Restaurants in Apex

Since the inception of its flagship location in 1973, Golden Corral has continued to load plates with an ever-expanding menu of homestyle fare served in a family-oriented atmosphere. Among the never-ending dinner buffet’s offerings, 15 types of protein, including sirloin steaks cut and aged on the premises, pair with comfort-fare staples such as mac 'n' cheese and banana pudding. At lunch, pot roast simmered for 12 hours and made-from-scratch meatloaf fill the buffet’s ranks, and breakfast promises made-to-order omelets, hearty slices of ham and sausage, and sizzling hash browns. Each of Golden Corral’s locations opens its doors to group events, seating parties of 25 or more, or one house of Congress in recess.

Sunlight pours through Tony's Oyster Bar & Restaurant's towering windows as waiters carry plates of Cajun and creole-inspired seafood to tables. Ocean specialties from the raw bar include pecks of oysters, pounds of shrimp, and clusters of Alaskan snow crab, accompanied by kitchen-prepared entrees such as barbecue baby back ribs and buttery lobster tails. Guests can perch upon stools at steel tabletops in the casual bar area or venture onto the hardwood floors and white-clothed tables of the main dining room, as they sip wine and cocktails from a full bar. Live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights offers diners a welcome reprieve from evenings of listening to an apartment’s rattling pipes desperately try to keep rhythm.

Named for its original location on North Fourth Street in Wilmington, NOFO @ the Pig now resides in what was once a Piggly Wiggly grocery, to which the restaurant pays homage with a bar constructed from Piggly Wiggly cans. NOFO has added more of its own touches, such as a chandelier encircled with hand-blown glass pigs. Perhaps in tribute to the grocery store’s diverse stock, the eatery’s lunch, dinner, and weekend-brunch menus showcase eclectic eats inflected with Southern touches. Diners feast on lunchtime burgers, sandwiches, and wraps such as the spinach burger with roasted tomato aioli. As the sun sets, dinner plates emerge from the kitchen bearing home-style eats, such as shrimp and grits or barbeque chicken with collard greens, 3 cheese baked macaroni and creamy coleslaw. Over the weekend, NOFO’s brunch blends everyday menu staples with omelets, eggs benedict, and french toast slathered in honey butter sweeter than the milk of a dairy cow that will only honeysuckle.