Restaurants in Pinehurst

Patrons who pass beneath Cafe Monte French Bakery and Bistro’s bold red awning seemingly zoom across the Atlantic into a Parisian bistro hung with French artwork and vintage photographs. Platters of mussels arrived drenched in white wine and butter, and pommes frites proudly share the spotlight with steak and french green beans. In the kitchen, chefs sizzle crêpes to a golden brown for breakfast, or fill them with savory lobster and crab for lunch and dinner. Patrons can dine alfresco on an outdoor patio or linger inside the eatery's canary-hued walls, where satisfied customers gather around a piano to sing odes to their favorite French pastry chefs.

Feeding the discerning palates of the local community for more than 25 years, Great Wall of China South earns its longtime success with a sweet and savory smorgasbord of meat and vegetarian dishes. Inside the eatery, grandiose fish tanks and candles emit a soft glow on tables, from which plated Chinese fare wafts its spiced decadence and helps customers make decisions from the extensive menu offerings. Culling tastes from land and sea, chefs top pepper steak with onions, dunk chicken in sauces such as teriyaki, and marry dishes of shrimp and broccoli under the watch of their proud parents. Lavish Sunday lunch buffets line up the eatery's popular dishes in a sampling of eats that give guests ideas for what to order on their next visit.

The gentle breeze from an outdoor patio wafts the scents of grilled steaks and seafood dishes throughout City Tavern's dining rooms, where guests gather to celebrate milestones with dishes that are at once elegant and familiar. Crackling fireplaces cast a soft glow that falls on white tablecloths and illuminates meals of sophisticated comfort cuisine, such as herbed racks of lamb and build-your-own bison burgers. Back in the kitchen, chefs age Angus steaks for 21 days to unlock a mature flavor that can stand beside one of 45 specialty martinis without getting carded. The bar serves dinner and small bites—including fried cheesecake and vegetarian hummus with toasted pita points—until 2 a.m. every night.

It’s hard not to feel nostalgic at Jake’s Good Eats. For starters, the cozy eatery is housed in a converted 1930s gas station, and—with vintage Coca-Cola and motor-oil signs scattered across its whitewashed walls—it's decorated to match. But the nostalgia doesn’t hit full force until the first bite of Jake and Gordon Stegall's homestyle Southern food. Bone-in, maple-glazed pork chops dotted with candied apples, free-range chicken with andouille sausage, and blackened grouper smothered in the house's original crawfish sauce are just a few menu highlights that have made Jake's worthy of a feature on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and a place on Guy Fieri's speed dial. And that’s just the Stegall brothers’ take on what they call “more refined country cooking.” They also assemble oyster po’ boys, pit-smoked barbecue sandwiches, and even hot dogs—in homage to their days as car-show vendors—topped with chili and slaw.

Best of all, from the brown sugar to the blackening rubs, the brothers make practically everything from scratch. And what they can't handle, their Mama Jean can; according to Creative Loafing Charlotte, she bakes all the biscuits and desserts, including banana pudding and chocolate-peanut-butter pies that “are everything to make your mouth happy.”

With her chin held high, a larger-than-life alligator sits proudly atop a purple throne outside Cajun Queen’s home-like confines, a harbinger of the bayou-themed decor to come. Housed inside a mansion, the eatery smacks of New Orleans. Vibrant purple paint, Mardi Gras–masks affixed to the walls, and live jazz music compete for attention against a colorful wall mural depicting three gators on a picnic.

The kitchen staff foregoes gator, however, and instead cooks up gulf creatures such as shrimp, crawfish, oysters, and scallops, each served in various New Orleans–fashions: splayed over rice in an étouffée, sautéed creole-style with tomatoes and onions, or blown straight out of a clarinet. Encrusted with a mélange of spices, farm-raised catfish and new york strip steaks sizzle on the grill until blackened, and then join a mound of garlic mashed potatoes on the eatery’s wooden dining tables set up on either inside or on the spacious back patio. Come the weekend, Sunday brunch pairs eggs benedict and andouille sausage with Kahlua-laced coffee.

Omega Coney Island of North Carolina transplants traditional Detroit-style hot dogs and deli fare to their southern location and serves the Americana for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Chefs crack eggs and whip them into protein-rich omelets, breakfast platters, and sandwiches, decorating the yellow, yolk-laden canvas with gentle brush strokes of sausage links and arabesque bacon strips. Detroit-style Coney Island dogs arrive at tables dressed with multifarious fixings, such as chili, ground beef, onions, and mustard, and burgers made from 1/3-pound Angus-beef patties create an edible measuring device for converting dollars into British currency. Rich reubens and patty melts also vie for table space, and cake and pie change their appearance and sports team affiliations each day.