For a printable checklist of these restaurants, click here.
Pheasant, bison, and ostrich — oh my! Enjoy game meat from the High Country and beyond in a 1950s stone cottage, once the residence of the founders of Camp Yonahlossee, the oldest camp for girls in North Carolina.
3005 Shulls Mill Road, Boone, NC 28607
(828) 963-7400, gamekeeper-nc.com
It takes a reservation made well in advance to score a booth in the low-lit dining room of this storied steakhouse on a Saturday night.
4538 South Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28209
(704) 523-9977, beefandbottle.net
This pink-and-purple Queen Anne-style mansion once belonged to Victorian-era Charlotte mayor Sam McNinch who, in 1909, even hosted President William Howard Taft there. Inside, discover perfectly plated dishes that are as exquisite as the exterior.
511 North Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
(704) 332-6159, mcninchhouserestaurant.com
The artful entrées at Kindred turned Davidson into a destination, but the milk bread appetizer alone is worth a trip: Baked in a graniteware bowl and sprinkled with flecks of hand-harvested sea salt, it’s more than a mere loaf. Warm and pillowy, sweet and salty — it’s pure magic.
131 North Main Street, Davidson, NC 28036
(980) 231-5000, kindreddavidson.com
Watch the sun set over the water — and dig into jumbo lump crab, oyster stew, and seared sea scallops — at this seafood restaurant perched on the edge of Currituck Sound.
1240 Duck Road, Duck, NC 27949
(252) 261-8090, thebluepoint.com
This prestigious hotel offers weekend brunch and an upscale dinner menu — as well as an afternoon cuppa. Order a pot of tea and an array of sweets, scones, and dainty tea sandwiches, and put your pinkie up.
3001 Cameron Boulevard, Durham, NC 27705
(919) 490-0999, washingtondukeinn.com
At this 1870 farmhouse turned inn and restaurant surrounded by Ashe County countryside, sip a pre-dinner cocktail on the front porch, which overlooks the North Fork New River.
1896 Old Field Creek Road, Grassy Creek, NC 28631
(336) 982-2109, riverhousenc.com
A glass of wine and an elegant meal at this 1915 home feels like having dinner at your fanciest friend’s house — if your friend hand-cut and aged their own filet mignon.
271 Third Avenue Northwest, Hickory, NC 28601
(828) 324-1210, vintagehouserestaurant.com
In 2006, Chef Vivian Howard and her husband, Ben Knight, opened their hugely successful fine-dining restaurant in Howard’s native Kinston. Fifteen years later, it remains a foodie mecca.
120 West Gordon Street, Kinston, NC 28501
(252) 208-2433, vivianhoward.com/chef-the-farmer
At this award-winning restaurant in a 1927 Colonial Revival farmhouse, you’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot the black-and-whites — the famed Belted Galloway cows lounging in the shade of a silo.
2000 Fearrington Village Center, Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542-2121, fearrington.com
Make sure to look up from your meal to notice the original heart-pine floors and red-brick masonry walls in this ornate 1879 Victorian-era home downtown.
330 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27603
(919) 829-3663, second-empire.com
The former summer lodgings for railroad employees now house The Orchard Inn and its on-site restaurant, where a glassed-in dining porch offers a breathtaking view of the mountains — and an unforgettable Sunday brunch.
100 Orchard Inn Lane, No. 9706, Saluda, NC 28773
(828) 749-5471, orchardinn.com
A majestic box canyon — the largest one east of the Mississippi — serves as the soaring backdrop of this restaurant, which is open seasonally from May through November and serves farm-to-fork fare inspired by the landscape.
150 Lonesome Valley Road, Sapphire, NC 28774
(828) 743-7967, lonesomevalley.com
For more than 20 years, since before “eating local” gained a name, much less a movement, this proper pub has been sourcing its menu ingredients from area farms.
140 East New Hampshire Avenue, Southern Pines, NC 28387
(910) 246-3510, ashtens.com
Why does this Haywood County town have some of the cleanest water in the state? It’s the result of the community’s efforts to keep the forests in its watershed pristine.
The spectacular views in North Carolina’s High Country aren’t just inspiration for writers, painters, and sculptors. Those landscapes — the rugged gray face of Grandfather Mountain, the vibrant fall leaves, the deep green meadows — are brushstrokes on Earth’s own canvas.
The sprawling vineyards and wide-open skies that stretch for miles across seven North Carolina counties offer relaxing getaways — not to mention some of the state’s finest wines — for Sunday drivers aching to escape the rush of city life.
Nothing lasts forever — and that’s what makes many of our cherished moments so special.
