On the road again: Good Eats in Chapel Hill NC

We went to the Raleigh area for my nephew's high school graduation.
We also managed to spend a day and night in Chapel Hill, where I went to graduate school in the 1990s (and have visited fairly frequently since those days).
The highlight was brunch at the wondrously good, reliable standby Crook's Corner, the restaurant that set the gold standard for SHRIMP AND GRITS (the Bill Neal recipe) back in the 1980s. OMG, was that dish of food delicious!

World's best shrimp and grits

My husband had a fine "spring omelet," with a side of cheese grits, but nothing compares to the shrimp and grits. I've eaten at Crook's, probably my favorite Chapel Hill restaurant -- and there are many worthy ones -- but it's been years since I've ordered this dish. After scarfing it down, I had to wonder why. Next time, I'm definitely having it again.




For dinner a bunch of us, family and friends, ate at the Il Palio restaurant at the Siena Hotel. We all agreed that the best item of the night was a scallops entree, pictured here.

Scallops at Il Palio in Chapel Hill NC

A night on the town (Chapel Hill NC)

Wall of Liquor at Crunkleton

What a great town, the growing but still adorable place where I went to graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill. Saturday night my brother, his wife and I drove from their house in the country north of Raleigh for an evening in the Hill.
We started and ended at a fantastic bar called The Crunkleton (did not learn the story behind the name), where we tried several wondrous "craft cocktail" concoctions, our favorite of which was the house version of Old Fashioned. When we arrived at 7 PM things were rather quiet. After walking a couple of blocks and having dinner at Elaine's (a highly regarded Chapel Hill dining destination), we returned to Crunkleton and the joint was jumping.
While the fare at Elaine's was good, I imagine the kitchen wasn't at the top of its game, since we found the food to be a little spotty, and the only dish we all thought stellar was the warm chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream (dessert, obviously). So the highlight of the night definitely was the bar.