More Cuisine Options Than Ever

With more than 600 restaurants to choose from in Raleigh alone, Wake County offers a variety of dining to suit the most discriminating palate. Our municipalities boast numerous ethnic restaurants -- from American, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Southern Soul to Vietnamese and everything in between.

But our region is especially known for its classic barbecue -- chopped pork with a vinegary, spicy sauce, pulled from a whole hog that has been pit-cooked over charcoal and wood.

Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of 50 Best New U.S. Restaurants 2009 names “The Pit” in Raleigh among its choices. The Pit is one of the best places you can go to for authentic North Carolina barbecue. Praised by The New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, and Bon Appetit, The Pit was established by North Carolina’s legendary pit master, Ed Mitchell, in a former meatpacking warehouse.

Listing the “Best Burgers in the Country,” Food Network Magazine hit the road to find the one burger you absolutely have to try in every state. In North Carolina, they settled on the Raleigh Times Burger at the Raleigh Times Bar.

It’s not just the food that’s great here. In selecting their top restaurants, Travel + Leisure said, “We gravitated toward spots that offered us warmth and a sense of human connection.”

That’s us, all right. Y’all come visit. You just might end up staying.