Wine Fest-Winston Salem
 

Anyone planning on going to this June 11th? Any Winston Salem recommendations for hotels and restaurants after? Please no BBQ. We like nice sitdown with a good wine list.

We lived in W/S for 15 years and became pretty familiar with its surprising number of good restaurants. Here are some of our favorites:

Nobles (very nice; great food; casual, elegant atmosphere)
South By Southwest (great mexican style cuisine, a real cut above the vast majority of tex-mex restaurants; best margaritas I've had--except the ones I make :-))
Village Tavern (we actually like the newer one better, it's near Hanes Mall)
West End Cafe
Cumberland Cafe (this is/was a gem; I hope it's still open)
Bernardins (fine-dining, in a strip shopping center, really--I hope it's still there)
Zeverly House

As to a place to stay, I'd highly recommend the Brookstown Inn (we've stayed there a few times). It's close to the interstate, downtown, and to Old Salem (which is a great place to walk around). Here's the web site:

http://www.brookstowninn.com/

Have a great time in our old hometown!

Dear chuck/beachdweller, thanks for the recommendations. Someone on chowhound recommended Ryan's - not to be confused w/ the Ryan's buffet place. I'd also heard about both Noble's and South by Southwest so those look like possibilities.
I've made a reservation at the HI Express - we decided to make our dinner out the focus rather than the lodging but had also heard good things about Brookstown. thanks again

I'd like to add The Vineyards to the list of very good Winston-Salem restaurants. It's located in Reynolda Village. Be sure to try the Blueberry Bread Pudding that they're known for --it's fabulous! I also agree with the Village Tavern recommendation, near Hanes Mall.

Unfortunately, Cumberland Cafe is only open, I think, one weekend a month now. Bernardin's is alive and thriving, though.

Enjoy your stay!

Another recommendation for The Village Tavern near Hanes Mall.... my family over there (and we) love it! :-)

ttt for leahinsc

The food at South by Southwest is very good and it is quite convenient to the hotel you have selected. It does not take reservations and that can be a very long wait on a weekend. It is also pretty noisy. The food at the Village Tavern is good; but it is a very busy place with a so so wine list. The Cumberland Cafe switched to a catering operation some months ago and its openings for dinner are infrequent. I like the food at West End Cafe, but they are also a long wait for service. As you can see, Winston Salem has some pretty good choices for such a small town. Enjoy your visit. The wine festival will be fun.

sojo,

I had completely forgotten about the Vineyards--we had a great meal there right before we left W/S.

I am sorry to hear about Cumberland Cafe--I guess it can take its place of honor among some of the other gone-but-not-forgotten gems that W/S has harbored over the years. The Rainbow. The Horse's Mouth. Cafe Carrera. Sam's Gourmet (for those of you who go WAY back).

I go that far back, beach dweller! I remember the creme de menthe pie at Sam's from my Demon Deacon days.

Haven't heard about the wine fest. Doubt I'll go.

I remember Sam's Gourmet. At some event in high school (blanking, but it was a long time ago) the teacher took us their. I'd never seen anything like it before.

for the grammar police: took us there. And, no, it wasn't an English teacher.

Ok, here's a trip review of sorts. We stayed at the HI express in Clemmons which was a good value. Clean, quiet and convenient w/ a decent breakfast - but oddly enough, no elevator - guess 'cause it is only 2 floors. We decided to go to the Vineyards to dinner - not impressed. Sorry if this offends anyone but it was definitely old school dining experience. Black canned olives on the Greek shrimp salads....tasteless special of salmon stuffed w/ crab meat and a waitress who congratulated us for cleaning our plates, white french bread - the frozen bake off kind.... boring.

leahinsc, from a (North) Carolinian here, I was not happy with the Wine Festival itself yesterday. It was so crowded, the lines were too long, and I hated the rock music booming over the speakers almost the entire time (that I was there, anyway ... from about 2:30 to 5:30). I'd been to a smaller festival a couple of weeks ago and loved it, but didn't enjoy this one as much. Biggest problem for me was standing in such heat and humidity drinking alcohol ... :-( I don't think North Carolina summer weather, at least in the Piedmont and in the Triangle, is conducive to enjoying wine festivals! But I sure did enjoy the Smiley's BBQ and the Salt 'n Vinegar Kettle Corn! AND the wine, when I could finally get to the head of the line... :-) Never been to Vineyards where you had dinner ... I always go to the Village Tavern, which we love.

I would not go back to this particular festival next year ....... would you?

Bonnie - I have to agree w/ the lines and temp - we were there right at about 1pm and stayed til about 3:30pm - very crowded and hot. Seems like they should start this later in the day - maybe 3pm-8pm so it might be a little cooler or a little earlier in the season so it isn't as hot. Too crowded - need to sell fewer tickets - we waited at every vineyard for a taste and the longest wait was about 20 min and the shortest about 5..

leahinsc, next year plan to go to the one in Elkin, N.C. at the Municipal Park. I think it's called the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival ... in late May or early June (this year June). Stay at the wonderful Hampton Inn in Jonesville (has won major awards, that one). That festival was much smaller, they had live jazz most of the time, along with some beach music, but not booming over all the speakers like a jackhammer! We loved it ...hope to see you there next year! :-)

Bonnie - thanks for the tip - seems like most of the wineries we liked were from that area anyway...

Hi LeahinSC and Bonnie in NC, I had posted responses on both threads. I hope both of you will come back to the Yadkin Festival and visit the Shelton Vineyard restaurant which has recently opened or the Wolf's Lair at the Black Wolf Vineyard, both in Dobson. Winston Salem does have some very good restaurants and I hope you will try some of the other ones which were suggested on your next visits.

cmcfong, I grew up over there in tobacco/wine country right outside Winston-Salem, and most of my family still lives there. (I'm in the Triangle now.) Most of the population there was/are Southern Baptists, and we're all getting such a kick out of the fact that our region is producing all this wine now! :-d (We're sure we hear graves being rolled over in! :D )

cmcfong, forgot to say that my sister and her friends go to Wolf's Lair often, though I haven't had the pleasure yet. My brother lives just down the road from Rag Apple Lassie Vineyards...... :-) Their logo has to be the cutest in the business!

What a small world.

Bonniebroad, your comments about wine-making in Forsyth and Yadkin Baptist country made me remember one of my first experiences at Wake Forest. I was worried about what it would be like to attend a school with such strong Baptist ties. Then I discovered the welcome cookout sponsored by the school was a huge (great) keg party. All fears allayed :-))

Hey, is West Bend Winery still going? I think they were actually the first in the area to open if I recall correctly.

beach_dweller, Westbend Vineyards is doing just fine still; however, I don't know which winery was the first to open.

I would say that *spirits have always been high at Wake Forest* ...... even when they were still tied to the SBC! :-d

Hi Bonnie and Chuck, I live in Pinnacle just up the road from Tobaccoville. According to our local historians NC was the original wine growing country in the New World and only switched to tobacco because there was such a big demand. Rag Apple Lassie has got a cute logo, but for sheer good quality I don't think you can beat the Sheltons. They are putting a lot of money into the local community college and their winery to give an alternative to the farmers who have been so committed to tobacco...life is a circle they say. Their chardonnay is really tops. The restaurant is working out some bugs, but the food is very good and their sunset beach music series is loads of fun. Wolfs Lair is very good. Who would have thought we would have two good choices in Dobson? Plus there is Goobers in Mt.Airy! Excess of riches.
Chuck, you can thank my class of bunnyhoppers (1968)- we changed WFU forever !