Restaurants in Durham

Six Plates Wine Bar minimizes customers’ food indecision with a concise menu that pairs six upscale small plates with six wines by the glass. Despite the menu's diminutive size, there's no lack of variety—the foodies in the kitchen constantly swap out dishes to make use of as many local ingredients as possible, while a clipboard bears a list of more than 150 wines, and 30 beers, sold by the bottle. Mentioned in the New York Times for its use of local food, Six Plates Wine Bar puts an upscale take on comfort foods with its plates, which are about half the size of a traditional entree.

Six Plates Wine Bar's resident wine lover, Matthew Beason, curates a wine list that hails from around the globe—from behind the bar, he'll recount the tale of his first wine love, a 1995 JL Chave Hermitage Blanc that broke his heart when it eloped with a bottle of Boone’s Farm. Each glass romances tongues beneath crystal-drenched chandeliers in the warmly lit dining room, where eclectically framed vintage photos and mirrors share space on exposed brick and deep-amber walls. Diners can recline on red-upholstered armchairs, at the bar, or at intimate, candlelit tables flanked by backed barstools.

Black button-back booths and cherry-wood tables and accents give Shula's 347 Grill’s dining room the air of an upscale steakhouse, which is modernized with delicate studio lighting. The menu presents a similar contrast, its burgers and Signature Shula cut Black Angus Beef steaks prepared with a mix of traditional and modern techniques. The kitchen crew smothers boneless wings in buffalo sauce or a sweet-chili glaze with cilantro, while others grill Premium Black Angus filet mignon, New York strip, and cowboy steaks that have gone through a signature aging process. To accompany each dish, the staff recommends sparkling, white, and red wines from an extensive menu that includes selections from Chile, France, Italy, Germany, and across the U.S.

In 1978, Kyriakos Kalfas and his wife Ralitsa opened Spartacus Restaurant in Huntington, New York, taking after Ralitsa’s father, who had opened a cafeteria in Winston-Salem after returning home from WWII. In the early '90s, the Kalfas were drawn back to North Carolina and opened their own establishment in Durham. Since then, the restaurant’s menu has continued to pique appetites and garner praise—its tzatziki-covered lamb kebabs and flaming saganaki helped the eatery earn a Best of the Triangle award from Indy Week in 2011. Guests can dig into these eats, along with items from a sprawling lunch buffet, under the glow of the bar's three TVs, or they can take their meals outdoors when the patio opens in the spring.

While steak, seafood, salads, and wines share the spotlight, it's the fondue pot that transforms the dining experience at The Melting Pot into an interactive one. Bubbling at the center of the table, steel cauldrons steam with cheese blends such as aged cheddar and lager beer, or fontina, butterkase, and buttermilk blue. Diners spear slices of granny smith apples, artisan breads, and veggies, before dipping them into the thick, creamy cheese. While a wine and cheese fondue pairing may suit the evening on its own, a fresh salad followed by lobster and steak turns the experience in to a three-course event. Continue the dipping feast by adding one of nine velvety chocolate fondues and diners can gather around the table to dunk strawberries, marshmallows or chunks of cheesecake.

The multitalented chefs at Café Asia Raleigh draw culinary influences from all over Asia as they devise a menu of cooked entrees and artfully rolled sushi. While sitting in black leather booths or at cherry-wood tables, diners catch whiffs of alluring aromas coming from the kitchen, where culinary wizards conjure up shrimp tempura appetizers, miso soups, and noodle and rice dishes, including lobster pad thai and chicken teriyaki served with steamed vegetables. Flavors from the ocean star in the restaurant’s sushi selection, which includes rainbow rolls with five types of fish and spider rolls with soft-shell crab, avocado, cucumber, and scallions.

With consummate showmanship, hibachi chefs grill lobster tails and shrimp in front of guests in Ginza Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar’s modern dining room. Flames from the hibachi grill gleam off black tabletops surrounded by chairs arranged in a U-shape. Behind the sushi bar, chefs prepare california rolls alongside specialties such as the Mayflower, whose spicy tuna and fish eggs evoke the sea life that pilgrims used to catch by hand and throw at trees they suspected of practicing witchcraft. In the kitchen, cooks craft more traditional dishes such as chicken and salmon glazed in teriyaki sauce or veggies and shrimp fried tempura-style.