My very first thought when planning a road trip down south was “Chicken and waffles”. And after some extensive research, I found the perfect place. Dame’s Chicken and Waffles sat in a lively college town, Durham, just outside Raleigh. If the photos and unique menu combinations weren’t enough to persuade us that it would be great, there was a 40-minute wait. The anticipation built as we roamed about the town to kill time. When we got inside, we were very excited. I chose a more traditional pairing with my chicken and waffle- syrup and hot sauce. They are big with their schmears but I didn’t find it necessary to add the additional flavors. If you’re a sweets person, you’d enjoy them more. I loved mine just the way it was. We would go back there in a heartbeat.
When we were in Charlotte, we found Futa Buta. The location isn’t even accurate on Google maps, that’s how much of a good find it was. On a Tuesday afternoon at around 2 pm, the line was out the door. We wanted to try a few different things so we ordered the tofu appetizer with miso glaze, dumplings and one ramen bowl. The tofu was unreal. We’ve never had tofu with so much flavor. And that ramen… there are no words. We chose the pork broth and the noodles were made and stretched on location. We wish all ramen was that tasty! For dessert we had to try both homemade ice creams-the green tea and the cinnamon fig We would eat that green tea ice cream every night if we could.
The last restaurant that is worth mentioning from our trip is La Unica. It is in Indian Trial and often frequented by our NC family. Among the 8 of us, we probably tried a majority of the menu and the portions were massive. The food and the service are equally as spectacular. Shout out to our man Victor for the mad salsa sides and lime wedges.
These 3 restaurants will definitely be revisited in the future!
Gastronaut Girls 