Margaux’s 8111 Creedmoor Road, Suite 111 Raleigh Entrees: $19–$31 Website I hadn’t heard of Margaux’s, so when my friends’ gourmet club chose it for their next destination, I was excited to try it out (Note: I’m always excited to try someplace new out). They have an interesting hodgepodge of styles going on in both their
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JJ’s Fish and Chicken 1403 South Miami Boulevard East Durham Sandwiches: $3.89–$5.50 Chicken and Seafood Dinners: $5.99–$10.99 The management asked me not to take pictures at this establishment, so I’ll just try and describe the place for you. It’s a pretty nice, clean, order-at-the-counter restaurant with some country clutter in the form of wood barrels
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For those of you who keep up with the local food scene, the closing of Fins and eventual opening of bu*ku is already old news. But I just wanted to comment on it anyhow, because I’m so intrigued by Chef D’Auvray’s plan for the space and am really interested to see how it turns out.
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Fins 110 East Davie Street Downtown Raleigh Entrees:  $20-30 Fins is a modern, upscale restaurant featuring American dining with a bit of Asian inspiration.  The decor was gorgeous, from the wall of water behind the bar to the beautiful gold bars across the ceiling. I was surprised by just how empty it was on a
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The Oxford 319 Fayetteville Street Downtown Raleigh http://www.oxfordraleigh.com/ Lunch/Brunch: $9-14 Dinner: $9-19 The Oxford is a gastropub in downtown Raleigh with a posh, yet relaxed atmosphere.  It’s a large space that’s divided into three rooms, one with a huge television, twinkly-starred ceiling, and the Union Jack on the wall; one that’s more of a traditional
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Second Empire 330 Hillsborough Street Downtown Raleigh Entrees: $25-37. http://www.second-empire.com Second Empire is a four star, fine dining restaurant housed in a lovely historic Victorian house. We ate in the main house but there is also a more relaxed, tavern section located in their cellar.  Note, though, that the prices there are not any more
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The Raleigh Times Bar 14 East Hargett Street Downtown Raleigh http://www.raleightimesbar.com/ Entrees:  $7-12 The above picture does not do justice to the atmosphere of The Raleigh Times Bar.  It is much larger than I expected, taking up half a city block but divided into a lot of cozy, smaller spaces with two main bars, the
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The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium 328 West Morgan Street, Downtown Raleigh, NC Grub: $5-8 http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/raleigh We hit The Flying Saucer with a couple of my husband’s coworkers.  I’d heard of it often, so was curious to try it out.  It’s one of several in the southeast region and is definitely a place designed to bring
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The Big Easy Downtown Raleigh 222 Fayetteville Street Raleigh, NC www.thebigeasy.4t.com Entrees $12–$20 I’d been wanting to check out the Big Easy for a long time and apparently, so did a bunch of my compadres, so we went last Saturday night as a group. They did a great job with the atmosphere for this restaurant—I
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Nelsons *CLOSED* Cameron Village 521 Daniels Street Raleigh, NC www.nelsonsrestaurant.com Entrees $15–$22 Nelsons is a concept restaurant, offering dining areas, a raw bar, and a sky bar. It’s dressed in neutral tones that combine with the music and wall of water to make for a very relaxing meal. Presently, they are offering their raw bar
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