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Pork belly pad Lao on a white plate.
Pork belly pad Lao from Saap in Cary.
Forrest Mason

12 Hottest Restaurants in the Triangle, November 2023

Laotian fare in Cary, fish curry in Durham, lamb seekh in Raleigh, and other exciting new spots in the Triangle

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Pork belly pad Lao from Saap in Cary.
| Forrest Mason

As winter approaches and the days grow shorter, the region’s dining scene shows no signs of slowing down. Whether it’s a high-end ode to New Orleans cuisine, a solo-act from a longtime Raleigh chef, or a new location of one of the region’s most-buzzed-about (and James Beard acknowledged) restaurants, it is truly a wonderful time of year to be a hungry diner in the Triangle. As always, this map tracks the bars, restaurants, and cafes garnering the most attention across the Triangle, so dive in and check out some of the area’s newest offerings.

Have a lead on a soon-to-open or new spot? Send us a tip.

New to the list:

November 2023: Cheeni, Saap
October 2023: Seraphine, Common Market, La Montaña
September 2023: Congress Bar & Cafe, the Velvet Hippo, RBF, Isaac’s Bagels
August 2023: Mike D’s BBQ, Nikos, Ajja
July 2023: Madre, the Hippo
June 2023: Szechuan Mansion Hot Pot, Little Bull
May 2023: Lula and Sadie’s, M Test Kitchen, the Mill







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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Common Market Durham

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Charlotte’s beloved neighborhood grill and market has expanded to the Triangle for the first time with a brand new location off 9th Street in Durham. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the menu is similar to Common Market’s other spots, with some tweaks to account for Bull City tastes. There’s an independently operated coffee bar, a walk-up ice cream window run by the team at the Parlour, and a full basement bar (wine and beer retail) pulled together by longtime Durham restaurant industry veteran Aubrey Zinaich.

Little Bull

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Chef Oscar Diaz (Raleigh’s Cortez Seafood + Cocktails) has planted his flag in Durham with the opening of Little Bull — a restaurant that combines Asian and Mexican cuisines with a nod towards American comfort food. Think birria dumplings, a ribeye steak with nom tok, and La Nalgona, accurately described as “a big ass Caesar salad.” Clever cocktails complete the vibe inside the sleek space in the historic Five Points neighborhood, just north of downtown.

A wooden table covered in plates full of various food.
The menu at Little Bull.
Lauren Vied Allen

Prolific restaurateur Giorgios Bakatsias has brought Greek cuisine back to Brightleaf Square with Nikos, the newest addition to his restaurant group. Bright flavors of the Greek Isles reign supreme here, with waitstaff dressed as if they just got off the ferry from Santorini. Creamy cod fritters, a bracing pickled beet salad, and whole roasted branzino are just some of the menu highlights. The space is loud and energetic, reminiscent of a dinner party gone slightly off the rails, so don’t be surprised when the whole staff yells out “Opa!” every time someone breaks a wine glass.

Isaac's Bagels

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Isaac’s Bagels have been a Bull City favorite since first offering fresh, New York-style bagels for pickup and at pop-ups during the pandemic, and it finally has a brick-and-mortar location on Chapel Hill Street near the Durham Co-op and Al Taiba Halal Market. Get a bagel with cream cheese or a bagel sandwich — offerings trend classic, like an open-faced lox sandwich or egg and cheese. Cream cheese options get a little more adventurous with flavors like Szechuan chili and burnt jalapeno. It also offers fresh cookies, pastries, and coffee — and everything is takeout only.

Ever since opening Cheeni Indian Food Emporium in North Raleigh (and becoming a James Beard semi-finalist), chef/owner Preeti Waas would hear from customers asking when she was going to open a spot in Durham. This month she did just that, taking over the former Jack Tar space right on CCB Plaza in the heart of downtown Durham. The new location and bigger kitchen allows Waas and her team to expand the menu. Customers can expect many of the favorites from the Raleigh location, like the uber-popular fish curry, as well as whatever tickles Waas’s fancy on a particular day. Right now Cheeni’s Durham location is only open for dinner, but it will eventually expand to include lunch and breakfast hours as well.

Samosas, chicken chili, and an espresso martini on a white tablecloth.
Samosas and chicken chili at Cheeni.
Elena Carron

The Velvet Hippo

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The Velvet Hippo occupies the entire third floor of a building on iconic Orange Street in downtown Durham. There’s a bi-level rooftop patio and cozy interior, along with creative cocktails and a small food menu. Recent offerings include a Glinda the Good Witch cocktail in a nod to the Broadway show Wicked, playing nearby at the Durham Performing Arts Center. There’s a small plates menu, beer, wine, occasional queer dance parties, and a regular Yappy Hour on the patio where dogs are welcome between noon and 6 p.m. on weekends.

Seraphine

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The newest project from Graham and Brad Weddington, the brother team behind NanaSteak, is an homage to their Louisiana upbringing. Tucked behind Parker & Otis in the American Tobacco Campus, Seraphine has transformed the space into a New Orleans-inspired garden patio and lush interior. The Cajun menu includes housemade boudin sausage, gnocchi with tasso ham, fried North Carolina catfish with red beans and rice, and, of course, beignets. Expect the same high-level cocktails that the Weddingtons are known for at NanaSteak, plus wine and beer offerings.

Mike D's BBQ Smokehouse & Retail

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Award-winning pitmaster Mike De Los Santos has swapped out his retail-only shop in East Durham for a combination retail/restaurant space just a short walk down the same street. Serving smoked pork, chicken, ribs, and brisket along with a variety of sides, the restaurant is the anchor tenant in a new warehouse revitalization project. The smoked beans are a standout side, as are the smoked corn and coleslaw. In a nod to changing tastes, all sides are meatless.

Barbecue sauce being squeezed onto a pile of ribs.
Mike D’s smoked meats have a permanent home.
Stacey Sprenz Photography

Congress Bar & Cafe

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Another edition to the growing F&B scene in East Durham, Congress is a cocktail bar from one half of the duo behind (the temporarily closed) Rofhiwa Book Cafe. With regularly scheduled live music, beer from Black brewers, and affordable cocktails, Congress aims to be East Durham’s neighborhood bar. They’ve partnered with Meat & Graze to offer charcuterie boards, and occasional pop-ups with Oyster Dumpling Bar offer other food options as well. Right next door to Mike D’s, the patio in between the two offers a great chance to enjoy the fall weather with a cocktail and some barbecue.

La Montaña

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Carrboro’s newest restaurant fuses Latin and Asian flavors for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a side of high-end, tequila-focused cocktails. Think sashimi with Eastern flavors, lemongrass chicken, tapas, and more. On the cocktail side, the staff is happy to educate those unfamiliar with tequila, and virtually all cocktails can be made as mocktails as well.

Chef Cheetie Kumar amassed fervent fans with her previous Raleigh restaurant Garland, so it’s no wonder that her follow-up, Ajja, would attract the same hysteria. Tables are almost all booked through the month (but walk-ins are encouraged). The menu pulls from across the Mediterranean and southwest Asia, stretching from the Levant to Iran and India while bringing in some of North Carolina’s freshest produce. Ajja’s most current offerings include toor whip, lamb seekh with acorn squash puree, and spare ribs with a peach-amba-tamarind glaze.

Saap Laotian Restaurant

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Chef Lon Bounsanga, formerly of Raleigh’s Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana, has struck out on his own with Saap. In this new space, Bounsanga focuses on the dishes and flavors of his hometown of Vientiane, Laos. There are smoky grilled meats reminiscent of the street foods found throughout the city, a housemade herby Lao sausage, tom khem (braised pork belly ribs), and pho Lao, a Laotian take on the famous Vietnamese soup that is served with oxtail, thinly sliced brisket, beef meatballs, and rice noodles in a bone broth.

Common Market Durham

Charlotte’s beloved neighborhood grill and market has expanded to the Triangle for the first time with a brand new location off 9th Street in Durham. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the menu is similar to Common Market’s other spots, with some tweaks to account for Bull City tastes. There’s an independently operated coffee bar, a walk-up ice cream window run by the team at the Parlour, and a full basement bar (wine and beer retail) pulled together by longtime Durham restaurant industry veteran Aubrey Zinaich.

Little Bull

Chef Oscar Diaz (Raleigh’s Cortez Seafood + Cocktails) has planted his flag in Durham with the opening of Little Bull — a restaurant that combines Asian and Mexican cuisines with a nod towards American comfort food. Think birria dumplings, a ribeye steak with nom tok, and La Nalgona, accurately described as “a big ass Caesar salad.” Clever cocktails complete the vibe inside the sleek space in the historic Five Points neighborhood, just north of downtown.

A wooden table covered in plates full of various food.
The menu at Little Bull.
Lauren Vied Allen

Nikos

Prolific restaurateur Giorgios Bakatsias has brought Greek cuisine back to Brightleaf Square with Nikos, the newest addition to his restaurant group. Bright flavors of the Greek Isles reign supreme here, with waitstaff dressed as if they just got off the ferry from Santorini. Creamy cod fritters, a bracing pickled beet salad, and whole roasted branzino are just some of the menu highlights. The space is loud and energetic, reminiscent of a dinner party gone slightly off the rails, so don’t be surprised when the whole staff yells out “Opa!” every time someone breaks a wine glass.

Isaac's Bagels

Isaac’s Bagels have been a Bull City favorite since first offering fresh, New York-style bagels for pickup and at pop-ups during the pandemic, and it finally has a brick-and-mortar location on Chapel Hill Street near the Durham Co-op and Al Taiba Halal Market. Get a bagel with cream cheese or a bagel sandwich — offerings trend classic, like an open-faced lox sandwich or egg and cheese. Cream cheese options get a little more adventurous with flavors like Szechuan chili and burnt jalapeno. It also offers fresh cookies, pastries, and coffee — and everything is takeout only.

Cheeni

Ever since opening Cheeni Indian Food Emporium in North Raleigh (and becoming a James Beard semi-finalist), chef/owner Preeti Waas would hear from customers asking when she was going to open a spot in Durham. This month she did just that, taking over the former Jack Tar space right on CCB Plaza in the heart of downtown Durham. The new location and bigger kitchen allows Waas and her team to expand the menu. Customers can expect many of the favorites from the Raleigh location, like the uber-popular fish curry, as well as whatever tickles Waas’s fancy on a particular day. Right now Cheeni’s Durham location is only open for dinner, but it will eventually expand to include lunch and breakfast hours as well.

Samosas, chicken chili, and an espresso martini on a white tablecloth.
Samosas and chicken chili at Cheeni.
Elena Carron

The Velvet Hippo

The Velvet Hippo occupies the entire third floor of a building on iconic Orange Street in downtown Durham. There’s a bi-level rooftop patio and cozy interior, along with creative cocktails and a small food menu. Recent offerings include a Glinda the Good Witch cocktail in a nod to the Broadway show Wicked, playing nearby at the Durham Performing Arts Center. There’s a small plates menu, beer, wine, occasional queer dance parties, and a regular Yappy Hour on the patio where dogs are welcome between noon and 6 p.m. on weekends.

Seraphine

The newest project from Graham and Brad Weddington, the brother team behind NanaSteak, is an homage to their Louisiana upbringing. Tucked behind Parker & Otis in the American Tobacco Campus, Seraphine has transformed the space into a New Orleans-inspired garden patio and lush interior. The Cajun menu includes housemade boudin sausage, gnocchi with tasso ham, fried North Carolina catfish with red beans and rice, and, of course, beignets. Expect the same high-level cocktails that the Weddingtons are known for at NanaSteak, plus wine and beer offerings.

Mike D's BBQ Smokehouse & Retail

Award-winning pitmaster Mike De Los Santos has swapped out his retail-only shop in East Durham for a combination retail/restaurant space just a short walk down the same street. Serving smoked pork, chicken, ribs, and brisket along with a variety of sides, the restaurant is the anchor tenant in a new warehouse revitalization project. The smoked beans are a standout side, as are the smoked corn and coleslaw. In a nod to changing tastes, all sides are meatless.

Barbecue sauce being squeezed onto a pile of ribs.
Mike D’s smoked meats have a permanent home.
Stacey Sprenz Photography

Congress Bar & Cafe

Another edition to the growing F&B scene in East Durham, Congress is a cocktail bar from one half of the duo behind (the temporarily closed) Rofhiwa Book Cafe. With regularly scheduled live music, beer from Black brewers, and affordable cocktails, Congress aims to be East Durham’s neighborhood bar. They’ve partnered with Meat & Graze to offer charcuterie boards, and occasional pop-ups with Oyster Dumpling Bar offer other food options as well. Right next door to Mike D’s, the patio in between the two offers a great chance to enjoy the fall weather with a cocktail and some barbecue.

La Montaña

Carrboro’s newest restaurant fuses Latin and Asian flavors for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a side of high-end, tequila-focused cocktails. Think sashimi with Eastern flavors, lemongrass chicken, tapas, and more. On the cocktail side, the staff is happy to educate those unfamiliar with tequila, and virtually all cocktails can be made as mocktails as well.

Ajja

Chef Cheetie Kumar amassed fervent fans with her previous Raleigh restaurant Garland, so it’s no wonder that her follow-up, Ajja, would attract the same hysteria. Tables are almost all booked through the month (but walk-ins are encouraged). The menu pulls from across the Mediterranean and southwest Asia, stretching from the Levant to Iran and India while bringing in some of North Carolina’s freshest produce. Ajja’s most current offerings include toor whip, lamb seekh with acorn squash puree, and spare ribs with a peach-amba-tamarind glaze.

Saap Laotian Restaurant

Chef Lon Bounsanga, formerly of Raleigh’s Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana, has struck out on his own with Saap. In this new space, Bounsanga focuses on the dishes and flavors of his hometown of Vientiane, Laos. There are smoky grilled meats reminiscent of the street foods found throughout the city, a housemade herby Lao sausage, tom khem (braised pork belly ribs), and pho Lao, a Laotian take on the famous Vietnamese soup that is served with oxtail, thinly sliced brisket, beef meatballs, and rice noodles in a bone broth.

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