Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to
Find restaurants in your region. Western Central Eastern Asheville — The Blackbird Restaurant This family-owned farm-to-table restaurant offers a modern twist on traditional Southern fare with
Find restaurants in your region. Western Central Eastern Asheville — The Blackbird Restaurant This family-owned farm-to-table restaurant offers a modern twist on traditional Southern fare with
This family-owned farm-to-table restaurant offers a modern twist on traditional Southern fare with dishes like the shrimp and grits.
You have to try: The Farm Breakfast — a plate of local eggs with stone ground grits or Sunday potatoes, apple wood smoked bacon or sausage, and a buttermilk biscuit.
Born in downtown Asheville more than 15 years ago, Tupelo Honey has spread its love for biscuits and honey to more than a dozen locations across the country. photograph by Tim Robison
Asheville, Charlotte, & Raleigh — Tupelo Honey
The team at Tupelo takes pride in crafting scratch-made Southern food from responsibly sourced ingredients — like the picnic chicken salad, made from antibiotic-free chicken.
You have to try: The “Old Skool” Breakfast Bowl — a bowl of heirloom grits with goat cheese, parmesan rosemary potato cracklins, cheddar cheese, chopped bacon, roasted red pepper sauce, green tomato salsa, and two sunny-side up eggs.
The windows historic Stepp House was reimagined into a restaurant that serves breakfast all day. George W. Stepp, the home’s namesake, was a cabinetmaker who worked on the Biltmore Estate and served as mayor of Black Mountain from 1908 to 1911 and from 1915 to 1917.
A view of the Chef’s Table, and Fried Broccoli Baffle with lemon zest, sea salt, and vegan aioli. photograph by Café Rule & Wine Bar
Hickory — Café Rule & Wine Bar
Despite the name, Café Rule is all about, well, breaking the rules. They like to approach familiar foods in innovative ways — like the pimento cheese grits.
This country cooking restaurant and general store is known for its all-you-can-eat buffet and its homemade Smokey Mountain Gravy — a traditional Blue Ridge recipe that uses simple ingredients: bacon grease, flour, milk, salt, and pepper.
You have to try: The buttermilk biscuits smothered in the aforementioned famous gravy.
With menu items like collard greens, macaroni and cheese, grits, and potato salad, Dame’s offers true Southern comfort food, but they’re, of course, known for their chicken and waffle offerings.
You have to try: The Carolina Cockerel — three fried chicken wings over a classic, sweet potato, vegan, or gingerbread waffle with your choice of shmear and side.
Dame’s Chicken & Waffles 823 Bass Pro Lane Cary, N.C. 27513 (919) 234-0824
On the Carolina Coffee Shop’s menu, “Classic BLT” is code for “triple decker.” photograph by Anna Routh Barzin
Chapel Hill — Carolina Coffee Shop
Founded in 1922, Carolina Coffee Shop is the oldest continually running restaurant in North Carolina and has been serving up dishes made with fresh, local produce long before it was fashionable — like the nuts and berries salad with mixed greens, blueberries, strawberries, goat cheese, red onion, toasted pecans, and raspberry vinaigrette.
Diners at this down-home Southern restaurant can treat themselves to savory Southern comfort food — like the fried green tomato and okra basket, or a hot pan of sweet potato cornbread served with honey ginger butter.
At Hummingbird, brunch tastes best on the patio. Try the tartine: seeded levain bread topped with béchamel, rosemary ham, mushrooms, Manchego cheese, arugula, and a sunny-side up egg. photograph by Alex Boerner
Raleigh — Hummingbird
Menu items — like the peacemaker po’ boy and the charbroiled oysters — at this intimate eatery were influenced by chef Coleen Speaks’s years in New Orleans.
You have to try: The Brunch Burger — a house-ground ribeye patty with pimento cheese, a fried green tomato, and a fried egg between brioche buns.
This American bistro-style deli and bakery offers a specialized brunch cocktail menu that includes made-from-scratch Bloody Mary’s and rum punch with freshly squeezed orange juice.
You have to try: The Benedict Arnold — a Hollandaise-topped treat with crab cakes, poached eggs, asparagus, and sweet potato threads on crostini.
Baker’s Kitchen is best known for breakfast, but the restaurant’s chef, Duke Kroger, has been expanding its lunch menu, too. photograph by Baxter Miller
New Bern — Baker’s Kitchen
The recipe for this restaurant’s famous butter syrup is kept strictly under wraps, but it’s not a secret that it makes the best dishes even more delicious, especially the fluffy Belgian waffles.
Founded by brothers Michael and Ben Powell, Drift offers hearty and healthy brunch options — like their Market Bowl Breakfast, with a fried egg, roasted sweet potato, quinoa, avocado, roasted tomato, and greens, or the house-made pecan walnut granola with seasonal berries, honey, and yogurt.
This bistro, in the Castle Street Arts District, makes its dishes — like homemade tuna salad on thick sliced wheat and black bean Benedict — with the freshest ingredients and a healthy dash of love.
To commemorate our 90th anniversary, we’ve compiled a time line that highlights the stories, contributors, and themes that have shaped this magazine — and your view of the Old North State — using nine decades of our own words.
From its northernmost point in Corolla to its southern terminus on Cedar Island, this scenic byway — bound between sound and sea — links the islands and communities of the Outer Banks.
Us? An icon? Well, after 90 years and more than 2,000 issues celebrating North Carolina from mountains to coast, we hope you’ll agree that we’ve earned the title.
After nearly a century — or just a couple of years — these seafood restaurants have become coastal icons, the places we know, love, and return to again and again.