Worth it Cafe, Durham

While flipping through television channels, you might spot Chuck Hayworth slicing up spaghetti squash or sculpting a vegan meatball on his own cooking show, Thankfully Local. The skilled chef is a passionate proponent of eating locally sourced foods, having overcome stomach cancer on a diet of farm-fresh produce and fruits. In the kitchen of Worth It Café, Chef Chuck works with a colorful array of fresh ingredients—95% of which originated from local North Carolina purveyors. To craft his signature "stuffwiches", Chuck packs hollowed-out farmhouse bread with barbeque pulled pork, crispy chicken, and house-roasted beef.

Diners gather around tabletops in the cafe's airy seating area, sipping freshly brewed iced tea and lingering over last bites of freshly baked brownies. Some opt to grab one of Chuck's takeaway dinners—such as chicken pot pie or spinach lasagna—to bring home and enjoy with their family or the pack of wild dogs they've come to love like a family.