01 April 2026
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If you ask an outsider, “What is North Carolina cuisine?” the typical answers will likely include iconic Southern staples like fried chicken, vinegar-based pulled pork, Carolina dogs and collard greens. But across the state, chefs and restaurateurs have created new versions of cherished American classics, offering their innovative and unexpected takes in breweries, fish camps (casual restaurants specializing in seafood), barbecue spots and beyond.
Set in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville has been an escape for city dwellers for generations. However, in recent years, it has exploded with culinary and craft culture, with a diverse collection of restaurants that includes everything from Ethiopian and Latin American to Spanish and contemporary fusion cuisine with a focus on farm-to-table.
In contrast, Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city, is a rising financial capital and an epicenter of NASCAR. While neighborhoods like Myers Park and Dilworth honor tradition, Uptown's glass towers are rooted firmly in the present day. Charlotte's food scene, home to North Carolina's only MICHELIN-Starred restaurant, elegantly balances that blend of old and new.
Durham also plays up its heritage while remaining current. Even its nickname, "Bull City" reflects its past as a tobacco town, while today the city is better known for its medical research facilities and the world-renowned Duke University. The food scene is thriving, offering everything from classic Southern to contemporary fusion.
Raleigh, one third of the so-called Research Triangle area, reflects an international flair, thanks to North Carolina State University and multinational companies headquartered here. "The City of Oaks" has something for everyone, from barbecue and upscale Indian cooking to classic French juxtaposed with contemporary American.
Follow The MICHELIN Guide’s path through Asheville, Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh to discover six of the most compelling places to eat in the state.
Good Hot Fish
Asheville, North Carolina
Good Hot Fish channels the vibrance and creativity of western North Carolina, combining fish camp traditions with hyperlocal products and produce. Chef Ashleigh Shanti has traversed the mountains to the coast in a career that has found her starring on Top Chef season 19, writing a cookbook and owning her own restaurant that pays tribute to the fish-frying women in her family.
Good Hot Fish draws in guests with thick filets of local catch, coated in crisp cornmeal, fried with precision and served with two thin slices of white bread and a dollop of buttermilk tartar sauce. Shanti also showcases Affrilachian flavors (a blend of African American and Appalachian) with sides such as Sea Island red peas, stewed greens and baked mac and cheese.
“Asheville has a bounty of wild foods and farms that readily inform our menus,” says Shanti, “Some of the best cornmeal in the South is milled just miles away from us, and this land provides everything from ramps to truffles.”
Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse
Asheville, North Carolina
After years of cooking Japanese- and Korean-style barbecue in Miami, Chef Michael Lewis took his skills to the Blue Ridge Mountains to open Ukiah. The restaurant showcases smoked meats and a bounty of hyperlocal ingredients using Asian techniques, like beech mushroom tempura with Tokyo ranch dressing, karaage (flour-coated and fried) chicken and waffles, and pork belly with local apple chowchow.
Walking into the casual, Japanese-inspired dining room, the smell of charred wood wafts from a smoker turning out generous portions of chicken, brisket, pork and ribs. For something a bit more Asian, the menu offers a variety of yakitori (skewered meats), from wagyu to tiger prawns. Ukiah also offers a variety of sashimi starters, bao (buns), gyoza (Japanese dumplings) and hearty bowls of ramen.
The cocktail program is also noteworthy. If the smoky aroma isn’t emanating from the hot grills, it's likely coming from the Ukiah Oldie, a take on an old-fashioned, which is smoked tableside with a cocktail chimney topper.
Restaurant Constance
Charlotte, North Carolina
Community is at the heart of Restaurant Constance. Everything Chef Sam Diminich builds is rooted in family, neighbors and the farmers who feed the Queen City. “People here truly care about food — where it comes from, who’s cooking it and why,” says Diminich.
When COVID shut down restaurants across North Carolina, Diminich found himself out of work. He began buying directly from local farmers and selling meals from his home — not to launch a business, but to preserve connection and to support those who grow the food.
That effort became Restaurant Constance, a farm-to-table restaurant in practice, not just in name. The menu highlights local producers with dishes like a pork belly wrap with lettuce from Adrina Farms, Calabrian meatballs served with braised Urban Gourmet mushrooms and steelhead sashimi paired with persimmons from Harmony Ridge Farms. They even serve Charlotte-based Enderly Coffee Co. to end the meal.
Nanas
Durham, North Carolina
Nanas has been a fixture on the Durham dining scene since 1992, but it's Chef Matt Kelly who we can thank for reviving this stalwart. After a pandemic-era closure, he brought Nanas back for a second life in the same space. He traded in the formal feel for a casual sophistication, where the vibe is warm and friendly and there is a smart retro appeal.
It's the kind of place where everyone will find more than one dish calling their name. Nanas trades in comfort food that has been given an elegant lift. Chicken liver mousse sounds familiar, though it's elevated with onion marmalade. Grits, that classic Southern staple, are presented as a souffle with maitake, foie gras and parmesan fonduta.
Italian and French classics are the foundation of the menu, but local products shine here with North Carolina oysters and local shrimp risotto.
Brewery Bhavana
Raleigh, North Carolina
In downtown Raleigh, Brewery Bhavana, combines a taproom, flower shop, bookstore and dim sum restaurant into one sleek establishment. It’s the opposite of the hop-heavy, steel-tank spaces associated with typical breweries. Here, Chef Chun Shi leads the kitchen and turns out dishes she learned watching her grandmother cook in China, like ground chicken jiaozi (a type of dumpling), pork-filled cabbage rolls, char siu bao (barbecue pork buns) and Peking duck. When Shi moved to the area, she says she noticed parallels in Chinese and Southern cooking but has thus far played it somewhat safe with her menu. “We both eat pigs' feet, but I’m not sure if Raleigh customers are ready to try that,” she says.
The beverage team has created beer pairings for Shi’s classic Chinese dishes, such as crab fried rice with Till brew, a bright and tangy farmhouse ale, and General Tso’s chicken with a pint of Yield, a citrusy session IPA.
Poole’s
Raleigh, North Carolina
While traditional Southern cuisine may be a given in the Carolinas, old-school Americana diners are rare. Chef Ashley Christensen pairs the two with a touch of French flair at Poole’s, a community staple in Raleigh since 2007 and a destination for diners nationwide.
In the dining room, double horseshoe-shaped bars hint at the address’s past as a pie shop and luncheonette built in 1945, but Poole’s menu sits solidly in the modern era. The fare here is elevated: mac and cheese (called macaroni au gratin) is made with mounds of Jarlsberg, grana padano and sharp white cheddar, and so beloved by regulars that they can’t take it off the menu. Other items rounding out the innovative chalkboard menu include tuna tartare Nicoise with deviled egg aioli, pickle juice Caesar salad with parmesan cracklings, and a wagyu royale burger with a red wine shallot jus that’s only available on Sundays.
Hero image: Spread with dumplings and beers from Brewery Bhavana. © Anna Carlson/Brewery Bhavana
Thumb image: Smokehouse brisket platter. © Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse/Ukiah
