eat2winraleigh

The Pit Review

eat2winraleigh — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:01:47 +0000

I haven’t posted in awhile, but after eating at this restaurant a couple nights ago with great friends I knew I had to post about The Pit. The Pit is located in downtown Raleigh on East Davie Street in an old looking building. Once you step in side, you are greeted by the distinct, strong aroma of barbecuing meats. The decor is upscale, with white lights decorating the dining room and bar area. The pit master, Ed Mitchell, has been on the Food Network and has many other accolades. The menu is mostly typical bbq fare, with brisket, ribs, pulled pork and chicken. Great drink menu with different Bourbon choices along with a unique beer selection.

The Raleigh-ite – The appetizers we ordered were out of this world and I would definitely recommend them: Mini PBLTs (Pimento cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato biscuits) and Barbecue fries. I ordered the double plate with Carolina Ribs, Eastern Style Pork, creamed corn and broccoli and cauliflower casserole. The Carolina Ribs were delicious (although definitely fattier than typical baby back ribs) and the creamed corn was probably the best I’ve ever had. However, the broccoli and cauliflower casserole lacked flavor, and the Eastern style pork was a little too spicy for me. We ordered the Banana Pudding and Apple Pie for dessert. The Banana Pudding was insane (bananas, pudding and marshmallow) , and while I didn’t try the Apple Pie the rest of the table raved about it.

Barbecue Fries

Mini PBLTs

We ordered: 1 20 oz beer, 1 10 oz beer, 1 Triple Meat plate, 1 Double Meat Plate, 1 Dessert , 1 Appetizer. Total : $76

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Swagbucks

eat2winraleigh — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:20:06 +0000

Another way to save money is by signing up for Swagbucks and using it as your search toolbar on your browser. You can sign up for swagbucks HERE. Basically, you earn a couple of swagbucks a day, based on how much you use the toolbar for your search. Then you can redeem the swagbucks for giftcards. One of my favorite ways to use swagbucks is to redeem them for restaurant.com giftcards. At the end of the month, gift certificates on restaurant.com usually go on sale with a special code (which I will post on eat2winraleigh) and you can use your FREE giftcard from swagbucks to purchase them!

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How do we afford to eat out all the time?

How do we afford to eat out all the time?

eat2winraleigh — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:26:53 +0000

Coming in the next couple weeks, I’m going to write several posts about how we use money saving websites, coupons and gift cards to make eating out less expensive/more affordable. I am constantly looking for ways to save money without sacrificing standard of living. I read lots of money saving blogs to get ideas, and try to go to restaurants when they are having specials.

First piece of advice: Sign up for Upromise. Upromise is supposed to be a website to help you save money for college or for your children’s college tuition. However, you don’t have to use the money that you save towards education. The money will be collected in an account for you and you can request a check be mailed to you. There are several ways to save with Upromise: restaurants, coupons in grocery stores and shopping online. When you link your credit cards to Upromise and then eat at restaurants in your area that are Upromise partners, they credit a % of your bill to your Upromise account. When you link your frequent buyer cards for grocery stores (VIC, MVP) to your Upromise account, when you buy certain products a small amount of money is deposited in your account. Also, if you install the Upromise toolbar onto your web browser, when you shop online a % of the sale is kicked back into your Upromise account.

Some of the Upromise Partner Restaurants in the Raleigh area include (not a comprehensive list):

Sono

Mura

Cameron Bar & Grill

Connolly’s Irish Pub

I enjoy each of these 4 places and there are many more on the list. Some of the percentages that you save are very worth it (up to 8%!!) So make sure you sign up for your Upromise account! It’s completely free, you just have to make sure to say no to the different college savings products they try to sell you.

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The Loop Pizza Grill Review

eat2winraleigh — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:51:31 +0000

The Loop is located in Cary off Kildaire Farm road in the Kildaire Plaza shopping center and in Chapel Hill off Franklin street in the East Gate shopping center.

The New Yorker – Great variety of salads. Great portions. I didn’t like the chicken noodle soup at all–nothing special, tasted like it was out of a can.

The Raleigh-ite – Good casual place to go for a good salad and a decent sandwich. I like The Loop for dinner when I want to eat lighter. I like the Gorgonzola walnut salad, but it is kind of strange to me that it has sun dried tomatoes in it. The next time I order it, I’m going to ask for it without them, I think the fresh tomatoes taste better. The tomato soup is delicious; it’s very thick.

Do over? Will eat at the Loop again to try more of the menu. Want to try the pizza.

10/2/2009- We ate here for lunch and ordered: 1 Gorgonzola walnut salad, 1 Crispy Chicken salad, 1 Cup Tomato Bisque, 1 Cup Homestyle Chicken Noodle soup, 2 drinks. Total: $28.76

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Mambo Italiano

eat2winraleigh — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:16:14 +0000

Mambo Italiano is located in Apex on West Williams Street in the old Cinelli’s space.

We haven’t eaten a full meal here so we can’t do a full review, but we stopped in to Mambo Italiano this weekend since we are constantly searching for good Italian food like you can get in NY. The owners are a couple from Long Island. Mambo Italiano has a family style menu and we ordered a couple of appetizers to bring with us to our friends’ house on Saturday night. We ordered the cold antipasto appetizer, the hot antipasto appetizer and the fried zucchini. The hot antipasto appetizer has eggplant rolletini, baked clams and stuffed mushrooms (wouldn’t recommend the clams but the other 2 were good). So anyways, Mambo Italiano might be somewhere to try for NY Italian food, we will make a visit for dinner and update the review!

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Vic's Ristorante Italiano Restaurant Review

Red Room Tapas Lounge Review

eat2winraleigh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:33:40 +0000

The Red Room Tapas Lounge is located in Raleigh on Glenwood Ave.

The New Yorker- I’m not used to this tapas-style eating, but it’s great to be able to eat a variety for dinner. The charcuterie is excellent, similar to an Italian antipasto appetizer. Great presentation on all the dishes. Especially enjoyed the eggplant roulade.

The Raleigh-ite- We ate at Red Room on Monday when all the small plate tapas are 1/2 price, so this was GREAT risk/reward!! Red Room has a great contemporary atmosphere, with comfortable tables, chairs and a great vibe. I ordered the raspberry green tea sangria and it was excellent; a great, sweet, twist on sangria! The Tuna Tartar has a great mustard-y sauce mixed in with the tuna. The Steak Churrasco is a little chewy but has great flavor. The fried banana dessert is insane, I highly suggest you order it. The fried banana is served with caramel and icecream.

Do over? We will definitely be back to Red Room for tapas, either on a night out drinking or on a Sunday or Monday for the great deal!

9/21/09- We ordered- 2 Raspberry green tea sangrias, 2 mothership wit beers, 1 Spanish charcuterie (1/2 off), 1 Tuna Tartar (1/2 off) , 1 spinach dip (1/2 off), 1 steak churrasco (1/2 off) , 1 fried green beans (1/2 off), 1 eggplant roulade (1/2 off) , 1 fried banana. Total: $64.11

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Top 10 List of Restaurants We Want to Try

eat2winraleigh — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:59:46 +0000

So, we keep a running list of restaurants we want to try in Raleigh. Here is what I think the top 10 list of restaurants to try should be, please comment if you have any input! Which restaurants shouldn’t be on the list and what restaurants should be on the list and aren’t.

10. J. Betskis (downtown Raleigh)

9. Margaux’s (North Raleigh)

8. Cafe Luna (downtown Raleigh)

7. 18 Seaboard (downtown Raleigh)

6. Jibarra (downtown Raleigh)

5. the Pit (downtown Raleigh)

4. Bonne Soire (Chapel Hill)

3. Magnolia Grill (Durham)

2. Tangerine Cafe (Cary)

1. Fins (downtown Raleigh)

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Bella Italia Restaurant Review

eat2winraleigh — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:22:01 +0000

Bella Italia is located in a shopping center near the intersection of Falls of the Neuse and Durant road in North Raleigh, close to Wake Forest.

The New Yorker- I ordered the Chicken Parmesan. The chicken was tender but I didn’t like the red sauce. Good hot bread served before the meal. Mediocre salads come with the meal. The Pasta Fagioli soup was loose and liquidy. The pizza looked and smelled good but we didn’t get a chance to try it.

The Raleigh-ite- I ordered the Italian Wedding soup and the Chicken Saltimbocca. I really enjoyed the soup; it had 3 medium sized meatballs and great flavor. The pasta and the sauce on the Chicken Saltimbocca was good, the sauce was a thin, light, lemon sauce. The chicken with proscuitto tasted rubbery and kinda bland. The green beans on the side tasted like they had been frozen.

Do over? Bella Italia is a 20 minute drive for us, and we won’t be doing the drive again just to eat at this Italian restaurant. If we are in the area, we could be tempted to stop by and try the pizza.

9/07/09- We ordered 1 diet pepsi, 1bowl Italian Wedding soup, 1 bowl Pasta e FaFagioli, 1 Chicken Parmesan, 1 Chicken Saltimbocca. Total: $44.53

Bella Italia Chicken Parmesean

Bella Italia Chicken Saltimbocca

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Ted’s Montana Grill Review

eat2winraleigh — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:50:34 +0000

The New Yorker- Cool sports-bar-like atmosphere. Big stuffed bison head on one wall. The menu at Ted’s Montana Grill has a couple appetizers, a list of burgers that you can have beef or bison, and a couple cuts of steak that you can have beef or bison. The bison is more expensive but worth a try. The steak was good, had a nice intense flavor and was well cooked. Great baby asparagus.

The Raleigh-ite- Nice restaurant atmosphere, big booths. We had the crab cake appetizer, which was excellent. The crab cake has little breading, mostly crab with guacamole and coleslaw on the side. I ordered the blue cheese bison burger; it is huge! It had so much flavor. I’m not much of a burger eater, but this one is excellent. For dessert we had a chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. The cookie was perfectly cooked–simple but good dessert.

Do over? We will be back to Ted’s Montana Grill when we are near Triangle Town center and want a good burger/steak.

9/3/2009- We ordered: 1 Diet Coke, 1 glass Riesling, 1 St. Phillips crabcake appetizer, 2 wedge salads, 1 Blue Creek bison burger, 1 bison Delmonico ribeye, 1 chocolate chip cookie with icecream dessert. Total : $75.07

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Cameron Bar & Grill

eat2winraleigh — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:32:59 +0000

Cameron Bar & Grill is located in the Cameron Village shopping center in Raleigh.

The New Yorker- We ordered the grilled shrimp cocktail–light coleslaw with 5 grilled shrimp on a skewer. Perfect app, great seasoning on the shrimp. I ordered Chicken Parmesan with linguine and red sauce. The chicken was lightly breaded, not too fried, good flavor. Good portion for lunch–1 breast of chicken, if it was a dinner portion it would have been a little small.

The Raleigh-ite- We ate at Cameron Bar & Grill for lunch today. Great outdoor seating– very comfortable, nice outdoor furniture. Clean, simple but comfortable look to the inside. Upscale-ish menu. I ordered the Caprese salad. It was 3 tomatoes with mozzerella, balsamic vinigrette and a side of greens. It was a perfect, light lunch (if I was more hungry, this would have been too small). The balsamic has some interesting seasoning and was very good on the tomatoes.

Do over ? Definitely be back.

8/19/2009 – We ordered: 1 grilled shrimp cocktail, 1 caprese salad, 1 chicken parmigiana, 1 diet coke. Total : $29.47

9/29/2009- We ordered: 2 glasses of Merlot, 1 hlf lb shrimp appetizer, 1 cup vegetable soup, 1 caprese salad, 1 caesar side salad, 1 80z filet. Total: $62.26 ( We had a restaurant.com $25 off coupon so the total with the coupon was $37.26)

Cameron Bar and Grill 8oz filet

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