Best of Raleigh, North Carolina

47 local guides to Raleigh, North Carolina — where to eat and drink across 399 restaurants, bars and coffee shops, plus 92 upcoming events.

Guides to Raleigh

Best Sushi Restaurants in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh sushi bars ranked by how settled their reputations are, from a Duraleigh Road mainstay with more than 2,000…
Best Hiking Trails in Raleigh — Six Raleigh trails and trail systems, ranked by how well they hold up to repeat visits, from the state park off Glenwood Avenue…
Best Dog Parks in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh dog parks, ranked by how settled their ratings are, from the long-reviewed Millbrook Exchange Park to smaller…
Best Bars and Taprooms in Raleigh — Raleigh's drinking rooms run from a Hillsborough Street tavern in a Victorian house to North Raleigh taprooms with trivia nights…
Best Bars in Raleigh, NC — Raleigh's bar scene runs from whiskey lists downtown to taps in the north-end strip centers. Here's what the research actually…
Best Date Night Restaurants in Raleigh — Seven Raleigh restaurants built for a two-top, from a Victorian house on Hillsborough Street to a French dining room on Person…
Best Brunch Spots in Raleigh — Raleigh's strongest brunch rooms are all-day breakfast counters and sit-down kitchens that stop serving in the early afternoon.…
Best Live Music Venues in Raleigh — Six Raleigh rooms for live music, from a downtown music hall with a record shop attached to a candlelit jazz bar off West…
Best Seafood in Raleigh — Raleigh sits about two hours from the coast, and the seafood that matters here ranges from a Farmers Market fish counter with a…
Best Museums in Raleigh — Raleigh's museums are split between the downtown blocks around Fayetteville and Jones streets and the Blue Ridge Road campus…
Best Ice Cream Shops in Raleigh — Four Raleigh ice cream stops, from the NC State creamery on Dairy Lane to a rolled-ice-cream counter on West Morgan, ranked by…
Best Dog-Friendly Patios in Raleigh — Where to sit outside with your dog in Raleigh, from Glenwood South beer gardens to a Boylan Heights brewery, ranked by how…
Best Cocktail Bars in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh bars for a properly made drink, ranked by how settled their reputations are, from a downtown lodge-hall bar with…
Best Burgers in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh spots for a burger, ranked by how convincing their ratings actually are, from a Glenwood Avenue burger joint with…
Best Steakhouses in Raleigh — Raleigh's steak scene runs from a 9,000-review Glenwood Avenue institution to a north Raleigh tavern that most of the city has…
Best Karaoke Bars in Raleigh — Seven Raleigh bars where the microphone comes out, from the Avent Ferry student crowd to a north Raleigh pub, ranked by how…
Best Tacos in Raleigh — Six Raleigh taco spots ranked by how well they hold up, from a Junction Boulevard taqueria with thousands of reviews to a…
Best Sports Bars in Raleigh — Seven independent Raleigh bars for game day, ranked by how settled their ratings are, from the Oberlin Road institution to the…
Best Outdoor Activities in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh-area parks, lakes, trails and gardens ranked by how well they hold up, with review counts to show which…
Best Happy Hour in Raleigh — Where Raleigh's early-evening drink and snack deals actually hold up, from half-price oysters downtown to a whiskey bar that…
Best Family Activities in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh spots that hold up with kids in tow, from a downtown carousel park to an inclusive playground on Edwards Mill…
Best Coffee Shops in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh coffee shops ranked by how convincingly the ratings hold up, from a 1,300-review north Raleigh cafe to a downtown…
Must-See Attractions in Raleigh — Seven Raleigh attractions worth planning a day around, from the state museums clustered downtown to the trails at Umstead, with…
Best Indian Food in Raleigh — Eight Raleigh Indian restaurants ranked by how convincingly the reviews back them up, from a 4.8 with more than 2,200 ratings to…
Best Dessert Spots in Raleigh — Six Raleigh bakeries, pastry counters and dessert kitchens, ranked by how convincingly the ratings hold up across hundreds or…
Best Fine Dining in Raleigh — Five restaurants around Raleigh where the tasting-menu-and-reservation crowd actually goes, ranked by how settled their…
Best Craft Breweries in Raleigh — Seven Raleigh breweries worth a taproom stop, from the flagship pizza-and-beer room on West Morgan to the newer tasting rooms in…
Best Bakeries in Raleigh — Six Raleigh bakeries ranked by how well they hold up, from a Dupont Circle bread shop with a 4.8 average to a Franklin Street…
Best Pizza Places in Raleigh — Seven Raleigh pizzerias, from a wood-fired kitchen off Whitaker Mill to New York slices on New Bern Avenue, ranked by how…
Best Indoor Activities in Raleigh — Three Raleigh museums that hold up on a rainy Saturday, ranked by how settled their ratings are, with the hours and quirks worth…
Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants in Raleigh — Raleigh's local-sourcing scene runs from a downtown pay-what-you-can cafe to the biscuit counter at the State Farmers Market.…
Best Art Galleries in Raleigh — Raleigh's art viewing runs from a free state museum with a 164-acre park to a city-run gallery inside a municipal building. Here…
Best Farmers Markets in Raleigh — Raleigh's market scene runs year-round rather than seasonally, from the State Farmers Market off Agriculture Street to the…
Under-the-Radar Spots in Raleigh — Seven Raleigh places that reward a detour: an oyster bar off Wilmington Street, a dessert and cocktail lounge closed two days a…
Best Wine Bars and Wine Shops in Raleigh — Raleigh's wine scene runs on retail shops that pour by the glass and neighborhood bars with real lists. Four local spots,…
Best Vietnamese Food in Raleigh — Five Vietnamese restaurants in Raleigh, ranked by how convincingly the reviews back them up, from a 1,200-review pho counter…
Best Wine Bars in Raleigh — Seven independent Raleigh spots to drink wine by the glass, from a Bloodworth Street shop with drafts to a Martin Street bar…
The Best Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants in Raleigh — Raleigh's meat-free dining runs from an all-vegan kitchen off Crabtree Boulevard to a north-side cafe serving samosas and acai…
Best Pizza in Raleigh — New York slices on New Bern Avenue, wood-fired pies off Whitaker Mill and a brewery kitchen on West Morgan: eight Raleigh…
Best Food Trucks in Raleigh — Four Raleigh spots for truck food, from a Lake Wheeler Road taco window open through the evening to a late-night truck running…
Best Chinese Food in Raleigh — Three Chinese restaurants around Raleigh, ranked by how settled their ratings are: a Sichuan kitchen in Morrisville with Peking…
Bachelor and Bachelorette Party Spots in Raleigh — Four Raleigh restaurants and bars that can actually handle a group the night before a wedding: shared plates on Glenwood Avenue,…
Best BBQ in Raleigh — Discover the best BBQ in Raleigh, NC, with our guide to top spots for authentic flavors and smoky goodness.
Best Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Raleigh — Five Raleigh restaurants that work with children and are worth eating at yourself.
Best Late Night Eats in Raleigh — Discover Raleigh's best late-night eats, from loaded hot dogs to giant pizza slices, perfect for satisfying those midnight…
Best Thai Food in Raleigh — Discover the best Thai food in Raleigh with our guide to top-rated restaurants, flavorful dishes, and local favorites.
Best Farm-to-Table in Raleigh — Discover Raleigh's top farm-to-table restaurants, featuring Irregardless, Poole's, and PRESS Coffee Crêpes Cocktails.

Top-rated places in Raleigh

321 Coffee - NC State Centennial — Coffee Shop, rated 5 from 314 reviews
Pure Vegan Cafe — Restaurant, rated 4.9 from 3898 reviews
Sassafras All Children's Playground — Activities, rated 4.9 from 1100 reviews
321 Coffee - Downtown Raleigh — Coffee Shop, rated 4.9 from 586 reviews
Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park — Activities, rated 4.9 from 504 reviews
Edit Beer Co. of Raleigh — Craft Brewery, rated 4.9 from 412 reviews
LaGana — Restaurant, rated 4.9 from 349 reviews
Dose Yoga and Smoothie Bar — wellness, rated 4.9 from 300 reviews
Blackbird Books and Coffee — Coffee Shop, rated 4.9 from 253 reviews
Forged in Fantasy — Restaurant, rated 4.9 from 186 reviews
Willow House Coffee — Coffee Shop, rated 4.9 from 143 reviews
Umstead Sycamore Trail — Activities, rated 4.9 from 98 reviews
Salty Turtle Beer Co: Raleigh — Bar, rated 4.9 from 73 reviews
Local 919 Beer and Wine — Bar, rated 4.9 from 65 reviews
La Mala Mexican Inspired Cocktails — Restaurant, rated 4.9 from 62 reviews
The Hippo Wine Bar & Shop — Restaurant, rated 4.9 from 56 reviews
North Carolina Museum of Art — Activities, rated 4.8 from 11402 reviews
Marbles Kids Museum — Activities, rated 4.8 from 7257 reviews
Royal India — Restaurant, rated 4.8 from 5973 reviews
JC Raulston Arboretum — Activities, rated 4.8 from 2994 reviews
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences — Activities, rated 4.8 from 2797 reviews
William B. Umstead State Park — Activities, rated 4.8 from 2491 reviews
Lime & Lemon Indian Grill & Bar - Raleigh — Restaurant, rated 4.8 from 2229 reviews
First Watch — Restaurant, rated 4.8 from 2049 reviews

All 399 places in Raleigh

Events in Raleigh this week

Future of Raleigh Business — October 5, 2026 at Check website for venue details
Survival Mode: Mondays $5 Kick The Keg — October 5, 2026 at Edit Beer Co.
Educator Online Course: Art and SEL — October 6, 2026 at Virtual
Dream Big 3D — October 6, 2026 at Marbles IMAX
Secrets of Great Salt Lake — October 6, 2026 at Marbles IMAX
Cities of the Future 3D — October 6, 2026 at Marbles IMAX
Wild Rescue 3D — October 6, 2026 at Marbles IMAX
JEOPARDY! Bar League Trivia - Tuesdays 7PM - Edit Beer Co. — October 6, 2026 at Edit Beer Co.
What’s in the Box? — October 7, 2026 at East Building, Studios
Wild Rescue 3D — October 7, 2026 at Marbles IMAX
Cities of the Future 3D — October 7, 2026 at Marbles IMAX
Secrets of Great Salt Lake — October 7, 2026 at Marbles IMAX

All events in Raleigh

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