Restaurants in Mebane

Tony, the owner of Bandido’s Mexican Cafe, learned the tricks of the trade while working at his family’s Mexican restaurant as a teenager. Today, he and his wife own and operate three Bandido’s locations, which serve sizzling fajitas, crisp tacos, and burritos stuffed with beef, chicken, pork, or sautéed spinach. The Herald-Sun's readers praised Bandido's as the Best Mexican Restaurant in 2009, and the restaurant returns the favor by awarding individuals who finish the El Gigante burrito—a massive compilation of steak and chicken fajitas, rice, black beans, and shredded cheese—with a T-shirt and gentle pats on the back. The restaurant often hosts live entertainment, and the Durham location supplements its selection of lunch and dinner fare with a Sunday brunch menu served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

After perusing the lengthy menu, choose from Randy's long list of fresh toppings, or entrust your taste buds to the prearranged combinations, such as the Rio Ranchero pizza dressed in diced tomatoes, crisp bacon, and ranch on a gooey bed of mozzarella ($14.95 for 14 inches, $16.95 for 16 inches, $18.95 for 18 inches) or the lasagna pizza, layered with meatballs, mozzarella, and ricotta ($16.95 for 16 inches). For those who don't associate sharing with caring, Randy's has classic single-serving items including beef gyros ($4.95), overstuffed strombolis ($6.95), and finger-friendly buffalo wings ($6.99 for 10). Grab a slice of either cheese or a one-topping-topped pizza ($2.50) or opt for a crisp salad (starting at $3.50 for a one-serving side and going up to $18.95 for a seven- to 10-serving large) available in chef, Greek, garden, and Caesar varieties.

Peruse the menu and start your barroom tongue brawl with an appetizer of the pub's loaded fries (french fries with cheese and bacon, $6.95; add homemade chili for $1); fried or grilled wings with mild, hot, or teriyaki sauce (one dozen, $9.50); or fried-chicken tenders ($7.50). Lunchtimers routinely find solace in an order of the pub's fish and chips (beer-battered cod with the pub’s fried potato chips, $9.95) and the North Carolina barbecue-pork platter, with french fries, coleslaw, and hushpuppies ($9.95). For dinner, try the barbecue rib platter (half rack $10.95, full rack $20.95) or an avocado and tomato quesadilla ($11.95), or stick with a classic from the sandwich menu such as the oyster po' boy (fried oysters with coleslaw or Cajun rémoulade in your choice of a hoagie or wrap, $9.95).

Sky-blue walls frame floor-to-ceiling windows and accents of red brick as friends and couples savor Mediterranean flavors atop white tablecloths. Vespa Ristorante's menus flaunt a combination of culinary creativity and a mastery of Italian cuisine in a cast of unique dishes— such as apricot-stuffed pork loin wrapped in prosciutto and dressed with a fig and port sauce—while still honoring tradition with homemade lasagna and veal scaloppini. The artfully plated entrées pair exquisitely with a selection of Italian, international, and intergalactic wines. Vespa Ristorante also caters to private parties with customizable menus that offer tastes of the restaurant's most popular dishes, desserts, and wines.

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.

Chefs at Tandoor Indian Restaurant draw on the culinary traditions of India's northern Punjab region, an area known for complex flavors and vibrant presentation. Though lamb curry, chicken tikka masala, and meat samosas have always been a staple at the eatery, a recent renovation has reinforced the feeling of stepping onto another continent. “Following the aroma of classic Indian spices you arrive at a completely refurbished place,” says the Chapel Hill News, “filled with mythological art and sculpture, newly painted doorways, metal bird sculptures and butterfly topiaries as well as new booths, rugs, curtains, covers and cushions.”

The lilting, tangled choruses of Bollywood videos drift from televisions above the paisley booths. In the kitchen, chefs work quickly around a clay tandoori oven filled with licking flames, much like a pyromaniac’s vacation slideshow. Mango-chutney cheesecake and other colorful dishes match a dining room, which the Independent Weekly says “is filled with vibrant colors inspired by owner Binda Bhupal's homeland: mango orange, Kashmiri hot pink, Bombay yellow, peacock blue.”