Several years after closing down, King’s Sandwich Shop by the old ballpark officially opened for business on Tuesday 8/3. The story of its resurrection has been well covered by Bull City Rising here and here, and multiple Carpe Durham contributors were excited enough to stop by on opening day.

At lunchtime, it is safe to say that King’s was slammed. An eclectic mix of hungry Durhamites braved the heat and opening day long lines to sample the new menu, featuring burgers, dogs, veggie options, pulled pork, and shakes. …

Close to a year ago now, the Pinhook, a downtown Durham rock venue, started hosting vegan brunches on the first Sundays of the month. Chef Shirle was the cook for these relaxed dining events back then, but the cooking was transferred over to the Fiction Kitchen a few months ago. I’d been hearing about the brunches since they first started, and being someone who never minds when meat goes missing from a meal, I wanted to check them out. The stars finally aligned this past weekend. The first thing I …

In what used to be a panderia across from Compare Food off Roxboro Rd. there is now a paleteria called La Monarcha. A colorful window advertises paletas, ice cream, aguas frescas, frozen bananas and more.
Inside we were greeted by freezer after freezer of frozen treats. From a quick count and estimate, La Monarcha has over 30 flavors of popsicles and 25 flavors of ice cream – maybe more. You pick out your own popsicles and they are $2 a piece. The cases were full with every color in the rainbow. …

Ok, so truth be told, I totally walked into this place with low expectations. We were meeting friends for dinner in the Southpoint part of Durham and stumbled upon Bocci in Sutton Station. It has an incredibly large menu and feels kind of like a chain restaurant.
Then the waitress came to the table and won us over with two simple phrases, “we have bocci sets if you’d like to play in courtyard” and “beer is on special tonight” ($1.50 domestics, $2.75 imports). Sipping on Peronis, we placed our orders with …

Restaurants
CARNIVAL DELIGHTS (5324 NEW HOPE COMMONS, SUITE 2, DURHAM, NC)
DESTINEE’ BAR & GRILL (2627 HILLSBOROUGH RD., DURHAM, NC, 27705)
GG THE TASTE OF CHICAGO FISH & CHICKEN (826 FAYETTEVILLE ST., SUITE 103, DURHAM, NC)
KING’S SANDWICH SHOP (701 FOSTER ST, DURHAM, NC, 27701)
KOUMI JAPANESE RESTURANT (3550 N. ROXBORO RD., DURHAM, NC, 27704)
NEO JAPAN (4104 SURLES COURT SUITE 4, DURHAM, NC, 27703)
RICK’S DINER (3710 SHANNON ROAD, DURHAM, NC, 27707)
SALADELIA (2424 ERWIN RD. SUITE 303, DURHAM, NC, 27705)
Foodstands
THE BAGGED LUNCH CO. (308 DRIVER ST., DURHAM, NC, 27704)
THE BAGGED LUNCH CO. (608 N. MANGUM ST., …

Café Meridian comes just before the Highway 55 and 54 crossroads, across the road from Sansui Sushi. Months (years?) ago I saw that they were opening up for lunch soon, then promptly forgot until I passed it last week and saw their big banners advertising that they were open. Inside, you order at the counter,

which is loaded with portions of their hearty entrée options like the big burrito that comes stuffed to bursting and slathered with a red sauce (customers in lined chattered about how good it is), salmon …

To place this in its proper perspective, I was a big fan of Sal’s in Loehmann’s Plaza before it closed several years ago. Satisfying red sauce Italian, sizable portions, great homemade bread, etc. Since Sal’s closed, I’ve been looking for other options to fill this hole in my life, and finally landed on Pulcinella’s. I’m not sure what took me so long – they’ve been around for awhile, and are easy to get to from just about anywhere in Durham.
We stopped by Pulcinella’s for lunch, arriving …