Restaurants in Greensboro

Steak Street whisks the senses on a transatlantic voyage. Gustatory journeys embark in the bar, where baseball gloves and bats accentuate a Cooperstown, New York, theme, before touching down amid the ivy-draped ceilings, commissioned murals, and wrought-iron balconies of the dining room's Tuscan-inspired decor. The corpulent dinner menu continues the global trek by collecting cuisines from Southern locales such as Charleston, the New Orleans French Quarter, and El Dorado.

Guests can savor hand-cut steaks soaked in specialty sauces and marinades after feasting upon appetizers such as the grilled Voodoo shrimp, which inspires conga lines on the ocean floor every time a fork prong is stuck into it. Live music accompanies meals most Friday and Saturday nights, and the bistro’s retractable enclosure reveals a stunning view of starry night skies or bright sunny days, during which visitors can enjoy snacks from the light-fare menu.

A peek inside Thai Corner Kitchen’s crispy spring rolls reveals an edible tapestry woven from cellophane noodles, cabbage, and mushrooms, all rolled up into thin shells and destined for sweet and sour dipping sauces. The rest of Thai Corner Kitchen’s menu features the same kind of ingenious ingredient mixing, pairing noodles, curry, and rice with Thai herbs and spices and a choice of meat, seafood, or veggies. As diners munch away, natural light streams through dining-room windows and free WiFi sweeps across the room in search of mobile devices to impregnate with its signal.

Emerywood serves gourmet soup, salad, and entrees for dinner. Preheat your evening appetite with Cajun shrimp and crawfish cakes, served over greens with sweet-chili remoulade ($8.95), or the veggie quesadilla, with black beans, corn, roasted veggies & cheddar cheese, served on a flour tortilla ($6.50). To fill your appetite bucket to the brim, try a Big Daddy's pizza, which packs pepperoni, chicken, Italian sausage, jalapeños, onions, mushrooms, olives, and tomatoes onto a mozzarella-slathered crust ($12.95). Elegant entrees include shrimp and organic grits (with veggies, andouille, and a white-wine sauce, $17.95), Emerywood Lump Crab Cakes with sweet basil aioli and garlic mashed potatoes, pan-seared pork chop ($17.95), and cedar-plank salmon with fresh dill orzo ($18.95).

From the Spanish word meaning the appetizer, La Botana references itself as "a modest little restaurant with big flavors." Modest is right. With its vegetarian menu alone boasting more than 25 dishes, the eatery was named the Readers' Choice for Best Mexican Food in 2011 by Winston-Salem Journal, among a slew of other awards.

The full menu, which is rife with mole-slathered entrees, sizzling fajitas, and lime-infused seafood, comprises multiple regions of Mexico, including Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, and Oaxaca. North Carolina craft beers are also available to wash down spicy morsels or put out small table fires caused by rubbing your hands in anticipation.

Though Twin City Diner opened in 1988, the plush turquoise booths, wood-paneled walls, and black-and-white photos displayed throughout its dining room lend the eatery a refined, contemporary-American feel that harkens back to the '50s. While the space pays homage to days gone by, the diner’s chefs—under the helm of owners and local culinary gurus the Karahalios family—delight in updating traditional southern comfort dishes with modern touches—from BLT sandwiches layered with fried green tomatoes to burgers slathered in chili, cheese, and slaw. Their menu also incorporates the family’s heritage, showcasing Mediterranean staples such as hummus, chicken souvlaki, and greek wraps.

Patrons can chow down within the sleek confines of the dining room, or they can mosey outside to the patio, where red umbrellas and flickering votive candles cultivate a relaxed and romantic atmosphere ideal for savoring alfresco meals or hitting on passing clouds.

Though nestled within a quiet stretch of trees that thickly border the shores of Smith Mountain Lake, Waller’s boisterously entertains its guests with live music, events, and an eclectic collection of eats. The menu starts out with a Mexican flair—quesadillas and nachos bulked up with BBQ chicken and pork—but quickly casts a wider net to include Angus chuck burgers and buffalo-chicken sandwiches. Boar’s Head meats insulate a selection of wraps from overzealous lake breezes, and French translations of italian paninis speak to palates through monte cristos sprinkled in confectioners sugar and croque-monsieurs blanketed with provolone.

Several nights a week, live entertainment thrills the crowd as they nosh in the dining room or out on the dockside patio. Former band frontman Brent Clineville emcees karaoke on Wednesdays, amateur musicians take the stage for open-mic night on Thursdays, and the weekends host a rotating selection of live bands.