be the best Italian food you’ve ever had, but if you’re looking for reliably tasty pizza or pasta, keep them in mind (especially if it happens to be a Sunday and you’re anywhere near Kernersville).

Intown Donutz

Located at 508 East Mountain Street in Kernersville, Intown Donutz serves donuts, coffee drinks, and sweets. The business is open seven days a week.

No one expects a local donut shop to be cavernous, but even by that standard, Intown Donutz is small. Despite the presence of a few tables, you’re best served grabbing your donuts and fleeing before limited standing room causes a pileup of people behind you. This lack of an inviting atmosphere was abetted by the lone employee on duty who, while not exactly rude, seemed like she would rather be anywhere else.

So why come here? The donuts, man. They are varied, and they are good. Intown offers everything from cake-style and old-fashioned to glazed to fritters and bear claws and more. They will even fill-to-order (jelly, custard, lemon, or cream) their long donuts. Everything was billed as made fresh daily and looked the part.

I picked up a large caffe mocha, a custard-filled maple glazed stick, a jelly-filled glazed stick, and an apple fritter for under $10 to share, and there wasn’t a bad decision in the bunch. The apple fritter especially was one of the best that I’ve had in quite some time.

Moral of the story: come for the donuts and leave quickly before the (lack of) service and space sour you on this place.

The Prescott

Located at 126 South Main Street in Kernersville, The Prescott offers locally sourced fine dining for dinner Tuesday through Saturday and for brunch on Sunday. There is a full bar with signature cocktails, reservations can be made online, and catering is available.

We were in need of a meal to mark an occasion, and The Prescott’s strong reviews lead us to Kernersville. Housed in a cluster of shops, The Prescott is small and easy to miss. Try the food, however, and you’ll be glad that you didn’t.

Though not spacious, The Prescott does not feel cramped. It offers a comfortable atmosphere with appealing art. We showed up around noon for a Sunday brunch sans reservation and were seated immediately without difficulty.

As befitting a farm-to-table eatery, what’s on the menu may vary depending on what’s in season. No matter what time of year, however, expect a compact but tantalizing selection. The brunch offerings during our visit included an upscaled French toast, a full English breakfast, a lobster Benedict, steak and eggs, and more. We ultimately settled on the French toast with a side of potatoes and the lobster Benedict.

Good food takes time, but even with that maxim in mind, the kitchen was somewhat slow. To The Prescott’s credit, an amuse-bouche (fresh berries and Greek yogurt) was offered to tide diners over, a classy touch that was refreshingly tart and crisp. Service was otherwise sharp: prompt, courteous, and welcoming.

The thoughtfully plated food proved well worth the wait. The Benedict had no shortage of lobster, the eggs were poached perfectly, and the few accompanying blistered tomatoes helped offset the other components’ saltiness. The crisp, herby potatoes were addictively good. The French toast used pumpkin bread, an odd choice given how sweet and dense it is already. While that’s probably not the best fit for this dish, it proved tasty nevertheless.

While the dinner experience here may differ from brunch, a refined and competently executed menu and on-point service make The Prescott an appealing “occasion” meal spot.