North Carolina

Grape jelly on a slice of fried pork and cornmeal sounds like a dare, but one friendly server…

By David Reed · Oct 14

Sugar-dusted waffle fries were not what I expected to remember most from a quick barbecue stop off a…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 14

A paper napkin, a dripping vanilla cone, and a parking lot view should not add up to one…

By David Reed · Oct 13

Hear that? That is probably your cue to keep walking. In North Carolina, some waterfalls make you work…

By Lenora Winslow · Oct 13

Golden shrimp so light they almost float off the fork were not what I expected from a plain…

By David Reed · Oct 13

Orange custard, brown crust, and a plain brick front you could easily drive past without a second look.…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 13

Cookies thinner than a playing card were not on my list of things to chase across North Carolina,…

By David Reed · Oct 12

Sweet potato pancakes that smell like a slice of pie were not on my North Carolina bingo card…

By David Reed · Oct 12

Oak smoke drifting over a quiet two-lane road is a strange thing to chase in North Carolina, a…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 12

A paper napkin went translucent before the first bite even landed, and that was the moment I knew…

By David Reed · Oct 11

Grandmothers across North Carolina once named their biscuits after a cat’s head, and the joke stuck because the…

By David Reed · Oct 11

A warm slice of tomato pie can make a long drive feel short, especially when it comes from…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 11

Broken spaghetti was the last thing I expected to find next to the coffee sugar, but that tiny…

By David Reed · Oct 10

Frost on the windshield is the best excuse I know for a road trip to a barbecue joint…

By David Reed · Oct 10

Frosting swirls behind a little glass case were the last thing I expected to set my alarm for,…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 10

A cup of coffee for five cents, paid on the honor system, was the first clue that this…

By David Reed · Oct 9

Grits were the last thing I expected to remember from a mountain weekend in North Carolina, yet here…

By David Reed · Oct 9

Vanilla wafers gone soft in custard can steal the spotlight from a plate of hickory-smoked pork, and that…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 9

A gas station parking lot was the last place I expected to find the best bowl of grits…

By David Reed · Oct 8

Mashed potatoes are the secret hiding inside one of the sweetest breakfasts in North Carolina, and most first-timers…

By David Reed · Oct 8

Honey butter melting into a hot cornmeal ball is a surprisingly good reason to pull off a two-lane…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 8

A pancake the size of the whole plate costs less than a dollar when you add it to…

By David Reed · Oct 7

A steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings can turn a plain weekday lunch into the best part of…

By David Reed · Oct 7

A silver dome perched on a small brick barbecue joint was the last thing I expected to see…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 7

Chili soaked into a soft steamed bun, cool slaw piled on top, and a counter stool that has…

By David Reed · Oct 6

Biscuit steam fogging a diner window is the kind of welcome you never forget, and North Carolina has…

By David Reed · Oct 6

A brick building with hand-painted signs and a gravel-and-asphalt lot does not look like the end of a…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 6

Road signs rarely tell you where to eat lunch, but one country road in eastern North Carolina is…

By David Reed · Oct 5

A whole ribeye carried out to the table and sliced right in front of you is the kind…

By David Reed · Oct 5

Grape Nehi in a glass bottle was not what I expected to find at a sandwich counter, but…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 5

Salt water steaming in a big pot by the roadside can stop a car faster than any billboard…

By David Reed · Oct 4

This is one of those places where the view deserves your attention. So do the next three feet…

By Gideon Hartwell · Oct 4

Strip-mall glass doors rarely promise much, yet some of the best cake in North Carolina waits behind them…

By David Reed · Oct 4

Breakfast here arrives on a paper plate, costs less than ten dollars, and somehow tastes like a Saturday…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 4

Retirement sounds simple until the house hunt starts asking follow-up questions. What does healthcare look like nearby? Can…

By Renata Holcombe · Oct 3

Smoke drifting over a highway exit was the only clue that lunch was about to become a memory.…

By David Reed · Oct 3

Crackling. That is the sound a basket of pork skins makes when it lands on the table straight…

By David Reed · Oct 3

Marsh grass, crab pots, and a long flat road are about all you see before the craving for…

By Emily Brooks · Oct 3

Smoke curling off a creekside grill was the only sign that a plain little building on a mountain…

By David Reed · Oct 2