This is in my backyard?

The other night we had different kind of baby shower for my friend Heather, the 7 of us girls all went to get our nails done then to dinner at Humble Pie. Not only was it amazing to finally have some time of pampering to get a pedicure, but the dinner was amazing too.

I’ve always heard a lot of great things about Humble Pie, and I was told over and over I needed to go there, but I just never had a chance, until then…I should have gone earlier but it was definitely worth the wait! The dishes are smaller, which makes the prices better and great for ordering a bunch and sharing around the table. I tried everything from their Teriyaki Grilled Salmon to Shrimp and Grits to Chicken Enchiladas and it was all really good. I am extremely picky about my Shrimp Grits and theirs were good, but not the best I’ve ever had. They were a little plain with just the grits, shrimp, and sauce, but what was there was good! The Salmon and Enchiladas were both good. The Salmon was almost Sushi grade which made it very tender and yummy!

The cooles part about the whole restaurant was the atmosphere. We sat outside surrounded by the Raleigh skyline, white lights and other guests enjoying their meal. It is a great place to eat on a beautiful night but the inside is pretty amazing as well. It has a very eclectic, artsy, and had a fun feel to it.

Oh, how could I have forgotten, we also got dessert! I tried their Tiramisu which was really good! The lady fingers weren’t as moist as I usually like them, but the cream sauce and the chocolate chips on the lady fingers were delicious! I hope to go back with my camera one day so you all can see what I mean by this place, definitely a place to go when in downtown Raleigh!

Today kicks off the first annual Triangle Restaurant Week. Now through May18th will be the Triangle Restaurant Week. As stated on many websites:

“Join our local restaurants in celebrating culinary talents, exquisite cuisine, and dynamic atmospheres. For a fixed price, diners will enjoy one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert – the ultimate opportunity to experience new dishes or restaurant venues.”

It looks as though lunch is $15 a person and dinner is $25 a person. Check out their website, Triangle Restaurant Week, to find out which restaurants are involved!  

Last night we held our second Benson community focus forum at the Preston Woodall House in Benson, NC.  All I can say is WOW! As we were pulling up Lisa was telling us we were holding the forum at a Bed and Breakfast and all I could think was..how in the world are we going to fit 30 people into one room in a bed and breakfast. Well as you can see by the picture we had more than enough room (theres more room behind me) and the place is gorgeous. As if the place wasn’t pretty enough to the food was absolutley amazing! They had a gorgeous salad bar with fresh toppings and wonderful dressings, red potatoes, green beens, and this divine chicken. After eating as much as I possibly could I then decied to try the cookies…wow..I’m not even kidding, they were the best cookies I’ve ever had in my entire life! I think I ate 3 in less an a minute! I don’t even know what was in them but they were so moist and chewy and tasted so good I didn’t even care! Joel the owner, the executive chef, and the staff were so nice and friendly it made the night all that more enjoyable. If you ever need somewhere to have an event be it, wedding, party, business outing, etc..think of Preston Woodall House, you would never imagine a place this amazing could be in Benson!

McLean’s Old Time Cafe is definitely a hot spot in Zebulon, NC. We heard from a lot of the local citizens that if we were hungry we had to try McLean’s, so what did we do….tried McLean’s for lunch! Court and I got there around noon and the place was pretty busy and stayed that way the entire time we were there. Everything on the menu looked sooo good, Court and I had a hard time deciding what we were going to get. While we were waiting they brought us homemade biscuits and hush-puppies that were melt in your mouth good! We finally decided on what we were going to get. Court picked homemade Chicken Salad and I picked Chicken fingers. As I was ordering I was told that the bbq chicken fingers were the way to go. With the chicken fingers I got a choice of 2 sides so I went with the mac and cheese and the broccoli. Court’s sides were the sweet potato casserole and the broccoli. At the end of the meal we split a piece of Chocolate Cream Pie which was amazing, they make a lot of their desserts along with their food right there in the store! Both of us really enjoyed our lunch, loved the staff, and had a great time with the local citizens. We talked to Suzie who has worked at McLean’s for a couple years now and absolutely loves the restaurant and it’s people. Check out the video and if you want to learn more about McLean’s check out their website or better yet go and visit them in Zebulon.

As I started this adventure of discovering great local places to eat in the area, one of the places I first heard about was Irregardless. My colleague Ashley Sue said it was a must, it took me awhile but Ashley Sue and I finally made it down there for lunch. I must say, I wish I would have gone sooner. Irregardless was delicious! Besides the on-going choices on their menu the fact that they have daily specials absolutely amazed me, you never hear of that anymore, at least not as extensively as they offer. The owner, Arthur, goes to the farmers market every morning to see what is fresh and available and then builds his menu off of that. Terry, our waitress/manager, was such a help in deciding want to choose and also in filling me in on all the splendid things the restaurant had going on. You should definitely try Irregardless either for lunch or dinner, or live music or dancing, they have it all (and they cater)! Check out my video and see what I mean!