Chef Ashley Christensen is a two-time James Beard Award winning chef and a bit of a local legend! Ryan has been following her since her early days and Poole's (her first restaurant) was one of the first restaurants that awakened his desire to explore cities through his taste buds. This is where we celebrated on the night of our engagement. We love them for both their dinners and their brunches! They do not take reservations though, so go early to put your name in!
Have you ever had Laotian food? Neither had we! This is where we celebrated closing on our first house we bought together! The Pork Belly Soup may not sound filling but it is AMAZING! They tend to book out weeks in advance, we would recommend that you make reservations at least 4 weeks in advance
For all of our out-of-state guests, you HAVE to try Eastern Carolina BBQ and Clyde's is our favorite in the city limits. Eastern Carolina BBQ is pork with a vinegar based sauce (western uses a tomato based, and we don't even talk about SC BBQ). This is a must have if you love BBQ, but check the hours they close early!
If you can't make it to Clyde's for BBQ, then we recommend you check out Sam Jones which has more "dinner-friendly" hours. Their original location is in Greenville, NC so you know you’ll get some good Eastern Carolina BBQ and fixin's (and they have a bar!)
This was one of Ryan's favorites when he first moved to Raleigh after college. Since moving back with Phillip, we have enjoyed going here when we crave "pub food." Ryan says that the Pulled Pork Nachos are a must and Phillip's favorite is the "Bangin' Shrimp Po Boy." While you are drinking a beer from their great selection, look for the pint glass that President Obama had a PBR during the 2008 campaign.
Great breakfast spot for southern style home cookin' in the City Market area of downtown Raleigh. Ryan's great uncle Dallas once said "Its like my grandma use to make... when she was drunk!" and Phillip's mom said it was the biggest pancake she had ever seen!
Another one of Ashley Christensen's restaurants with a focus on southern goodness! We have taken our moms here when they each came to visit us since we moved to Raleigh. They are famous for their Chicken & Waffles, but we have also enjoyed their take on Chicken Pot Pie and Phillip likes their Meatloaf. They are expanding their indoor seating area which will hopefully be ready in time for the wedding!
Are we seriously recommending a Chinese restaurant? Yes, we are! This was a popular date spot "in the city" when Ryan was a student at Campbell because the food was good, inexpensive, and had good vibes. After moving away from NC, Ryan would dream about their Crispy Sesame Beef. When moving back to Raleigh, Ryan was worried that he had "overhyped" this place to Phillip - but luckily Phillip loved it just as much! It is one of our favorite go-to date spots.
We don't venture out to Glenwood South too often because we are getting too old for that "scene," but one place we will make an exception for is one of our favorite underrated downtown restaurants: Plates. Their menu rotates monthly so it is hard to recommend some of our favorites here, but we enjoy their rustic homestyle food. We recommend ordering tapas style and sharing some small plates and mains. We accidentally discovered this restaurant when Ryan's mom was in town and this was the only place we could find with reservations available at normal dinner hours. We have been back many times since!
This is Phillip's favorite downtown pizza location and Ryan really likes their beer selection. Our favorite pizza is The Best Dressed and Ryan always insists on getting cannolis. Ryan's favorite beer is Milky Way and Phillip enjoys their sours.
This place is in our neighborhood (just a little ways outside of downtown) and one of our favorite sandwich places. Great for a simple but delicious lunch. This was the first place we ate "out" after our wedding and one of the few places we have been to since the pandemic started. We like supporting the businesses in our neighborhood.
Desserts AND cocktails? Yes, please! A way to let your sweet tooth and alcoholism come together :) Just around the corner from Beasley's, this is a good place for dessert or a cocktail or both! Ryan recommends the Derby Pie and Phillip likes the dessert/champagne pairings which rotate.
A basement bar underneath Beasley's Chicken + Honey (also owned by Ashley Christensen) with great cocktails and light hors d'oeuvres. It may sound simple but we love their Gin + Tonic cocktail the most. This bar does require a "membership" which requires you to provide name, phone number and pay $1 for your entire party (NC ABC laws are strange)
We went here after dinner to continue our celebration after we got engaged. This basement bar on Fayetteville Street has great mixologists who put a delicious take on classic cocktails and create some of their own. This bar does not serve food and also requires a "membership" which again should only be $1 for the membership card (have we mentioned that NC ABC laws are strange?)
We will be honest with this recommendation, this is not our favorite restaurant for the food. This is a place that we enjoy for their great whiskey and scotch selection - which on our first date in Houston was a bourbon tasting. Johnny (with the dreads) is our favorite bartender - he really knows his whiskeys and he makes great recommendations based on your pallet!
We enjoy wine (especially Phillip) and we are part of their monthly wine club. But they are more than a bottle shop and have a bar as well. Either of the Phillips that work there will do a good job of finding a wine for your pallet. If you are staying at the Hampton Inn on Glenwood South, the Wine Feed is on the first flood around the corner.
Miss the days of going to the arcade? This "barcade" is a fun place to have a few drinks, play skee-ball, pinball, and all the arcade classics.
This is a must-go whenever Ryan's mom visits Raleigh. The original location in Raleigh (open since 1970), you can watch the the donuts run through the frying and glazing processes. Try and catch it when the HOT NOW sign is illuminated!
Free Admission
Free Admission