Let me be clear, this is mostly a list of awesome breweries, bars, and bites to eat in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. This list is not comprehensive. This is my list that I pass on to people who are visiting the area. I lived in Chapel Hill for about five years. I loved every second of it and you won’t catch me saying anything negative about the triangle. It was truly a really pleasant place to live. Here are my favorite eats and drinks – enjoy!

Raleigh

1. Beasley’s Chicken + Honey https://ac-restaurants.com/beasleys/ So tasty! A must-try. I like the chicken biscuit and the classic chicken, yum!
2. Death & Taxes https://ac-restaurants.com/death-taxes/ Upscale. Amazing. Great at local sourcing. Menu changes daily! Dishes made by my favorites at Haand.
3. The Pit https://www.thepit-raleigh.com/ The Pit http://thepit-durham.com/ really taste barbecue and nice atmosphere.
4. Whiskey Kitchen https://www.whiskey.kitchen/ I like the food and I like whiskey!
5. The Raleigh Times https://www.raleightimesbar.com/about/ tasty drinks and great food too. I think of this spot as an after-work delight or a quick drink and eats place before a night on the town.
6. North Carolina Museum of Art Sculpture Garden https://ncartmuseum.org/visit/the_park I like museums, but they make me sleepy. Check out the outdoor sculpture garden, it’s a great place to walk around.
7. Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve Nice woodsy area in Cary. Click for a list of the short nature walks. 

Durham

1. The Durham https://thedurham.com/restaurant/ stylish hotel with a great rooftop bar with small bites and a nice view. There’s also another delicious restaurant indoors, but I think it’s temporarily closed due to COVID, so check before going. 
2. The Pit http://thepit-durham.com/ really taste barbecue (and right next to a brewery and across the street from a hip little drinks place. There’s also a location in Raleigh.
3. Beer Study! https://beerstudy.com/ Bottle shop and beers on tap – so many beers and ciders! They have shops in Chapel Hill & Durham.
4. Bull City Cider Works https://www.bullcityciderworks.com/durham Cider! Great cider spot especially for those who think they don’t like cider.
5. Cloudworks https://www.cloudsbrewing.com/ Brewery with tasty food.
6. Fullsteam https://www.fullsteam.ag/ cool brewery next to a delicious barbecue restaurant, good food trucks, and another hip bar.
7. Pour https://www.pourtaproom.com/locations/durham/ self-serve taproom where you can choose to only try an ounce or two of beer, cider, kombucha, etc.
8. Hi-Wire Brewery https://hiwirebrewing.com/ cool, spacious, a great place to chill and drink delicious drafts.
9. Barrel Culture https://barrelculture.com/ it’s out of the way, but it’s worth it if you’re serious about good beer.
10. Ponysaurus Brewing https://www.ponysaurusbrewing.com/ nice covered patio and lawn area. Durham spoils you with chill breweries and this is just another one of those gems.
11. American Tobacco Campus https://americantobacco.co/restaurants-retail/ restored tobacco factories transformed into housing, retail, restaurants, and event venues. It’s a cool place to just take a little stroll. It’s also next to the Durham Bulls baseball stadium. The one restaurant that is actually amazing is Saladelia. The rest are very meh or chains. I would get Saladelia takeout and sit outside somewhere on the grounds or I’d grab a morning coffee somewhere and just take a stroll through. Phoebe Judge records Criminal at the NPR radio studio onsite! There’s also a cute stationery shop for the paper lovers among us.
12. Duke University if you’re into walking around looking at an old campus.
13. Sarah P. Duke Gardens https://gardens.duke.edu/phase1 Free. Beautiful! The gardens may or may not be open so check before going. Apparently, they were closed for an entire year! That’s just nutso.

Chapel Hill

1. Top of the Hill https://www.thetopofthehill.com/#toporestaurant this is a good spot to dine on the patio and people watch several stories above the busiest corner in Chapel Hill. The food doesn’t blow me away, I come here more for the view (and the drinks because it’s a distillery!).
2. Al’s Burger Shack https://www.alsburgershack.com/ fresh, local, sustainable southern grub. The burgers come in three sizes so you can snack according to your stomach size. These are some of the best burgers I’ve ever had! It’s also right next door to Beer Study.
3. Mediterranean Deli https://mediterraneandeli.com/ So many mains, sides, wraps, deli salads, Mediterranean desserts, etc. It’s deli-style so they fill containers with whatever amount you want. Nice for a picnic! There is seating inside and out too. It’s cheap, quick, and ridiculously filling.
4. The Pig https://thepigrestaurant.com/ Delicioussss bbq! Super authentic NC style. It’s in a weird-ass spot, but it’s so good that I’m willing to overlook it.
5. Allen & Son’s https://www.facebook.com/AllenSonBbq/ Super authentic! Just check out that facebook page, hah! But don’t let the pics scare you. This is one of the most delicious “down-home” bbq spots in NC. There are more upscale suggestions elsewhere on this doc, but I love stopping by the take-out window at Allen’s. DO NOT eat in unless you want to be surrounded by taxidermy and have your wrists stick to vinyl tablecloths. 
6. Venable https://venablebistro.com/ describes itself as a rotisserie bistro serving elevated southern comfort food.  Each meal incorporates southern elements, but the portion sizes keep the food coma at bay.  The cocktails are amazing and worth every penny, but I know that’s not what you’re after!
7. Elmo’s Diner https://www.elmosdiner.com/ Full Breakfast or Brunch – is always my top pick for a sit-down breakfast. If you’re eating when the rest of Chapel Hill is, there’s usually a wait, but Elmo’s is located in Carr Mill Mall so you’ll have little shops to visit while you wait. My favorite in the plaza is Townsend and Bertram, an independently owned outdoors store with the kindest, most helpful employees.
8. Beer Study! https://beerstudy.com/ Bottle shop and beers on tap – so many beers and ciders! They have shops in Chapel Hill & Durham.
9. Cafe Driade https://caffedriade.com/ is an absolute gem. It’s tucked away just outside of town on East Franklin Street, this is a cafe that locals know and love. The entrance to the lot comes up quickly so you may zoom by it. There’s seating sprinkled around the front and side of Cafe Driade, but take a look around the back.
10. Honeysuckle Tea House http://www.honeysuckleteahouse.com/  is a great little excursion especially if you just need to decompress for a beat. Cool open-air tea house with a treehouse vibe – created from old shipping containers. It’s a little bit of a drive into the country. It’s a mini oasis or you might think it’s like walking onto a hippie compound 😉 Beverages (tea, kombucha, beer, smoothies) are on point, there wasn’t much food when I would visit, so you may want to.
11. Open Eye Cafe https://openeyecafe.com/ is the sister cafe to Driade. They are both under the umbrella of Carrboro Coffee Roasters so if you need good coffee for a gift for someone, it’s excellent! They used to offer classes here where they’d teach you how to brew coffee on the machine of your choosing. So neat!
12. Fearrington Village & Jordan Lake – A visit to Jordan Lake could mean hiking, kayaking SUP, walking along the beach, etc. Even just driving by is lovely, especially if you drive this way. Fearrington Village is this oddly ritzy, little community. There’s a good bookstore, a cafe called the Belted Goat that’s yummy, and some other shops and a spa. Adorable cows, goats, and other animals roaming in the large fields.