What To Have

Hard Times is one of the best, easiest going places to get a quick but good bite to eat downtown. Their focus is chili, and they offer 4 varieties of chili. When you sit down they give you a taster with the four verities (Cincinnati, Terlingua, Texas and Vegetarian) Cincinnati and vegetarian are my favorites.

I Like hard times because there is always something different you can have. Along with chili, they have a grill (metal slats over fire) that they cook burgers, chicken etc.. on. This is different from a glorified hot frying pan many places use.

For lunch today, I have one of my favorites, the chilichanga. It’s basically my choice of chili wrapped in a tortilla and covered with shredded cheese, lettuce and tomato. It comes with a side of sour cream, and salsa. I like getting some jalapenos as well to spice it up.

This is very satisfying meal. It’s served quickly and is inexpensive. I’ll alternate this meal with the chili-salad. Which like it sounds is a salad with chili on top. Again, I’m always amazed at the number of dishes you can make with salad.

About half of their menu is chili and chili related items. Some other items I’d recommend are the Bacon/Blue burger (with a heaping pile of crumbled blue cheese), the chicken wings, chicken nachos (absolutely huge) or their quesadillas. They also have excellent french fries if you’re a fan of fries.

As I said before, I’ve eaten here many times and will continue to go back. Look for some changes in the near future. Mark (the owner) is trying out staying open later and having some local music. One of the biggest things they’ve got going for them is their enormous outside seating area. It’s covered with fans right on Glenwood Ave. I’ve spent many hot North Carolina afternoons sitting on the porch drinking a cold beer.

–Matt

So last night I got home from work late and didn’t feel like cooking. I needed to pack for an upcoming trip, so I wanted to get something fast. Luckily enough, I live close to Raleigh’s best burger joint - Char-Grill. This place is a Raleigh classic.

These guys have argueably the best burgers in Raleigh. I usually get the Hamburger Steak Jr with mayo, lettuce, pickels, onions, and cheese. This come with fries. Most times I get a sweet tea to go with that, or a milkshake.

Their shakes are phenominal. It’s the kind of shake that comes with a spoon and a straw, so if you are in a hurry and want to drink it fast, I suggest sitting it in the sun or putting it in front of a heating vent, cause these suckers are thick. They have chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.

If you are stopping at Char-Grill and aren’t feeing like a burger, their grilled chicken sandwiches are great as well. Their hot dogs are awesome as well ( I believe they are better than Snoopy’s, but that’s me).

–Sean

I affectionately call brunch at Hibernian the “meat buffet”. This was on my short list of places to go for a hang-over cure. Greasy food etc.. seemed to fit the bill. This last trip completely surprised me though, it’s no longer just what I’d consider a meat buffet, everything was excellent and very fresh.

Now, I will say that I ate my share of meat during this trip, the bacon they have is crispy and there’s tons of it. They also have English sausage, which you don’t find many places. They’ve branched in their offering to a few local favorites and some things you’d never expect to find in a Pub here in the states.

They offered biscuits and gravy. It was traditional white sausage gravy, but the biscuits had baked in cheese. Very good, I’d never thought of that. Here’s a short list of some additional items I’d suggest:

• fresh sliced tomatoes with crumbled blue cheese (on of my favorites).
• Eggs benedict
• Excellent pastries stuffed with cream cheese, cinnamon or apple
• Fresh salad, both traditional and Caesar
• Seared filet. One of the best items here, medium steak sliced thin and piled high
• Potatoes au gratin
• Smoked salmon

This list is nowhere near inclusive, this is just what I remember trying and really enjoying. If you’re in the area early Sunday, stop by Hibernian and give their buffet a try, I’m sure everyone in your group will find something they like. And nursing a headache or not, I’ll be back soon.

–Matt

Tucked upstairs on the 300 block of Glenwood is the Rockford (320 1/2 Glenwood Ave.). a small bar and eatery that offers a big menu. It’s been a while since i visited, I’m glad i went back.

Most of their meals come with a side, I’ve always been partial to the garlic mashed-potatoes. Today though they were offering grilled mushrooms or green bean casserole as well.

It was cold outside today so i started with their soup. Today’s soup was tomato artichoke bisque. It was defilntely worth a try. Very rich with pieces of tomoato and artichoke, not a puree’d liquidy soup.

I went with the mushrooms. I thought that would match well with my heated hot roast beef sandwich. I was definitely impressed, a very tasty sandwich.

I’m going to put The Rockford back into my lunch rotation. I love their mission style burrito. (a veggie burrito with black beans and fresh herbs)

–Matt

Had lunch at moonlight pizza (their site on downtownraleigh.com). I go here at least once a week because the food is very good and it’ss literally behind my office. I also find their prices are very reasonable with lunch i get averaging around $7-$9 including tip.

My suggestions here would be to try their lunch special. A small salad and a slice of pizza. Their salads are some of the best around, all the ingredients are exceptionally fresh and their dressings are made in house. My favorite right is the greek salad with blue cheese dressing. It’s lettuce, purple onions, feta cheese, red peppers and pepperocini. I also enjoy the spinach salad with crumbled bacon, egg and a few other ingredients. You really can’t go wrong with any of their saladas.

The second part of this combo is a single slice of pizza. One of my favorite things they offer is the wide variety of toppings. I enjoy pepperoni, jalepenos, roasted garlic and spinach. They offer about 40 toppings on any of their slices/pizzas and they range from classic meats (pepperoni and italian sausage, to not so traditional spinach, pine nuts and squash) This special (small salad/1 slice) includes 1 topping on the slice and is about $6. Additional toppings are .25 so it’s easy to get exactly what you want for a very reasonable price.

–Matt