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.

Though his restaurant's menu of gourmet dishes suggests years spent in culinary schools, Paul Zoccola's most influential teacher was his mother. Even with seven children, she filled the family table with homemade dishes. Instilled with a desire to spread those recipes outside of his native Naples, Zoccola journeyed to America, where he started his first restaurant in New Jersey before opening Lubrano’s Ristorante Italiano in 2002.

A decade later, Zoccola still strives to unite other families over pastas, sandwiches, and pizzas crowned with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, sausage, and fresh garlic. Happy chatter picks up in the dining room as forks drop contentedly onto plates laced with traces of tomato-cream sauce, house-made alfredo, and white-wine reductions. The chef also crafts a full catering menu, which can feed large parties or help with police stings to catch people swimming right after eating.

In November 2010, AnnMarie DiMaio purchased a small brickyard nestled in the midst of undulating farmlands with a dream to remodel the property in honor of her late mother and father. Drawing inspiration from her Italian heritage, AnnMarie modeled The Villa DiMaio after a Tuscan villa replete with tiled floors, Tiffany-style lighting, and walls covered in authentic Mona Lisas. The culinary-arts graduate specializes in wedding- and corporate-catering services and opens her picturesque villa to the public for a family-style Sunday brunch that marries Italian and southern cuisines. The facility’s covered wraparound veranda and rustic brick-and-stone courtyard pair meals with panoramic views of the landscaped grounds and decorative waterfalls.