167 Best Restaurants in North Carolina, USA

This newcomer to Cherokee's dining options was an immediate hit, with entrées like roasted blackberry chicken and peanut-crusted trout with shrimp Florentine sauce that go beyond much of the basic fare available in town. They outsource their Native Brews label, but it's the place to find a craft IPA or stout in a place that only legalized alcohol sales in 2021. 

Don't let the strip mall location fool you—the husband-and-wife team behind this upscale butcher and seafood market produces the best lunch in the area, from grouper or jumbo lump crab sliders to tempura tilefish, all sourced directly from fishermen and farmers.

This informal neighborhood spot in Montford serves what it bills as Jamaican food, although the not-too-spicy jerk dishes are served in bowls over linguine or basmati rice. Tofu can be substituted for any meat, and many of the ingredients are from local organic farms. (If you like more heat, ask for the Rasta Fyah hot sauce.) Nine Mile has additional locations in West Asheville and South Asheville.

Look for a roadside aquamarine horse painted with starfish and coral to find this long-established, welcoming spot to get local seafood, pasta, or a wrap. Daily specials range from prime rib to tacos and grillers, a cross between a pizza and a quesadilla that's topped with tuna, crab, chicken, or veggies. The bistro has a full bar and a good selection of local beers to wash it all down with, and they stay open year-round for lunch and dinner (seasonally for breakfast).

At Crystal Pier, this casual fine-dining destination lets you indulge in entrées like crab-stuffed salmon or a platter of Calabash seafood while sitting directly over the sand and watching surfers catch waves just steps away. Dishes are thoughtful—they're not solely relying on the view. Sunday brunch is particularly popular.

Old Europe's Hungarian owner creates authentic European pastries, all made fresh daily and complemented by Mountain City coffee (including the city's best cold-brewed iced coffee), owned by an MIT grad who brings a scientific approach to coffee roasting. Asheville's oldest, but arguably most peripatetic, coffeehouse opens early and stays busy until late. Its current location, just north of Pack Square, is close to several new hotels.

Order a platter of pulled pork with slaw, baked beans, or mac and cheese to enjoy while a bluegrass band plays mountain music on the rustic stage at this classic roadside barbecue joint. Bands play both the lunch and dinner shift, and local folk artists display their work in the gift shop and at the museum-like 87 Ruffin Street Gallery next door.

There's a line out the door during summer for this bakery's "Apple Uglies," fried amalgams of doughnut dough and apples. There's also a full menu of breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches to enjoy on the patio out front. 

Craft beer rules at this wind turbine–powered brewery and British Isles–style pub. Opt for seared local tuna atop a garden salad or noodle bowl, or go for a bratwurst sausage plate. Copper accents, lots of wood, and fun, retro touches (a Superman doll denotes the men's room; Wonder Woman, the ladies' room) characterize this huge white building, modeled after a turn-of-the-19th-century lifesaving station. Regularly scheduled live music adds to the festive atmosphere.

Set in a charming 1861 farmhouse just "over yonder" from Mast General, this approachable restaurant serves inspired takes on Appalachian food like tomato cobbler, grilled meatloaf, and pan-fried rainbow trout with sweet potatoes. Sit inside the historic rooms or on the wraparound porch.

Housed in a replica of an early-19th-century Outer Banks Lifesaving Station, the dining room of this classic since 1946 feels like a nautical museum: classic clapboard construction, pine paneling, and walls of maritime artifacts. Miss O's crab cakes are perennially popular, as is the 14-layer chocolate cake.

It's worth the line down the sidewalk for the house-made ice cream, cookie sandwiches, and milkshakes with seasonal flavors at this boutique spot with a dozen daily flavors. A satellite location with scoops and shakes is now open at Common Market on Green Street.

New Bern's only waterfront restaurant doesn't rely on geography to impress—the craft cocktails, seared scallops, and entrées like salmon and local littleneck clams over angel-hair pasta simply taste even better when you're seated directly over the water.

Pancake houses are big in Cherokee, and Peter's is at the top of the stack. Many locals are regulars here, and you'll see why when you try the blueberry pancakes with country ham in the dining room with wide windows overlooking the Oconaluftee River.

The sophisticated dining room delivers inventive new American dishes, crafted out of local ingredients and coastal bounty. There are no wrong choices on the nightly changing menu, from beef tartare to a fried pork chop with honey apple glaze.

Downtown Hendersonville's best restaurant occupies a former bank, with soaring ceilings and a wine cellar in the former vault. The chef-owned kitchen offers an approachable menu of braised pork shanks and seared scallops, with a sharing menu spanning from spaghetti squash hush puppies to pate with ginger and local honey.

A fixture on Main Street for more than three decades, Ristorante Paoletti serves sophisticated Italian cuisine with first-rate service. The menu includes a lengthy section of freshly made pastas, along with many excellent seafood dishes. The wine list, one of the largest in the area, includes more than 1,000 selections. Reservations are a must.

This kitschy but fun version of an old-fashioned soda shop—an institution in Brevard since 1941—has burgers, hot dogs, and a wide range of ice cream creations. The tuna salad sandwich is a local favorite.

Serving Nashville-style fried chicken (at different levels of spiciness), this casual restaurant is a little ways from downtown, but a local favorite and one of the best places for a cheap meal or takeout picnic. Large chicken platters, sandwiches, sides, and your pick of sauces are all loaded with flavor; order the fried pickles with zippy ranch as a snack. Family platters feed 8–15.

Named after two fishermen, father and son, this no-nonsense shack opened in 1937 and is one of the Outer Banks' oldest restaurants. Fishing photos hang between mounted catches on the walls, and classic country music twangs in the background. Locals flock here, especially for breakfast or a lunch of Hatteras-style clear clam chowder and fried seafood.

The Jones family have been smoking whole hogs in the Carolina Piedmont for three generations, so Raleigh urbanites greeted Sam's chopped pork and slow-cooked ribs with open arms. Order a platter and a craft cocktail (rare for a barbecue restaurant) and grab a seat in the light-filled dining room or at a picnic table in the yard.

The culinary creations here may be free of animal products, but they're certainly not lacking in flavor, from the addictive lentil burger patty melt to a kimchi tempeh Reuben that hits all the right notes.

Wood paneling, muted lighting, and well-spaced tables make for an elegant dining experience in this restored 1879 house. The menu, which changes seasonally, has a regional flavor. The food is intricately styled so that colors, textures, and tastes fuse. A brick tavern on the lower level is more casual and has a less expensive menu that has included bison short ribs and grilled North Carolina trout.

Chef-owned and globally inspired, this approachable mainstay serves creative regional entrées like local trout with grits and lobster sauce alongside rabbit-and-crawfish gumbo and chicken curry. Sit on the covered patio fronting a quiet alley or inside the soaring brick-walled dining room.

As punk rock as fine dining gets, the Stanbury is both the funky neighborhood restaurant you wish was in your neighborhood and the casual yet "special occasions" spot people travel to for birthdays and anniversaries. While the menu may intimidate with crispy pig's head and bone marrow, the exemplary staff is happy to explain dishes and regulars are thrilled to recommend their favorites. No reservations are taken, so diners strategize by arriving early for a seat or putting their name down before enjoying a drink outside or at a nearby nightspot. The cocktail list is short but solid, plus many local beers, European wines, and surprising spirits. 

The Triad's first food hall, Stock + Grain is next to Truist Point ballpark (home to the High Point Rockers pro baseball and Carolina Core FC soccer) and close to downtown showrooms, so it can be as busy or as quiet as the town of High Point. Expect to find vendors of burgers, pizza, sushi, barbecue, and coffee, plus a few wild cards. Order a beer from the 20 taps at Bevelry or a craft cocktail at Cahoots.

The breakfast burrito—paired with a cup of joe from their adjacent Deja Brew coffee stand—at this waterfront counter-serve can feel life-changing after a night out on Ocracoke. During summer, they also serve a lunch menu of fish tacos and curry bowls.