Restaurants in Cary

Though the cushy red booths, shiny checkered floors, and soft hanging lights could belong to any sandwich shop in America, the vivid photographs that line Pita Pita Mediterranean Grill's dining-room walls depict another world. In one image, an elderly street vendor grills skewers of meat. Other photos depict a young face wrapped in a scarf and an old woman at work. The black-and-white Middle Eastern scenes pay homage to the restaurant's Mediterranean roots. Each day, cooks combine fresh ingredients and herbs into traditional kebab, shawarma, and casserole entrees. They slice ribbons of meats from rotisseries and tie them into bows around portions of hummus or baba ghanouj.

For more than 20 years, Photo's Hotdogs has been batting away hunger with a menu of classic handheld eats. The eatery's signature hot dog arrives dressed in true Chicago-style wearing an appetizing ensemble of onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, hot peppers, spats, and a pickle. Guests with a larger-than-life appetite can feast upon a Monster burger stacked high with two beef patties, mozzarella and american cheese, bacon, and grilled onions, or learn to munch in another language by sinking denti into a classic italian beef sandwich. Photo’s also ups the ante on its roster of classic American fare with more inventive menu selections such as Alaskan salmon burgers, fish tacos, and grilled turkey burgers.

When Lincoln Whiskey Kitchen's general manager Jon Acheson and whiskey master Bryan Kavanaugh aren't at the restaurant, they're traveling through Kentucky and Tennessee, tasting bourbon. Lucky for their customers, these adventures usually result in adding creative new twists to their restaurant menu back home. When they traveled to Woodford Reserve distillery in Kentucky, for example, they tasted single barrels to choose pairs of their favorites, which they blended into new whiskeys bottled under the restaurant's label. Later, samples of Eagle Rare whiskey and wheat Weller Antique led them to incorporate the spirits in many of the restaurant's dishes.

On any day, Lincoln Whiskey Kitchen's chefs fire entrees of seafood, steak, and pork on a wood grill, using wood harvested only from trees where lovelorn teenagers have carved their initials. They blend American and international culinary traditions to craft a citrus-soy-glazed salmon, new york strip steak with whiskey butter, and slow-smoked pork ribs bathed in their signature whiskey barbecue sauce. Servers ferry these dishes—and flights or recommended pairings of craft whiskey—to diners in the main space where the architecture evokes the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. Eight TVs illuminate the full bar, where servers pour glasses of the restaurant's specialty whiskey alongside more than a dozen wines and craft beers.

Chefs at La Roca Tapas are unafraid of flavor, which they infuse into each sharable dish with classic Spanish ingredients such as salty chorizo, tender grilled shrimp, or sauces based in vinegar, olive oil, and cayenne pepper. The Chicago Sun Times calls the resulting spread full of “tempting options,” which include hot or cold tapas such as the baked goat cheese with tomato sauce, or classic Spanish dishes such as paella. Everything on the menu is made from scratch, including the ink it's printed with, though most likely at an ink factory.