Relish Craft Kitchen & Bourbon Bar

★★★★☆ 4.1 (919) • $$

"Our party of 9 came in on a Friday night at around 6. We were originally quoted a wait time of an hour but luckily, they were able to seat us within 10 minutes. For the table, we ordered:-Fried Green Tomatoes - this came with six slices, some feta cheese sprinkled on top, and a dipping sauce. They were good but it didn't feel that hot, which is something I would expect from a fried food-Southern Mac (pimento cheese & bacon & topped with cheddar & mozzarella cheese) - this is definitely a good sharing dish. I can't imagine eating a whole thing of this by myself because after a few bites, I was already feeling pretty weighed down. I normally don't love pimento cheese, but it wasn't too overpowering here-Parmesan Brussels Sprouts - I enjoyed these. For some reason, I can never make brussels sprouts at home as good as they do in restaurants. Maybe their secret is just a ton of butter-Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts - I liked these even better since the hot honey gave it a bit of a kick, and it came with bacon bitsFor my entrée, I had the Shrimp & Grits (lightly spicy shrimp sautéed with bacon & green onion over cheddar cheese grits--served with grilled ciabatta bread). They give you a generous portion of shrimp, which was perfectly cooked, and a heap of bacon. If you need a meal to put you into a food coma, this is it. The grits are cheesy and buttery. It was good but very rich. I was only able to eat half before I had to throw in the towel and get the rest to go. I reheated the leftovers the next day, and it was still pretty good.We were all stuffed but still wanted to try the Chocolate Chess Pie, so we got one slice of that to share. It reminded me a fudge pie. A little too sweet for me.As expected with Southern cooking, the food is pretty heavy. Instead of one person ordering an entrée, I would recommend just ordering a bunch of different things to share, so you get more of a variety. And you're not stuck eating a whole thing of mac and cheese by yourself."

The Purple Bowl

★★★★★ 4.5 (196) • $$

"Everyone is so nice here and the place is spacious, airy, and clean-feeling. I appreciate the many seating options both inside and outside. I keep coming back because the acai bowls are just perfection. I attached a photo of my favorite BYO bowl and all the ingredients I choose (I get the same thing everytime). The parking lot is small and the tables are meant for intimate groups, though there's a bigger table in the back.Highly recommend! Plus, the granola is gluten-free!"

Cafe Meridian & Catering

★★★★★ 4.5 (158) • $$

"So glad Cafe Meridian is back!! They're in a new location just up the street from their old one. They're sandwiched in between Big Lots and Autozone in the shopping strip on Hwy 55 just off Hwy 54. Some tables outside and lots of seating inside.We called in our order and since we live just about around the corner is was ready in no time. Grilled salmon with two sides and bourbon chicken with two sides. It was absolutely delicious!!They still have their huge sandwich and salad menu & daily specials. I encourage you to show them some love with your business!! Note, they're only open M-F from 11A-2P."

Skylines Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.1 (174) • $$

"Great food, service was fast and friendly and respectful. We will be back for sure! The location is nice because it is overly crowded or too busy."

The Optimist

★★★★☆ 4.4 (124) • $

"I can see why this place got such reviews, probably one of the best coffee shops I've been to. They have such a great combination of the obvious, coffee and tea, breakfast foods, sweet treats, beer and wine and great service? Great casual atmosphere, people were studying. Working or on this Sunday hanging out on a hot sunny day. Their coffee is Amazing, perfect strong, not too milky cappuccino is what I had. The cinnamon oat muffin was nice and soft inside , crunchy outside. Perfect with my coffee. My friend got the avocado toast. Which hit the spot she said. Her coffee was also extremely good. Another smoothly run place that knows how to do it right. They have a great space inside, and a quaint little patio out back and seating outside upfront. Absolutely fell in love with this place, it's a shame I don't live in Raleigh!"

Union Special

★★★★☆ 4.2 (110) • $$

"The union special egg/hash brown sandwich was decent, but a bit plain. I also recommend the hash brown at least on the side, with the option to add it yourself later. It was a bit too salty, and despite seeming to be freshly fried it lacked flavor and texture. The sauce was a bit too sweet, but the brioche was pretty standard in a good way.If you're willing to pay a few extra bucks for an elevated breakfast sandwich, this might be your place. But I thought it was decent."

Angelina's European Cafe

★★★★☆ 3.6 (147)

"Stopped by Angelina's today for lunch and was so impressed! I've been meaning to try this place for quite some time and finally got around to it. The staff was very friendly and attentive and we had no wait for a table at lunch time. Appreciate the breakfast until 2pm, as I can eat eggs all day! Enjoyed a very fancy looking mocha as well as a delicious breakfast skillet. The cafe was very cute and plenty of seating. Table was so big I was able to do some work while here too. Really enjoy my time and I will be coming back to try more of this huge menu!"

Sweet Talk Cafe

★★★★★ 4.8 (79) • $

"My goodness this is the cutest little cafe. The ambiance is clean, light, and airy. It not only sells coffee, but they also have fun desserts like Korean bingsoo and croffles, which are croissant waffles. It's cafe-style ordering, but the staff was so friendly in helping me pick out which dessert to get. I ordered the bingsoo, and it came with a delightful ball of sorbet on top of the shaved ice. I loved all the cheesecake bites. The cherry on top is that you can pour cream on top of the whole thing, which made it taste even more delicious. The bingsoo is definitely sharing size. You'll need at least two people to comfortably finish it. The hours are fairly long for a coffee shop (8am-8pm), and there's a medium amount of seating if you wanted to sit here for a while. It's in a really big shopping center (Beaver Creek), so there's plenty of parking to go around."

Cafe Carolina and Bakery

★★★☆☆ 3.4 (157) • $$

"Busy busy on a Sunday, parking is always a nightmare in Cameron village on a weekend. I ordered the turkey avacado panini which was really good and had a chocolate pastry. The kid warmed up my pastry which was worth it, hot. This is a quaint spot. Food is delicious staff is nice. Just be aware of the parking here. There are also shops in the same plaza to go walk around to after."

Joe Van Gogh

★★★★☆ 4 (110) • $

"This Joe Van Gogh location is our go-to coffee shop because of proximity. When we first moved to the area, my wife searched Google and Yelp for a good local coffee shop near us. Joe Van Gogh was the winner. My wife, who's the real coffee aficionado between us, likes this place. She comes here way more than me. Everything I've had from here has been good to great. Needless to say, it gets my recommendation if you're looking for a solid local coffee shop.This location opened in late 2015 in the Woodcroft Shopping Center ( https://www.yelp.com/biz/woodcroft-shopping-center-durham ), not far from Southpoint and the Durham-Chapel Hill border. We always enter this shopping center from the back, via 54. We often park in one of the to-go spots, right outside the entrance, because we're usually stopping by before hitting the road and/or running errands.Our favorite things to get are the hot and iced lattes with macadamia or oat milk and the iced matcha latte, also with macadamia or oat milk. For the hot and iced lattes, our favorite flavors have been orange blossom and rose cardamom (seasonal). We've also tried the nitro cold brew (yummy). Joe Van Gogh roasts their own coffee and the seasonal syrups are made in-house. Expect to spend about $7-8 for a 16 or 20 oz cup after tax and tip.Enter your phone number at checkout to earn loyalty rewards points which get you discounts on future purchases. Free savings just for being a repeat customer.We've also purchased bags of coffee here and at the Whole Foods in Chapel Hill (mostly here). We've gotten the Red River Blend, Sea Turtle Blend, and Ethiopia Sidamo. The bags cost around $14-16 each. At Joe Van Gogh, the staff can ground the coffee for you in-store. At Whole Foods, we grind it ourselves. One cool thing about Joe Van Gogh is if you buy a bag of coffee, you get a free cup of coffee. They usually have two different types of hot coffee brewed and you get to choose one of them for your free cup.In general, Joe Van Gogh coffee is high quality and tastes good.I haven't tried the food here, but my wife has. She's had both the London Fog Scone ($3.50) and the weekend special Biscuits & Gravy ($8). She said both were tasty. Service has always been great. The staff is nice. We've never had to wait long for our coffee.As for the coffee shop itself, it's a typical cafe. It's spacious with a variety of seating -- bar, table, outdoor (covered). The Wi-Fi speed has been decent.At the time of writing this review, Joe Van Gogh has two locations in Durham (this one and one on Broad Street near downtown) and one location in Chapel Hill (Timberlyne Village shopping center). My wife prefers this location to the Broad Street location because this location is bigger and has easier parking.Fun fact: Joe Van Gogh is served at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus. My wife likes to get it when she's working there."

The Daily Planet Cafe

★★★★☆ 3.9 (106) • $$

"The Daily Planet Cafe was the perfect spot to grab a quick breakfast. It was a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with an iced latte for my husband and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with an iced vanilla chai for me. We sat outside and the food and drinks were both really good."

Hereghty Heavenly Delicious

★★★★☆ 3.6 (115) • $

"The chocolate cake I had was amazing I like how you can get fresh granola, crescents and fresh brewed coffee. They do a great job of having a variety of choices that the whole family can find something they would want and be happy. I am so glad my friend recommended it to me!"

Urban Noodle

★★★★☆ 4.2 (74) • $$

"I've been dying to try this place since it opened. Finally, I got around to it and got some ramen to go! I had the Tonkotsu ramen. It was delicious. The broth was very flavorful, I could have that by itself, lol. The order was ready 5 minutes after I ordered and the staff was nice. It wasn't busy, I went on a Wednesday evening around 6pm. It's a cute place, next time I'll have to dine in. I'm not on that side of Durham often, and there wasn't too much over there that I frequent so if I back, it will just be for Urban Noodle!"

Spicy Green Gourmet

★★★★☆ 4.2 (71)

"Thanks to the trusty search feature on yelp, I stumbled across Spicy Green Gourmet. I was very happy to see such an extensive menu, although with so many choices, it was hard for me to choose.I love a good bahn mi, so I decided on that sandwich. And just like the true southerner I am, I chose the potato salad as my side. I work close by, so I called ahead & was told 20 minutes. When I arrived in 10 minutes, my order was waiting on me. However, because it was lunch time, there was a line, sadly one I had to wait it. Thankfully, I only waited about five minutes & was able to pay & be on my way. The restaurant is cheery & employees seemed happy to be there. The place was hopping, so that was a good sign this place serves up tasty goodness. I returned to work & ate my sandwich & potato salad. The potato salad had red potatoes in it, with the skin still on - not what I'm used to, but still ok. It tasted mustard & mayo based, which I love those two together. The bahn mi was quite delicious with a simple slaw, pork, cucumbers, & Asian dressing. The pork was tender & spicy. The baguette was decent.For the portion size, the price of $8.61 was fine with me. With such variety on the menu, I'll definitely be back. Parking wasn't much of an issue, even though there are many businesses/restaurants in this area."

Kiwi Cafe & Smoothies

★★★★☆ 3.8 (78)

"Update on my review - Still 5 stars. Still smiling faces. But I have to rave about their tarragon wrap and lunch special! So so yummy. Large portion & I don't feel crappy after eating! Taking care of my body is so easy here. Every ingredient that they use makes my tummy happy! Order online! They'll have it ready for you. These guys are defiantly a gem in the rough. They have a good working space and outside seating if you decide to dine in!"

The Village Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.2 (61)

"A nice small place to have breakfast. Service was very quick and friendly. I ordered the fried steak breakfast with grits. It was crispy smothered in what I assumed to be pork gravy. It was delicious. I'm from NY and we don't have that near us. Everything was good including the coffee. My only regret was I didn't see scrapple on the menu. Maybe I was not far enough south."

Esmeralda's Cafe

★★★★☆ 4 (66) • $$

"Oh my gosh!! I wish I'd known about this place sooner!! My husband and I went this past weekend and I had the best breakfast I've ever had in my life! I had carne asada, eggs, beans, and sweet plantains! They even placed an amazing piece of cheese on the plate! The menu said it was to come with avocado slices but I do not like avocado so I had them leave them off. My husband had the pancakes with eggs and bacon. It was all so good!! Do not miss this gem!"

Lovegrass Kitchen

★★★★☆ 3.7 (55) • $$

"TLDR: The place for crepes whether savory or sweet. Locally owned, lovely atmosphere, ideal lighting, pleasant music, friendly employee, and gluten-free!Okay this is my new favorite crepe place. Plus it's a locally owned restaurant! The crepes are incredible and make quickly. Perfect texture and flavor. The ingredients are cooked appropriately and the crepes are large. Plus they are presented well and are gluten-free. I chose the Le Champignon crepe with English breakfast tea my first visit and the same crepe with Earl Grey Tea my second visit. It's so good I haven't been able to choose a different crepe haha. Even the tea was presented well and steeped perfectly. So many places are serving hot tea in disposable cups even when dining in. It was such a joy and relief to enjoy the tea in a nice cup and saucer with the pot close by. The cafe is empty around 8 am and picks up around 8:30 am. They play low jazz or pop music and have ample tables that seat 2 or 4 customers. The wi-fi information is posted near the condiments, water dispenser, and trash. It took about 10 minutes for an employee to realize I was there. She was friendly and efficient. I believe she is the only one working (during both visits) so some indication that customers are ready to order would be useful to save time. She interacts well with customers and takes orders and makes the food. Overall, I had a great visit and recommend this cafe to others!"

SipCha

★★★★★ 4.7 (29) • $

"I really enjoyed my visit at SipCha Cary. This shopping center has ample parking and is spacious. SipCha has a little something for everyone. The staff was friendly and accommodating. We enjoyed a rose milk tea with herbal jelly and lychee toppings and the rolled ice cream in mint chip and Oreo. My daughter enjoys Raleigh Rolls, so this was a nice treat for her to avoid the trek to downtown Raleigh. I can't wait to return for the rolled green tea azuki ice cream to cook down on a hot day, matcha milk tea and the jade lychee fruit tea."

Fresh Choice Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.4 (27)

"So wait I haven't reviewed this place yet. This is like a best kept secret in Sanford. If it wasn't for Yelp suggesting this place I would have missed out. Best lunch place in town. They keep the menu simple- salads, soup, sandwiches, desserts. My jam totally. I can't wait for it to get colder. I prefer ahead and it was ready when I walked in. The food was amazing."

SoBol Cary

★★★★☆ 4.4 (22)

"Finally made our way to SoBol! Great space, clean, and great staff. They offer açaí bowls, smoothies and other treats. I love açaí bowls and I like the they offer other flavors aside from Pitaya or Açaí. I order the pineapple mango açaí and tried the Spirulina açaí. The fruit toppings were fresh and enjoyed the flavors. Can't wait to be be back to try other items."

Kathy's Java Express

★★★★☆ 3.9 (27)

"We decided to have an impromptu breakfast date this morning. The new bagel place was full and I am so glad. This place reminds me of an old school diner. They had a few regulars and it was cute to hear the interaction between them. The food was so good. We had the quiche of the day. If they have it, try the Bacon Cheeseburger quiche. So good. The grits were well seasoned, like actual seasoning. I did not need to add any salt or pepper. They have a beautiful selection of desserts and pastries. Definitely going back. So excited."

Meeple's Brew

★★★★☆ 3.6 (17)

"LOVE this place. By far the best breakfast and coffee place we have tried in Cary NC! It's easy to see what's unique about this place - board games on shelves as wide and tall as the entire right hand back area wall. Across from the board games are various local area crafted merchandise such as stone pendant necklaces, painted mint tins, crocheted items, stickers and buttons, etc etc. Service was wonderful, we were immediately greeted upon entering. We had "pagers" that go off when your beverage is ready to be picked up at the counter. There's a self-service counter where you pick up your stainless steel (not plastic!) utensils, napkins, cold water, etc. We ordered Nutella latte and honey lavender latte. Both were delicious, hit the spot in terms of coffee and specialty. My BF ordered the roast beef in a waffle sandwich, absolutely unique and tasty. I had the best tasting avocado toast topped with sliced boiled egg. All ingredients look and taste so fresh! Will definitely go back to try all other menu items!"

Centre Green Take 5 Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.3 (11) • $$

"First time visiting to meet my spouse for lunch who works on this campus. We received a genuinely sincere and friendly greeting from the gentleman at the cash register. Way to start things off on the right foot!For such a small place that's mainly available for those who work at Centre Green, although anyone is welcome, they have quite an impressive menu of salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, pizza, and desserts. They also have a daily special that you can either call to find out ahead of time or subscribe to their newsletter. You can order online to pick rather than waiting in line to order, which could be helpful when they're busy. We got lucky when we arrived as there were only a couple people in front of us, but after we ordered and paid I turned around and saw the line was all the way to the door!My spouse got the daily special; chicken stir fry that came with rice and veggies and a side salad. She liked it, but thought the chicken was a bit dry. I got the Lebanese chicken wrap, which I loved! The chicken was a little dry in it too, but the garlic sauce and the pickled cucumbers along with lettuce and tomato more than made up for it. It also comes with a side salad or chips. I'd definitely get it again, it was so good! Sorry, missed getting a photo as I was super hungry, but next time!These folks are just getting back in the swing with more employees coming back to campus at the various business here, so be patient if you food doesn't come out pronto. Considering they had just three employees when I was there they did great!"

Gracie's Grill

★★★★☆ 3.9 (9)

"This place is cheap as chips! Traveling through Clinton and stopped for lunch. There's parking on the street out front or in the parking lot behind the restaurant. They take CC but there's a $2 charge to do so. I try to pay with cash so they don't get charged a fee. I ordered the BBQ plate for lunch and got the last one for the day! It came with fries. The fries are Oreida or Sodexo but were just fine. The BBQ platter was really vinegary and yummy! My mouth is watering just thinking about it."