Restaurants in Durham

With a Southern-tinged contemporary menu that garners ample praise, including a Forbes Four-Star award in 2012 and a AAA Four Diamond rating in 2012, Carolina Crossroads Restaurant wafts gourmet aromas throughout the surrounding structure of the historic Carolina Inn. Executive chef James Clark merges Mediterranean and Italian influences with indigenous Southern fare to fashion locally sourced ingredients into innovative dishes for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. Beneath grandiose curtains and shimmering chandeliers, the restaurant's bold blue floral-patterned chairs and banquettes flank white-linen-topped tables, which support succulent seafood, juicy cuts of steak, and the occasional miscreant elbow.

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.

When The Broad Street Cafe's owners opened shop in Durham, they envisioned their spot as a community hub where patrons could meet up with friends to enjoy made-from-scratch eats and live music. And they've succeeded, according to The Independent's readers, who voted The Broad Street Cafe the best place to see music before 10 p.m. in 2011. Five nights a week, live acts fill the room from floor to exposed metal rafters with styles that range from indie and folk to reggae and backwards yodeling.

Chef James Autry and his culinary team load pizzas with house-smoked chicken, roasted butternut squash, and other premium ingredients, kissing them with heat in their wood-burning oven. The kitchen takes a creative approach to traditional burgers by building them around Angus beef, lamb patties, portobello mushroom caps, ahi tuna, and even marinated pork loin. In addition to wine and mixed drinks, bartenders maintain 10 beers on tap and more than 20 types of bottled beer.

Havana Grill dishes out authentic Cuban food such as crispy yuca fritas, roasted-pork sandwiches, and creamy tres leches cake as well as sangria and mojitos, which are made from scratch. Priding themselves on their family-friendly vibe, they host events on their heated outdoor patio that are good for all ages, including karaoke and Zumba fitness classes. They also host salsa-dancing sessions and were voted one of the Triangle’s best places to salsa dance by Independent Weekly readers.

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.