Winston-Salem, North Carolina, rewards a dining itinerary that reaches beyond a single downtown block. A visit can begin with a fried-chicken biscuit, continue with pit-cooked barbecue, and end with a seasonal dinner in a historic house. The city’s Southern cooking takes several forms here, from tomato pie and seafood platters to a salmon crust inspired by Moravian cookies. These 15 restaurants also leave room for Neapolitan pizza, Italian family recipes, and modern Indian cooking. Whether you are visiting Wake Forest, exploring the arts district, or planning an evening out close to home, the list offers both special-occasion dining rooms and straightforward neighborhood meals. Reserve the smaller restaurants early, and match your plans to the meal each place serves best.
#15 Forsyth Seafood Market & Café
Cuisine: Southern seafood
Neighborhood: East Winston
Price: $
Best For: A seafood platter with traditional sides
Must Order: The pick-two seafood combination
Why It Made the List:
Forsyth Seafood combines a seafood market with a cafe, making it a practical stop for a fried-fish dinner and familiar Southern sides. The combination plates let diners choose their own balance of fish and shellfish, while hushpuppies and slaw keep the meal grounded in the region’s seafood-plate tradition.
Known For:
- Pick-two seafood combinations with hushpuppies
- Fish dinners with two sides
- A seafood market and cafe in East Winston
#14 Oh’ Calcutta
Cuisine: Modern Indian
Neighborhood: Downtown, West Fourth Street
Price: $$
Best For: Indian classics alongside inventive main courses
Must Order: Sabir goat rezala
Why It Made the List:
Oh’ Calcutta puts familiar curries beside more contemporary main courses, giving diners several ways into its Calcutta-inspired menu. Goat rezala offers a useful starting point for a fuller dinner, while the range of vegetable dishes, breads, and small plates makes sharing across the table an appealing way to order.
Known For:
- Goat rezala with yogurt and warm spices
- Indian small plates and tandoor cooking
- A downtown restaurant founded by friends with Calcutta roots
#13 Real Q
Cuisine: Lexington-style barbecue
Neighborhood: Country Club Road
Price: $
Best For: A classic chopped-barbecue plate
Must Order: Chopped barbecue plate
Why It Made the List:
Real Q keeps the meal centered on pit-cooked pork and the sides that belong with it, rather than an expansive menu of barbecue styles. A chopped plate is the clearest introduction, with slaw, fries, and hushpuppies making it a straightforward lunch or early dinner on the west side of town.
Known For:
- Pit-cooked, hand-chopped pork barbecue
- A chopped plate with slaw, fries, and hushpuppies
- Pork cooked overnight over hot coals in the Lexington barbecue tradition.
#12 Slappy’s Chicken
Cuisine: Carolina dipped fried chicken
Neighborhood: Washington Park
Price: $
Best For: A straightforward chicken-and-sides meal
Must Order: Dipped chicken with macaroni and cheese
Why It Made the List:
Slappy’s concentrates on a small menu built around fried chicken dipped in a spicy-sweet sauce, with Southern sides filling out the plate. The Washington Park stop is a good counterpoint to the city’s more elaborate dining rooms: come for the chicken, choose your sides, and keep the meal uncomplicated.
Known For:
- Fried chicken finished in a spicy-sweet sauce
- Cheez-It macaroni and cheese
- A no-frills picnic-table setting in Washington Park.
#11 Krankies
Cuisine: Breakfast biscuits and cafe fare
Neighborhood: Downtown, East Third Street
Price: $
Best For: A substantial biscuit breakfast
Must Order: The Krankies Classic biscuit
Why It Made the List:
Krankies is a morning or midday stop, with fried-chicken biscuits that give breakfast enough substance to anchor a day of exploring. The Classic keeps things direct with Texas Pete and honey, while more elaborate combinations add eggs, cheese, or fruit preserves; pair one with coffee before moving on to the rest of downtown.
Known For:
- A fried-chicken biscuit with Texas Pete and honey
- The Dirty South with pimento cheese and bacon
- Thoughtfully sourced, expertly roasted coffee alongside the biscuit kitchen.
#10 The Porch Kitchen & Cantina
Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Neighborhood: West End Mill Works
Price: $
Best For: A casual family meal with plenty of choices
Must Order: Sweet Pete puffy tacos
Why It Made the List:
The Porch makes a lively, casual meal out of Tex-Mex dishes with a few local accents, including Texas Pete in its fried-chicken tacos. Bowls, enchiladas, and vegetable options help it work for families and mixed groups, while the Mill Works address gives the meal a different feel from a downtown dining room.
Known For:
- Puffy fried-chicken tacos with Texas Pete honey
- Rice bowls with several protein and vegetable options
- A family-friendly restaurant at West End Mill Works
#9 Di Lisio’s Italian Restaurant
Cuisine: Italian
Neighborhood: Brookstown Avenue
Price: $$
Best For: An informal Italian dinner with seafood and pasta
Must Order: Seafood Di Lisio
Why It Made the List:
Di Lisio’s keeps the focus on an extensive Italian menu, with seafood pastas alongside baked dishes and familiar chicken and veal preparations. The family-run Brookstown address is a useful choice when the group wants recognizable options and generous variety; plan on a walk-in, since the restaurant does not take reservations.
Known For:
- Seafood Di Lisio over linguine
- Veal saltimbocca with prosciutto and Marsala mushroom sauce
- A family-owned, walk-in-only Brookstown restaurant
#8 The Katharine Brasserie & Bar
Cuisine: French brasserie with Southern influences
Neighborhood: Downtown, Kimpton Cardinal Hotel
Price: $$
Best For: A downtown hotel dinner with architectural character
Must Order: Steak frites
Why It Made the List:
The Katharine gives a downtown meal a distinctive setting inside the former Reynolds building, with French brasserie ideas filtered through Southern ingredients. It is useful for a dinner before or after exploring the city center, and its all-day hotel setting also leaves room for a leisurely breakfast or weekend brunch.
Known For:
- Steak frites with truffled Parmesan fries
- French cooking with Southern influences
- A dining room inside the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in the historic Reynolds building
#7 Quanto Basta Italian Eatery & Wine Bar
Cuisine: Italian
Neighborhood: West Fourth Street
Price: $
Best For: A downtown pasta dinner with friends
Must Order: Tagliatelle with ragù Bolognese
Why It Made the List:
Quanto Basta offers an easygoing route into a downtown Italian dinner, with pasta, thin-crust pizza, and familiar baked dishes sharing the menu. A plate of tagliatelle and a salad is a simple starting point, while the selection of meatballs, seafood starters, and larger entrées gives a longer meal plenty of options.
Known For:
- Tagliatelle with the house Bolognese ragù
- Hand-stretched thin-crust pizzas
- House-made pizza dough, meatballs, and rustic sauces.
#6 Spring House Restaurant, Kitchen & Bar
Cuisine: Seasonal Southern
Neighborhood: North Spring Street
Price: $$
Best For: A seasonal dinner in a historic house
Must Order: Slow-cooked pork shank, when available
Why It Made the List:
Spring House makes its house setting part of the occasion, with seasonal Southern cooking that moves beyond a standard meat-and-three formula. The menu’s savory sauces, vegetables, and substantial braises suit a relaxed dinner; use the current seasonal list to choose, since the kitchen’s featured dishes change through the year.
Known For:
- Seasonal braises, including a slow-cooked pork shank
- Short-rib and Brie cannelloni made with corn crepes
- A historic-house restaurant on North Spring Street
#5 Mission Pizza Napoletana
Cuisine: Neapolitan pizza and Italian
Neighborhood: Downtown Arts District
Price: $$$
Best For: A chef-selected dinner built around pizza
Must Order: The chef’s-choice prix fixe menu
Why It Made the List:
Mission treats pizza as part of a small, chef-driven osteria rather than the entire story. Choose the prix fixe format to follow the kitchen’s changing ideas across a full meal, and reserve ahead: the compact room and specific group-dining rules reward a little planning before an arts-district evening.
Known For:
- A chef’s-choice prix fixe menu
- The Pizzakase pizza-tasting experience
- Chef-owner Peyton Smith was a 2022 James Beard Best Chef: Southeast semifinalist.
#4 Milner’s American Southern
Cuisine: Contemporary Southern
Neighborhood: South Stratford Road
Price: $$
Best For: Regional flavors in a relaxed dinner setting
Must Order: Moravian cookie-pecan crusted salmon
Why It Made the List:
Milner’s brings a distinctly local touch to a broad Southern menu, most clearly in its Moravian cookie-pecan crusted salmon. Pot roast, fried chicken, and vegetable dishes make it approachable for family dinners, while the more composed seafood and steak choices leave room for a celebratory evening.
Known For:
- Moravian cookie-pecan crusted salmon
- Overnight pot roast with whipped potatoes
- Brothers John and Buddy rework Southern classics with contemporary techniques and regional ingredients.
#3 Ryan’s Restaurant
Cuisine: Steakhouse and seafood
Neighborhood: Coliseum Drive
Price: $$$
Best For: A classic special-occasion dinner near Wake Forest
Must Order: Halibut Key West
Why It Made the List:
Ryan’s offers an old-school celebratory dinner in a wooded setting, with seafood and chops alongside an extensive steak selection. It suits an unhurried evening when the setting matters as much as the plate; choose a composed seafood entrée for a clearer budget, since the steak list uses market prices.
Known For:
- Halibut with basmati rice, broccoli, and tomato-caper beurre blanc
- A steak list that includes dry-aged ribeye
- Wooded views close to Wake Forest University
#2 Bernardin’s at the Zevely House
Cuisine: Contemporary American with global influences
Neighborhood: West Fourth Street
Price: $$
Best For: A composed dinner in a historic-house setting
Must Order: Maple Leaf duck breast
Why It Made the List:
Bernardin’s pairs its intimate Zevely House address with a menu that moves between classic European sauces and Asian accents. Duck with polenta or lamb with sticky rice makes the choice more interesting than a conventional steakhouse dinner, while the range of seafood and pasta gives a mixed group room to maneuver.
Known For:
- Duck breast with mascarpone polenta and fig sauce
- Lamb chops with sticky rice cake and kimchi slaw
- The Winston-Salem location at the Zevely House
#1 Mozelle’s Fresh Southern Bistro
Cuisine: Contemporary Southern
Neighborhood: West Fourth Street, West End
Price: $$
Best For: A Southern bistro dinner with vegetarian choices
Must Order: Tomato pie
Why It Made the List:
Mozelle’s gives Southern comfort food the attention of a small neighborhood bistro, with tomato pie sharing the menu with fried chicken and shrimp and grits. The combination of familiar dishes and vegetable-focused choices makes it an inviting starting point for a group whose appetites pull in different directions.
Known For:
- Tomato pie with a hand-rolled crust and creamy succotash
- Fried chicken with macaroni and cheese and peach chutney
- An intimate bistro with outdoor tables in Winston-Salem’s West End.
How we chose
We selected these restaurants for distinctive cooking, a clear sense of place, and a dining experience worth seeking out. Our editorial review considered current menus, official restaurant information, and local dining coverage, with attention to both special occasions and everyday meals. The ranking reflects editorial judgment rather than a numerical score.
Planning your next meal
Menus and seasonal preparations change; use the restaurant links to check the latest offerings and make reservations where available.
More dining advice
For help choosing a bottle with dinner, read our guide to ordering wine at a restaurant.
More North Carolina restaurant guides
Continuing your North Carolina trip beyond Winston-Salem? Explore our guide to restaurants in Charlotte.
