greensboro nc restaurants

[chefsprink]

Greensboro is flooded by chain restaurants.  There several great chefs and restaurants how do we get people in the door?  how do we steer them away from the chains?  I would love to see some get national recognition--Bistro sofia,  Marks on westover,  Marisol, etc  Let me know out there whos familiar with theses places etc.

[Malawry]

I don't know how to get people in the door in Greensboro. I'm an occasional visitor to the town myself, and I enjoy dining in the town, but I admit to not thinking it's any great restaurant city. Still, there are some great places to eat in Greensboro for a town of its size and caliber.

For example, I just returned from dinner at Mosaic, 4608 W Market Street. This place is housed in the space that once served as home to the legendary Sunset Cafe (the first upscale restaurant in Greensboro that wasn't a steakhouse...indeed, they didn't serve beef at all!). It's owned by the same people who run the beloved Bert's Seafood Grill on Spring Garden (ironically also a former home of Sunset Cafe, leading the pedigree full circle...or was Sunset across the street? It was at the same intersection, in any case).

I ordered the corn fries with poblano ketchup and a smoked trout salad. The fries were terrific...our server, Brian, described them as "somewhere between Fritos and hushpuppies." They had a little of the "doggy" sense of a Frito but they were crisp, hot, and corny-sweet-salty like a good hush puppy. The ketchup was appropriately thick and sweet and a little spicy from teensy bits of jalapeno pepper. My partner and my dad seemed to have trouble keeping their fingers out of them. So did I.

The salad featured a whole home-smoked trout fillet. It was softer and more delicate than other smoked trout I've eaten, but it sported plenty of smoky-rich-oily flavor and it didn't fall apart when I broke off bites with my fork. There was a light lemony vinaigrette on the salad, plenty of mixed greens, and a few small bits of unseasoned fresh goat cheese scattered across the plate. There was also half a poached pear and some pickled baby beets on the plate, offering sweet notes to play against the rich fish.

For dessert, I ordered the banana bread pudding. It's actually made with banana bread, not with regular bread and sliced bananas. It seemed like a great idea, but it was a little too much. Too rich and too sweet and too cloying. Even the caramel sauce was more about sugar than about that lovely burnt-brown flavor. I think it'd be better at half its size.

I only visit Greensboro a few times a year but I'd gladly join in a discussion of its restaurants. There are things you see everywhere in Greensboro that are almost impossible to find in Washington, DC, where I live. And not just sweet tea, either. The Ham's influence is sorely missed by yours truly...a hot freshly-fried potato chip is rare in Washington...and I can't ever remember seeing hushpuppies around town. (Why am I only thinking of fried foods here? Hmm.) Also a lot of Greensboro restaurants, such as Cafe Pasta, offer an incredible value for a jaded city diner like myself.

Why do you think national recognition will help? What national recognition would you like to see?

[chefsprink]

thanks for the reply.  Im a not a fan of Mosaic however.  THE menu "read well" but did not seem well executed.          

I would like to see small cities such as Greensboro, Winston, Wilmington, Roanoke Va etc receive more recognition from the

ma

jor magazines such as Food and wine, Foods ARts, etc

I think  several chefs from smaller cities and towns are very creative and should receive some sort of recognition.  Tell me what you think?  Oh by the way my fav in greensboro is bistrosofia and then Marks on westover.

[Malawry]

It has to be difficult to attract national press when you don't have the benefit of a dining reputation or big-city amenities to pull folks into your restaurant. I think your larger question about getting food press for small-town and suburban-town chefs would get good response in the Food Media and News forum.

What do you like so much about Bistro Sofia and Mark's? I haven't yet made it to either, since as I said I'm only in town two or three times a year (and it's usually Thanksgiving and Passover, so there's lots of meals at home rather than meals out on those visits). Didn't you say somewhere that you cook at Sofia? In what capacity? I asked my parents, who dine around a lot, and they said Bistro Sofia is just lovely, a really great place to dine.

I might agree with you on Mosaic if they were trying to do serious food, but they aren't. They're trying to do very good casual food, and in my opinion the team minus the pastry chef was doing a good job. It helped that our server was so wonderful, knowledgeable and passionate. I haven't had much service like that in Greensboro, or in any other city for that matter.

[chefsprink]

well my friend I will soon be posting an argument for small town chefs everywhereonce I get my thougts together. Sorry about spelling.  Yes I do work at Bistrosofia, I am the sous chef.  I will explain more later but sofia I feel is misunderstood.

On mosaic-I am pleased to hear you dont think they do serious food.  However, (local buzz) they think they do serious food.   Did I read somewhere you are going to culinary school soon?  Also lok at Bistrosofia.com nice website.  I will be posting more later. bye

[NewYorkTexan]

I was in Greensboro last month and stumbled upon a wonderful little restaurant, Lucky 32.   The décor was similar to an upscale diner with a menu that was eclectic continental.   My first impression was that it was similar to the Buckhead diner in Atlanta or Fog City Diner in SF and Phoenix.  

The menu was straight forward with most entrees priced between $9-20.  What made this restaurant special was the attention to details.  Your meal started with a breadbasket filled with warm bread baked in-house. The salad was served with a choice of several salad dressings, also all made fresh in-house.  My wife and I chose the ultimate comfort food----- burgers.  The hamburgers were big, juicy and cooked as requested.  The only weak spot was the french fries that had an unusual and disturbing spice coating.    There was also a wide selection of excellent local beers.  

After spending the day hiking through furniture stores the size of small towns in nearby high point, this was the perfect restaurant to end the day with.

[Malawry]

Lucky 32 is a decent place to grab dinner. I always liked the regional menus they did, which were new to Greensboro when they were introduced. Once they did a North Carolina menu and offered an RC Cola and a Moon Pie as a dessert selection. They have a location in Winston-Salem too, and possibly others, but the Greensboro one was the original. I haven't eaten there in some time but we ate there often when I was in high school.

How is Sofia misunderstood? I didn't realize you were in the Madison Park space till I checked out the menu...lovely location. The menu looks interesting but doesn't seem especially French or bistrolike in concept.

Mosaic can think of itself what it wants. For Greensboro, it probably counts as serious food.   I was happy to eat there and I live in a fairly large city. The price points, decor, service, plating and so on weren't in the "serious" category, if that's what they think of themselves.

Yes, I start culinary school July 1. For now, I'm just a passionate amateur when it comes to cooking and dining.

[chefsprink]

I HAVE TO AGREE.  SOFIA IS FRENCH INFLUENCED BUT JQPUBLIC CONSIDERS IT THE FRENCH RESTAURANT.  WHY BISTRO IM NOT SURE I HAVE WORKED THER SINCE SEPT SO I DO NOT KNOW WHY ITWAS CALLED A BISTRO.  YES OUR PORTIONS ARE LARGE ETC ETC BUT I DONT THINK WE HAVE THE CASUAL ATMOSPHERE OF THE TRUE DEF OF BISTRO WHO KNOWS?  

UNFORTUNATELY I THINK BEING IN THE OLD MADISON PARK LOCATION GIVE PEOPLE THE IDEA WE ARE FINE FINE DINING.  PEOPLE CONSIDER US THE "DATE, ANNIVERSARY, BIRTHDAY, RESTAURANT.  THE MENU PRICE IS REASONABLE FOR THE SERVICE QUALITY AND PORTION SIZE.  SOME ITEMS ARE PRICEY BUT WE USE TOP QUALITY INGREDIENTS, SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD(AS MUCH AS IS AVAILABLE IN GBO) ORGANIC PRODUCE(WE GROW ALOT OF OUR OWN) and use hormone free beef as much as possible.  The people of gbo semm not to care about their food supply.  I hope im not rambling or being to negative but thats how it is here.

Our prix fixe menu is an excellent"deal" however most dont take advantage.  

I personally would like to change the publics view on dining and this is on ehell of a town to tryit in

[Jordan Lea]

Saveur included an Asian, Vietnamese I believe, restaurant in there Top 100 two years ago. Is anyone familiar with it? don't know where in greensboro is is.

[Malawry]

I remember reading that story and saying, "Bwah?" I'd never eaten there. Still haven't, actually. It's out Battleground Ave, IIRC. I asked John Batchelor, Greensboro News and Record's reviewer, about it when I met him over dinner a few weeks ago. He laughed and said he kept a copy of that thing around as a joke. I'd be interested in hearing if anybody else has been there. If it's actually any good, maybe I'll make time for it the next time I'm around town.

[chefsprink]

the article in saveur was about saigon on high point rd. excellent restaurant and entertaining staff. especially duckie(owner) who sings his way through the night