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

Oysters have been integral to this establishment since 1931 when it first began serving oysters alongside draft beer. The 42nd Street Oyster Bar and Seafood Grill has expanded its menu to include a wide-range of tasty treats. Try their Lightly Blackened Tuna Tacos or the Salt and Pepper Fried Grouper Fingers. It's worth going back again to try both. Now serving cocktails and wines, their draft beers still remain a favorite among patrons, especially the locally made North Carolina Craft Beers.

The Pit offers some of the best barbecue in Raleigh. Set in a restored early 20th Century meatpacking warehouse, the restaurant carries on the North Carolina barbecue tradition by serving full-hog, pit-cooked pork, and other barbecue essentials. But The Pit is more than a generic barbecue restaurant: it combines the generous portions of classic meat-loving joints with some surprises. The pork is free-range, and guests can enjoy barbecued tofu, wines, cocktails, and a comprehensive list of bourbons.

The Fiction Kitchen is a brightly-colored vegetarian restaurant with an innovative, seasonal menu. The restaurant began as a pop-up restaurant project and has evolved into a thriving culinary institution with a permanent location in Raleigh’s depot and warehouse district. Fiction is a temple to fresh, creative vegetarian cuisine: think succotash farro risotto or nori rolls with sashimi tofu. Absolutely everything served at the Kitchen is vegetarian and regionally-sourced, and most items are vegan. Fiction serves brunch on Sundays.