Joe and Molly Curran opened 1703 Restaurant in 2000, but chef de cuisine Curtis Hackaday took over the reign of the kitchen in 2012. This Buena Vista mainstay of classic French and nouvelle Southern cuisine caters to both adventurous and casual diners. All of the menu items' prices end in 3 cents to honor the last two digits of the restaurant’s address. The ever-changing menu makes it difficult to pinpoint the best items, but the execution of the menu is met with precision and artful plating techniques.

This Buena Vista bakeshop atmosphere gives French patisserie, but the decor says suburban oasis. Owners John and Lucia Bobby had long careers in fine dining before working together in this space. The rotating seasonal pastry case features delicate tarts, multilayered entremets, croissants, and a daily sandwich special made with artisan old-world bread baked and fermented with locally milled flour. The attention to detail is so precise that the iced coffee has frozen coffee as ice cubes.

Take a trip to Cuba through the bigger-than-life-sized murals, artwork, and cuisine at this food truck-turned-restaurant. Masitas, croquetas, and pork-stuffed Cuban sandwiches rule the menu, alongside plantains in all its many forms and refreshing seasonal mojito cocktails. Don’t miss the open-faced tamales or the empanadas. An order of the flan or the tres leches cakes adds a sweet, melodious note to the end of any meal at Mojito.

Vivián Joiner and chef Stephanie Tyson defined dining downtown in the Camel City’s arts district when they opened Sweet Potatoes in 2003. This two-time James Beard semifinalist outpost serves up Southern classics with down-home familiarity and flavorful twists. Don’t miss the basket of fried okra and green tomatoes or the hot pork rind basket that pops and crackles all the way to the table. Spaghetti comes with a drawl, topped with smoked sausage, country ham, and chicken tenders while the meatloaf is smothered in mushroom gravy and topped with tobacco onions. And yes, there is also a killer sweet potato pie for dessert.

Chef and owner Justin Webster named this business venture after his wife, Heather, as her childhood nickname Heff. This playful joke works its way into every aspect of the restaurant focused on smash burgers and crinkle-cut fries, retro video game machines, pop art, and neon lights greeting customers when they visit. This 2023 James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant quickly gained popularity with its signature burger named Ladykiller. Available with single or double patties, it comes with white American cheese, red onion, shredded lettuce, local pickle chips, and black garlic sauce.

The breakfast and brunch at Young Cardinal Cafe are rad and boozy. Made-to-order omelets, bodaciously fluffy biscuits and gravy, and breakfast burritos six bump right up against entrees like the short rib melt, fried hot honey chicken sandwich, and the huevos rancheros. The Miley Citrus mimosa or a mug of Millionaire’s Coffee spiked with Kahlua and Frangelico round out one of the best meals of the day.

Housed in a former Chrysler dealership showroom, downtown’s largest brewpub produces over 40 new beers annually. The original brickwork and crown molding provide scenery to the approachable pub fare. Smoked wings, beer cheese-dripped nachos, and loaded tots hold their own next to the fish and chips, specialty burgers, and grilled bacon pimento cheese sandwich. Don’t miss the coffee, roasted on the premises, or the seasonal desserts.

Off the beaten path and located on the ground floor of the Liberty Plaza building, mother-daughter duo Aratporn and Nui Ruangrat tag team between the dining room and the kitchen to welcome guests at Thai Harmony. The menu melds classic Thai dishes and extensive sushi roll and sashimi lists with a creative, fresh southeast Asian flare. Khao soi Thai curry (any of the curries, really), drunken noodles, and the Beijing roast duck salad are standouts amongst the rest.

Mother-daughter team Virginia Hardesty and Ashley Hardesty Armstrong serve up fortified seafood classics and updated old standards like fish chowder and crab legs and have a sleek branded food truck that can be seen at Cobblestone Farmers Market on select Saturdays. Offering fried fish plates, oyster platters, and hushpuppies since 1984, this family-owned restaurant is focused on eastern North Carolina Calabash-style seafood and its adjacent fresh fish market. The two entities are separate, but market fish purchases can be prepared in the cafe by request.

The city’s first vegan restaurant, Dom’s, has an appetizing look at plant-based cuisine. What began as an Italian pizzeria named Mozzarella Fellas is now open for online ordering and pick-up at its downtown location. All types of omnivores can order Buffalo cauliflower with

pickled onions and peppers or pimento cheese and chili fries that continuously impress. Italian classics like the kale Caesar salad and the vegan chicken parm sandwich with Calabrian chili-spiked marinara go back to the restaurant’s cheesy roots.

Executive chef and owner Mark Grohman opened his upscale, globally focused fine dining restaurant in the historic Brookstown neighborhood in 2007. The menu delights customers with local, seasonal ingredients to showcase Grohman’s long-time relationships with area farmers and vendors. Featuring an array of intercontinental-focused dishes, the inspiration behind the plates is the bright flavors of the Mediterranean, as well as classic favorites. The menu changes nightly, but always features steak, handmade pasta, and a duck prepared three ways.

This one-stop shop for tacos, tortas, and piñatas used to be a locals’ secret, but the word is out. Tucked away in the Center Stage Shopping Center on Jonestown Road, Los Juanes is part carneceria, part taqueria, and part bodega. Eat in and enjoy the O.M.G. Nachos piled high with chicken, steak, and chorizo, or get the tacos al pastor to-go and peruse the piñata aisle while waiting. Don’t forget to pick up some goodies from the carneceria counter to get the full taqueria experience.

Owners Bao Lin and Min Zhu relocated to Winston-Salem after running another Sichuan restaurant in Durham for eight years. The location of New Sichuan is a former Biscuitville, but the interior gives no secrets to the building’s past. The menu features Chinese-American dishes like General Tao’s chicken and crab rangoon but shines with over 30 dishes from the Sichuan province in China. Tongue-numbing peppercorns dance all over the menu in the dan dan noodles, dry pot chicken, and Sichuan wontons in red oil.