ORANGE SLICES
By Laurie Paolicelli
Guest Columnist
Fiesta Grill. Photo by Emily Reed.
At the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, we field a lot of requests — where to hike, where to stay, where the nearest coffee is when someone’s had a four-hour drive and a toddler in the backseat. But nothing flies off our counter like the Restaurant Map. It’s not just a map. It’s a small act of matchmaking between hungry travelers and the more than 200 restaurants tucked into Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough — gourmet dining rooms, corner coffee shops, and everything delicious in between. We don’t play favorites here. But we do keep QR codes handy, because when someone asks “Where can I get real Malaysian food?” or “Who does the best oysters?”, we like to hand them a menu, not just an opinion.
Hawthorne and Wood’s Pan Roasted Duck Breast
So, consider this an appetizer.
Start on East 54, where Hawthorne and Wood brings an upscale seasonal menu to a sleek dining room, and next door, the happening Geo’s Tavern and Oyster Bar, because can a town without an oyster bar really call itself a place? At the west end of the same highway Fiesta Grill serves up Chuy’s homemade wonders — the kind of tamales and salsas that taste like someone’s grandmother is still in the kitchen, because she probably is.
Tandem, Carrboro. Photo by Harlam Pdub.
Head into Carrboro and you’ll find a cluster of favorites that could fill a food tour all by themselves. Oakleaf offers sophisticated flavors straight from farm to table. Pizzaria Mercado turns out wood-fired pies with char in all the right places and appetizers you will never find at another pizza joint on the planet. Akai Hana has been quietly perfecting its rolls for years. Venable Bistro serves globally inspired comfort food, which this frenetic world needs more of. And right around the corner is Tandem, great American food in a warm and lively space, and the mixologists are wizards at the bar.
Oakleaf Restaurant in Carrboro next to Fleet Feet
Downtown Chapel Hill is its own dense little universe of flavor. Que Chula is Mexican food worth the wait (and you might have to), and for a view of the world – or our world, at least – Top of the Hill remains the perennial reunion spot — great burgers and a brewery to boot. 411 West has been a candlelit, brick-walled staple for Italian food on West Franklin Street for decades, because it’s just that good. And a few doors down is the iconic Lantern, offering refined Asian-inspired cuisine built on hyper-local ingredients. From its window you can see Med Deli — the Mediterranean Deli —the unofficial living room of West Franklin Street, where regulars and first-timers alike line up for shawarma, hummus, and the warm hospitality of owner Jamil Kadoura. Newcomer Proximo serves exquisite Spanish tapas. Sit at the bar and you can watch it being made. Check out Squid’s for fresh seafood and Open Eye Café for a cup of joe and the occasional poetry reading.
Top of the Hill, Chapel Hill
For a little more old school polish, Carolina Crossroads at the historic Carolina Inn brings farm-to-table Southern cuisine in one of the most beautiful hotels the south has to offer.
Restaurants encircle the city limits like culinary outposts. Mr. Tokyo, tucked into Ram’s Plaza, has been a reliable hibachi-and-sushi favorite for years. In Meadowmont, Bluebird is casually French, right down to the paper tablecloths (pencils provided). Southern Village holds two gems: Xolos, for craft tacos and a lively patio, and Rasa Malaysia, bringing bold Malaysian flavors that are hard to find anywhere else in the Triangle.
Nomad, Hillsborough
And please save some room for Hillsborough. Meals served at Nomad are so globally diverse you’ll feel like you’ve gone to Thailand while your date will insist he just got back from Bangladesh. The Wooden Nickel is an uber-casual neighborhood bar-and-grill locals go to for wings and beer. And Antonia’s brings authentic Italian charm to a town that already feels like it stepped out of a postcard.
That’s twenty-some restaurants, and that’s just a taste of everything that’s out there. All we have is a column; we’d need a book for them all.
The Heel and Horn, across from Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill
Here’s why we think visitors fall so hard for this dining scene: the theme is eclectic. In the span of a single afternoon, you can go from a sushi bar to a white-linened farmhouse table to a taco truck-turned-brick-and-mortar down the block. Every restaurant here has a tale to tell: like the South itself, its past is woven into its present. Great food, great people, great places — walking into a restaurant here is like walking into a beautiful story.
That’s the real reason the brochure doesn’t stay on the shelf. People don’t just want a meal. They want to know where they are.
The best way to view this free map is to get a copy. Call (919) 245-4320 or email: info@visitchapelhill.
It’s also available online, but viewing a hard copy is best:
Cheers to buying local and savoring every bite of it.
Serratore’s Pasta and Pizza in Hillsborough.
Share your thoughts with me here,
Laurie Paolicelli
Disclaimer: Published by Orange County’s Tourism Department through its Public Relations team, this story includes interviews and repurposed content from websites and partner press releases. For more, visit www.visitchapelhill.org or contact Laurie Paolicelli.
Laurie Paolicelli is executive director for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, a position she has held since 2005. Laurie has worked in tourism and marketing for twenty-five years, having served in leadership roles in Houston and California convention and visitor bureaus. She is a native of the Twin Ports of Duluth, MN/Superior Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Communications from the University Wisconsin-Superior and graduate certification in Technology In Marketing from the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. This reporter can be reached at Information@TheLocalReporter.press
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