Top Rated Restaurants & Cafes in Chapel Hill

This fine-dining restaurant and tavern serves new American cuisine in a restored 19th Century Second Empire Victorian. The restaurant is more than worth a visit for its refined atmosphere and gourmet food. Casual dishes are served in the cellar tavern, while a creative seasonal menu is offered in the formal dining room. Visitors can enjoy a beer in the tavern or a pre-dinner cocktail while seated in the covered front-porch. Second Empire is a first-rate destination for an elegant dinner.

This vibrant cafe, bakery, and German restaurant can safely be called a local favorite. Seasonal menus feature eclectic German specialties made with only locally-sourced ingredients. The bakery offers a generous menu of breads, cakes, pastries, and cookies. Guglhupf’s interiors are stunning, and feature an interior terrace and courtyard, a beautiful patio for outdoor dining, and an atrium. The cafe also often hosts wine and local food-related events, and exhibits the work of local artists.

Hidden in a small strip near the Sutton Square Shopping Mall, this gem of a French restaurant brings a taste of Provence to North Raleigh. The menu focuses on locally-sourced meats, with classic dishes such as foie gras, escargots, and filet mignon. Vegetarian options lean towards pasta dishes, while the dessert and wine list is typically, and extravagantly French. Enjoy horseradish-braised beef short ribs with a French Merlot, or seafood étouffée with dessert cheeses. The management at Saint Jacques also organizes wine dinners, cooking classes, and annual sojourns to Provence and Burgundy.

Glenwood Grill offers upscale, contemporary cuisine inspired by the American South and coastal Carolinas. The restaurant prides itself on farm-to-table policies and use of regionally sourced food. Menu highlights include fried green tomatoes, seafood and grits, and she crab soup. Choose wines from California, South America, and Europe, and finish your dinner with chocolate bread pudding. This sleek restaurant is a good choice for a romantic dinner. During the evening, the lights dim and the night becomes visible from floor to ceiling windows

Alley Twenty Six is sophisticated cocktail and wine bar serving charcuterie and small plates in stylish surroundings. Locals come to the bar for the relaxing, dimly-lit atmosphere, classic cocktails, and nicely curated wine list. Attention to detail and flavor sets Ally Twenty Six apart from other contemporary cocktail bars. The team here creates one of a kind homemade syrups and tonics: think zesty cinchona bark and lemongrass syrup. The bar, which faces East Chapel Street, has a little outdoor seating on 26 Alley, from which it takes its name.

The Rockford has been serving creative sandwiches and American fare from its hip brick building since 1994. There is a rock solid sustainability policy here, as all the ingredients used are locally-sourced. The menu offers salads, sides, and a few featured entrees, but the centerpiece is the beloved collection of sandwiches, which are prepared by combining classic ingredients in unique combinations. Rockford’s enduring power might come from its apple, bacon, and cheddar sandwich. Sunday brunch rounds out the service at this local favorite.