Paschall’s Cafe

(1102 Holloway St)

I chose Paschall’s for lunch based on a response to a chowhound thread looking for Southern hot dog places. I got one of those (chili, yes, finely chopped slaw, yes) and also tried a burger (could have been less well done but was pretty decent). I plan to go back for the bologna sandwich and the chuckwagon, and apparently (well, according to the waitress) they do a good breakfast as well (including liver pudding, which I’m up for trying). It was a really friendly place, very much hopping at lunch time. The waitress astutely noticed that we were there for our first time, and chatted with us about liver pudding. I haven’t been to Wimpy’s in a while but I think a comparison between the two would be useful, anyone have any feelings? Paschall’s has the benefit of having seating and seeming like a nice place to hang out.

Grayson’s Bistro comes to North Durham

Yesterday Grayson’s Bistro opened in North Durham in the same shopping center as Cook Out. Grayson’s is a small Durham chain with other locations on Chapel Hill Rd and in the Museum of Life + Science.

I stopped in for lunch today and had the curried chicken salad wrap. It was pretty good — not exceptional by any means, but definitely worth the $6.25 I paid for it. They let me sample the chili as well, which was tasty enough that I will stop in to have it next time I am in the mood. All in all, a solid North Durham addition. Also, they have free wireless, and will be serving a light breakfast on the weekends starting at 10.

Here is their current menu.

Tacos come (close) to Trinity Park

I was super excited to learn that Trinity Park was getting a locally-owned, nonfancy taqueria within walking distance. Chubby’s (748 Ninth Street) is where Xiloa used to be, and I think that it does a great job of filling in the Trinity Park taco gap. Service was fast, the food was good, and I’ll definitely be walking there a lot when I get back next fall.
An initial word on atmosphere: Chubby’s seems to be catering to the student clientele from nearby East Campus, toeing the line between generic corporate Mexican and the local shops on Roxboro, but with a hippie twist. The plastic containers are made of corn, the flatware is made of potatoes, and then there is a tofu taco with mixed veggies. (I didn’t try it—sorry).
In addition to offering the usual options that one can find at other local taquerias such as barbacoa, pastor, and asada, Chubby’s has seafood (grilled tilapia, ahi tuna, and grilled shrimp) and some vegetarian tacos (rice and bean, no lard, the aforementioned tofu taco). My tacos were pretty good. The tacos al pastor were less greasy than others I’ve had in the area, but I could not find any pineapple in them. The tilapia taco was very flavorful and the chipotle cream sauce on it added a pleasant richness. (Warning: I haven’t had many fish tacos, so all I can say is that I enjoyed them, but I don’t know how they compare to the kind you get on the West coast.) My only complaint is that each taco only came with one tortilla, so they were falling apart by the time I got them home to eat.

Chubby’s doesn’t have a salsa bar, but they have a wide variety of housemade salsas in condiment bottles lined up next to the kitchen. I tried and liked them all, and my favorites were the chile de arbol, with a creamy texture, and a guacamole-based green salsa.

Juice lovers will be pleased to learn that they offer a few juice options—today’s selections were horchata and sandia (watermelon). I don’t drink juice, but the lady in front of me sampled the sandia and thought it was good enough to order despite being on some kind of no-sugar diet.

A taco al pastor will cost you $2, a tilapia taco is $3, and the top-of-the-line extra special seafood tacos are $4. I didn’t try the gorditas, tortas, burritos, or any of the various desserts they offer, but will report back when I do. Also, soon they’ll be expanding the menu with breakfasts including huevos rancheros, migas, Mexican pastries, and breakfast burritos. PLUS, they’re applying for a liquor license so that they can serve margaritas and beer. (And you all know how we feel about that!)

Bennett Pointe Grill

Sorry, it was pouring so I didn’t try very hard to get a good picture.

I really liked the Bennett Pointe Grill’s (4625 Hillsborough Rd) combination of atmosphere (kind of old-lady coastal + radiohead playing + very good service) and food (comforting and much better than typical diner).  I tried a shrimp gumbo that was good, and a crab cake sandwich that was great.  The house salad was even surprisingly good, and I had my first warm bacon dressing ever.

It’s open for lunch and dinner but not in between (I think it’s closed between 2:30 and 5:30).  The menu also touts its full bar, but we didn’t have a martini lunch.

Superior!

I have been feeling very sorry for myself lately, so I decided to take a break from sitting in front of my computer not studying to go out for some tacos while not studying.  La Superior  (3325 North Roxoboro) provided a perfect diversion–it’s like a Latin American market nested inside a Latin American grocery store.  It has an almost carnival atmosphere that I knew would put me in a better mood.

            

Juice Bar      

     

Taqueria

We could have gone grocery shopping in Superior’s full-service grocery and butcher shop, but the goal of today’s trip was to get some tacos.  The cafeteria area is tucked into the back part of the store and is divided into a panaderia/tortilleria, juice bar, and taqueria.  Each of these separate shops occupies a wall in a very large room which a mysterious staircase that apparently leads nowhere right in the middle of it.  Tables and chairs are set up around the staircase.  And, of course, there are always televisions on playing soccer or telenovelas.

La Superior has an impressive salsa bar

First, we stopped at the taqueria and put in our food orders.  I got a taco pastor (these have pineapple!) and a chicken tinga tostada, and my friend got a taco pastor and a taco de tripa.  I like lots of vegetables, so I buried my food under a large pile of salsa and cilantro at the salsa bar.  At the juice bar, I picked up a nice fruit cocktail of fresh papaya and pineapple, and my friend got an agua fresca de mango and an elote (ear of corn) slathered with crema, then sprinkled with soft white cheese, lime juice, and chili powder.   No, I am not sure why corn on the cob would belong to the juice bar section.  Either way, it was pretty delicious.  My friend says that fully-loaded elotes are difficult to find in the area.

 

Beautiful Elotes

Pastor on the Left, Tripa on the Right

My friend is a taco pastor expert and thought that they were only so-so, but I really liked mine.  The meat was way more tender than is often the case, and infused with a subtle pineapple flavor.  The chicken tinga had just the right amount of smokiness, and they gave me an extra tortilla for the top, like a sandwich.  I’d never had tripe before–it was OK, basically superrich like any other organ meat.  It was not too dry or chewy as my friend had feared.

Postre

After we ate, we checked out the grocery.  The butchery is pretty impressive, with whole tilapia, big steaks, and an entire case filled with various dried pork skin products.  There’s also a good array of fresh fruits and vegetables, jars of honey with honeycomb, and a kitchenware section where they sell huge stockpots and comales.

 

Various pork products

Lots of beans!

A note on getting there:  it comes up very suddenly around a bend on Roxboro.  Be vigilant, or you’ll drive right by it.

HALGO

Halgo (4520 S. Alston Ave) is a quite cute Polish grocery store and flower shop. They have rows of Polish snacks and candy, kielbasa and other meats, cheeses, crazy juices, pickled fish, a freezer full of frozen pierogies (12 kinds), cabbage rolls, soups (borscht), and generally lots of things I have never seen before (not being Polish or from a big city). Apparently next week they will start to serve up the pierogies hot, but today we fried some up at my house and they were awesome with some delicious Polish sour cream. I was of course hoping for some fresh in-house stuff (they are made in Chicago), but my friend who is a pierogi expert was pretty happy with them.

Restaurant openings report

Buford’s Grill (4711 Hope Valley Rd Suite1-C)

Carolina Steak & Cheese (5108 Wake Forest Hwy)

Dickey’s Barbecue (5318 New Hope Commons Dr)

Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins (2608 Erwin Rd Suite 156)

Five Points Cafe (347 W Main St)

Food Express (3701 S Miami Blvd)

Good Better Best Desserts & Cafe (1725 Carpenter Fletcher Rd Suite 107)

Milano’s Pizza (2945 S. Miami Blvd)

1013 West Main Street (1013 West Main St)

–

Disclaimer: This data is based on inspection reports, and it is possible the restaurant is not actually open yet. Call ahead. 

That’s it, I’m moving: Cheek Road Grocery & Grill

Today I stopped by Cheek Road Grocery & Grill (5801 Cheek Road). First of all, let me say that this area of Durham is awesome — very much in the country, and exactly the type of area I had anticipated living in when I moved here. (I moved to North Durham instead, which is possibly as sparse but with much less country.) It is definitely beautiful country. 

That brings me to Cheek Road Grocery & Grill, which is actually a grocery, grill, gas station, bait & tackle shop, social gathering spot, and mini pool hall (1 table). 

I had a hotdog with chili and slaw. It was quite tasty, certainly much better than the offerings near me (Dog House). But I saw some other people eating cheeseburgers and was jealous.

(Sorry for the horrible picture)

You should definitely spend a couple of hours driving near Falls Lake and eat here. They are open for breakfast and serve lunch until 1:45. They have many offerings — besides the dogs and burgers, they had several types of chicken sandwiches, bbq, etc.

Front Street Cafe

I like everything about Front Street Cafe (1821 Hillandale Rd). The inside is small and quaint, the staff is friendly, they have outside seating, and everything I had on the menu was very good to excellent.

I had their lunch special, which was an open-face tuna melt topped with asparagus and a side salad. Excellent.

The rice pudding and coffee were also very good.

They also have wireless Internet. The only downside is that it is a bit on the expensive side: lunch, dessert, coffee, and a diet coke came to $18. They have some really good looking dinner specials, but they close at 6.

It’s the fried beer

The fries at the bar/grill (”Varsity Lounge”) at the Millenium Hotel (2800 Campus Walk Ave) might not be fancy or fresh or local, but they’ve got something going for them that’s arguably more important, which is fried beer. According to the menu, they’re from Brew City (a McCain Food). Whatever, the point is, beer (batter) makes everything better, and they are awesome.

Also, the Millenium has a pretty good bar for hanging out, particularly if you ever want to feel like you’re not in Durham for a little bit (I don’t know why you would, I’m just saying). Our bartender the other night was really friendly. The beer (the three Red Oak brewery brews) is not the best (though its semi-local, from NC at least), but that’s ok. They have fried beer, after all!