Silver Spoon

This is a decent four-star Southern bar near the Duke campus. We were driving through town, and we…read morestopped here before visiting the local botanical garden. There's plenty of paid street parking in the area. The interior is a bit dark inside, minimal ambient light from the outside, TVs around the bar. Lunch arrived quickly, I had the patty melt which was a bit over salted, but not too bad. Service from Makena was overall decent, nothing exceptionally bad or good. Pricing for lunch averaged just over $20 per person, including the "included gratuity." It's a fine Place to get standard bar food.

We were driving from Columbia, South Carolina to Richmond, Virginia today and decided to stop in…read moreDurham for some lunch around noon. This place is located in the downtown area of Durham on the second floor of a red brick building. There is plenty of patio, bar and dining room seating. It was a little hot for the patio so we sat at one of the tables in the dining room. The menu offers a handful of appetizers and salads, as well as about twenty lunch entrees. I went with the NC pulled pork sandwich. It also had coleslaw on the sandwich. Side options included fries, salad, Brussel sprouts, or onion rings. I went with the brussel sprouts and they were very tasty. My husband had the patty melt with French fries. The fries were a generous and tasty portion. His patty melt was very salty, though. Service was pretty quick.

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Plum Southern Kitchen & Bar

4.4(165 reviews)

4.9 mi

I came to visit Durham for the first time in a long time And was pleasantly surprised to see all…read morethe new and exciting restaurants. A friend suggested we try this place. We made a reservation and were seated upon arrival. Our host was Anthony, I think his name was, with a keen interest for ginkgo trees. He was very attentive, friendly and extremely helpful. He took her order and had some good suggestions. I was craving shrimp and grits which was probably the most unique shrimp and grits. I've had ever. Very distinct flavor and still very rich and familiar. The shrimp were large and juicy as well as remained crunchy overall cooked very well. We also had the summer tomato and burata salad which was really refreshing and delicious. My friend ordered the mac and cheese which is a hefty serving size. Definitely a shareable side or a main for one person. Our host came to check on us frequently, our Waters never went empty. Other hosts were also helping check in on us which was nice. The restaurant itself is large. Booth tables available, which made for a cozy environment. We ended the night with some brownie a la mode, which was the perfect dessert to have on a hot summer day. Overall the experience was amazing, great food and incredibly nice people. Definitely Miss miss the southern hospitality of Durham. Definitely recommend a try here at plum Southern kitchen & bar.

Stopped by for dinner and sat outside with our dog- VERY dog friendly, relaxing classical music…read moreoutside, with some cute decor- including flowers and lights. The menu had recently changed so we got to try quite a few new items. We tried the panzanella- sweet corn, red beans, heirloom tomato, patty pan squash, pea tendrills, and a roasted red pepper vinaigrette. This dish was my favorite of the night- small but shareable, entire dish was refreshing and all the flavors and textures went together so well. For dinner I ordered the roasted chicken and the baked mac and cheese with bacon. The roasted chicken was juicy and tasty, and a bit sweet with the bourbon ginger and plum reduction, but the mac and cheese seemed dry and overcooked. We also ordered the buttermilk cheddar biscuits- that taste slightly undercooked (in a good way), so the texture was soft and chewy (and amazing). The honey butter and large maldon salt granules made the biscuits perfect. They were so good we ordered a second order!! I would definitely return to Plum, for both the food and hospitality.

Big bar, small plates.

Monday night special. Honey-smoked ham, Brussels sprouts, sweet potato succotash, southern cheese grits.

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Beef stroganoff with a mushroom cream sauce, pickled onion, & mustard seed.

Lula and Sadie’s

3.9(240 reviews)

6.1 mi

Visiting from Chicago for Black August (my first time in NC). My friend wanted to check this place…read moreout and so we did! We made a reservation online for Sunday brunch. We reserved for the rooftop but unfortunately they were short staffed and so we sat in the main restaurant area with live musicians! It was a nice pivot! The ambiance in the restaurant is very pleasant! It's bright, has beautiful Black art in the wall, and feels spacious, and yet cozy. I ordered the L&S loaded grits and my friend had the red velvet pancakes and chicken. I enjoyed the grits, very flavorful and filling. They were "juicier" than I'm used to but that may be a regional difference from what I'm accustomed to! My friend's chicken and waffles were amazing! The waffles tasted like a mix between a donut, cake and a waffle! Really tasty! Our server was also very attentive and kind! It was a great experience! Would recommend!

Y'all. This is truly a gem. A dear friend and I are having…read morea girls' weekend in Durham and were looking for an unpretentious dinner spot with great food. We frikkin' found it! Quaint, spotless, Frank Sinatra & Sam Cooke playing thru the speakers, a lovely server & bartender, and the food... For mains, I had the Duck Gumbo with a side of collards & my friend had the Angry Yard Bird Mac & Cheese. Everything was an impressively elevated version of familiar comfort food. BUT, Y'ALL, we shared the fried green tomatoes for a starter. Now, I've eaten fried green tomatoes many times in many, many places. These were the best I've ever had. Hands down. No contest. The pimento cheese just takes them to an entirely different level. I'm sure I'll be thinking about them long after I leave NC. Ugh. Can you make friends with food and then miss it when you're away? Apparently so. For your own sake, get yourself to Lula and Sadie's and order those fried green tomatoes.

Chicken and grits

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Grub Durham

4.1(536 reviews)

5.3 mi

Keep coming back to the Grub because food here is consistently delicious and you can't go wrong…read morewith The Rocket breakfast! I love that they don't just give you crappy melons and grape like in other places for fruit. Here you get fresh blueberries, strawberries and pineapple. Also, that biscuit I will add, depending on when you go, get ready to wait. The line is sometimes out of the door. The service and the prices are good. Also, there's plenty of seating downstairs, outside or in the deck upstairs. Hope you check it out!

Adorable place and excellent food. Wendy was our host and has been in Durham her entire life. Menu…read morehas many options. I had egg and cheese on a sweet potato biscuit and it was Yummy

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Iced Rocket Fuel

True Flavors Diner

4.0(1k reviews)

12.6 mi

The brown sugar maple bacon pancakes are amazing! There are real strips of bacon embedded inside…read morethe fluffy decadent pancakes. The eggs and smoked sausage were good. The coffee was really good. I really enjoyed my visit. Service was great and the food was amazing.

True Flavors Diner it has been way too long. New remodel new biscuit menu, new schedule. The meal…read morewas excellent, I do not know how they could excel the meals in the past but they pulled it off. I ordered the fried chicken biscuit, two fried breasts, egg over easy, and potatoes covered in gravy. It was delicious from the first bit. The mixture just melted in your mouth. All the flavors blending together. I will not wait so long to go back, Wednesday to Friday 8:00am to 2:00pm. The schedule is locked in my memory now.

Chicken, Waffles & Scrambled Eggs

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Honey chicken biscuits

Dame's Chicken & Waffles

4.0(2k reviews)

6.6 mi

Although I'm not a fan of sweet with savory, I finished everything on my plate : )…read more We had never tried chicken with waffles before and our server took us through the options and even brought out tasting samples of the different types of butter which were all amazing. It does seem like I'm mixing up brunch and dinner food items though in terms of the flavor profiles. However, the waffles were excellent and the fried chicken had incredible flavor. I'm still not completely sold on the combination but everything on the plate tasted perfect. Highly recommended.

We have been to Dame's Chicken & Waffles a few times at the old Downtown location, once to the…read moreRaleigh location, and now the "new" Durham location. This new East Durham location is a little smaller than the old one, but they kept the brick aesthetic and the same jazz décor; it has great vibes, but it can get a little noisy with large groups. They now have a small parking lot. The new building has charm, although the surrounding area feels industrial and somewhat run-down. One of the restaurant's windows was boarded up, broken glass had spread into the parking-lot entrance, and barbed wire was visible from our table. The chicken is always tangy and moist. I don't know what they put in the breading, but I'm like a moth to a flame to that stuff. The mac and cheese is some of the best in the Triangle. Our server, Lanyah, was a hustler! While there, she had 9 tables, and one of them was a large group of about 10 people. My wife and I each ordered A Classy Hen with a Baby Blueberry and a Peach Apricot Shmear. I liked the Peach Apricot better. My wife got fresh fruit as her side, which was mostly just orange slices. This, unfortunately, is the end of any positives. Because it was just Lanyah, the service was slow, and it appears from our various times coming to Dame's that slow service is the rule, not the exception. Our server said that it was typical to have just a single server, one cook, and a busser--who was not that helpful. Lanyah was still busing some tables and when there was a loud crash that sounded like dishes falling, she ran and checked on it herself. It took her a minute to get us water and then take our order, but it was understandable. She hugged my wife when we were leaving when we told her she deserved better. The cook was doing their best, but it took 48-minutes and 49 seconds to get our order after it was put in...yes, I timed it. One family walked out due to the long wait. There was another male staff member-I'm not sure whether he was the manager, but he spent most of the evening sitting in the bar area. He was not seating people, bringing out orders or drinks, or helping out our overwhelmed server. They were supposed to close at 7:30pm, but we walked out the door at 8:05pm and the large party was still there waiting for their food, with the other man still sitting in the bar. We want to love Dame's, but slow service just overshadows everything else that is positive. Until they hire an appropriate number of staff, we will not be back.

Macaroni and cheese

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Succotash Southern and Creole Kitchen

4.5(164 reviews)

7.7 mi

I really liked this spot. I was brought here by friends while I was in town and found the entire…read moreexperience enjoyable. Our waiter was a nice guy (didn't get name, longer hair and mustache) and was attentive without being intrusive. They have a really good wine selection. I had several things off the menu, including the mussels and the brisket, and I thoroughly enjoyed everything. The garlic bread was prepared well without being too hard. The space is a little loud but not overly so; we were still able to have a pleasant conversation. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed my experience here…read more Service was great, quick, friendly and gave great recommendations and menu item descriptions. I was not steered wrong with my dish. Ambiance is very chill and homey. Nothing fancy. Chairs could be a bit more comfortable but that might just be my pregnant body not comfortable in firm upright chair lately. Food was amazing. I am picky about the fatty contents on meat I order. I know it's the best part to some but I can't get past the texture. I asked for brisket which is sometimes very fatty but server accommodated me saying I could ask for end cuts or more well done pieces and did not disappoint. Omg and that bread pudding!! My meal was delicious!

Main dining area

Their signature succotash with andouille sausage

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Lemon pound cake with berries

Walt's Grill

4.4(16 reviews)

14.3 mi

Great Food. Homemade real food. I say again. Real food. I had Beef tips and rice, with pinto beans…read moreand mashed potatoes and a sweet tea. Nothing about free range , or grass fed , or fair trade. Again, real food like Grandma's.

Great food Will definitely be going back again…read more Clean bathroom Nice quiet place to eat

Fried chicken, potato salad, hush puppies, green beans

Walt's Grill

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BBQ Pork collards and pinto beans.

The Original Q Shack

4.1(833 reviews)

6.9 mi

This is the way that BBQ should hit!!…read more We stopped in the "Shack" while visiting Durham. Having been huge fans of North Carolina style BBQ, we were not disappointed.My wife and daughter enjoyed the Pork Plate. By for me, I went with the two meat combo with Pulled pork and brisket. The pulled pork was spot on. It was perfectly smoked and almost melted in my mouth. With a touch of spicy vinegar sauce, I was gone to Carolina in my mind for the rest of the day. The brisket might have been some of the best I've ever had. It had a nice fat layer and was also "melt in your mouth" and juicy. The brisket didn't need any sauce at all. It was that good. The hushpuppies were the star at the table. My family considers themselves to be connoisseurs of hush puppies, and these were ranked in the top five. A respectable ranking from such a discriminating hushpuppy panel. The sides we sampled included collard greens, mac and cheese and BBQ beans. The collards and Mac and cheese were out of this world. I should have ordered a double serving of the collards. However, the beans were a huge disappointment. They were more like a bowl of sub-par chili than BBQ beans. If we return, they will not be selected. A great BBQ spot when you are in Durham. Highly recommend you stop by, if only to taste the brisket!

Got the two meat plate for about 26$. It comes with two sides and I chose to get fries and mac and…read morecheese. The sides were good but the start was definitely the brisket. It was tender and flavor was there. The ribs on the other hand was a bit dry and the hush puppies weren't my favorite since they felt a bit too dry and doughy. Overall, this has been one of my favorite bbq in Carolina.

Inside. Part of the dining room. Ordering line in background.

Close-up of Chili-Rubbed Beef Brisket, sliced. Part of our Three Meat Combo. $22.95.

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Inside. Open kitchen. Pickup and payment counter.

The Chicken Hut

4.6(171 reviews)

7.6 mi

Great experience and visit for the first time receive this information in the Major Taylor cycling…read moreconvention recommendation. And we were happy to visit and enjoy the delicious food. The food portions were large. We could've shared one plate. There were great delicious options for any appetite. the service was excellent and enjoyed our meal. Tip , please bring cash as this is a cash only business.

I was really excited to try this Durham staple but I was unfortunately disappointed with this…read morevisit. Waited a whole hour for chicken, mac & cheese and canned yams. The chicken was greasy & tasted like it's a few weeks old.

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4 reviews that are not currently recommended

The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

Seqtr

1 year ago

This place was amazing, the vibe, the food, everything about it. We received amazing treatment from the moment we walked in the restaurant, our waitress was extremely welcoming and nice. Everytime I'm in Durham I will come back read more

Deborah O.

10 years ago

This is a wonderful place to eat. Great food always and friendly people. I will definitely be back.

Chet C.

6 years ago

Great food but the owner is even better. They are open now during the pandemic for take out

Sue H.

7 years ago

This place is SO dirty....cleaning is cheap!

Silver Spoon - southern - Updated September 2026

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