Best road-trip restaurants in North Carolina

$$ · Blue Ridge Parkway

Beloved West Asheville breakfast-and-brunch spot with a working garden and Southern comfort plates worth the wait.

$$ · Blue Ridge Parkway

A Boone comfort-food stop near the Linn Cove and Grandfather Mountain side of the parkway, built for travelers who want something rooted but unfussy.

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NoDa restaurant honoring the mill workers of the neighborhood with elevated Southern comfort food and craft cocktails.

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Modern juke joint in a 1914 bungalow celebrating Mississippi River Delta and Southern cooking with a chef-driven menu.

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Uptown soul food institution celebrating Lowcountry cuisine, renowned for fried chicken, catfish, and warm cornbread.

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Charlotte fried-chicken institution since 1962 serving iconic to-go boxes with hushpuppies and sweet tea.

$$ · I-95 corridor

Native-American family-owned since 1987 with a heaping country buffet of pit barbecue, fried chicken, seafood, and desserts.

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Ashley Christensen's reimagined Southern diner that woke up Raleigh's dining scene in 2007 and remains a two-time James Beard standard-bearer.

$$ · Blue Ridge Parkway

Downtown Waynesville favorite plating Appalachian comfort dishes with locally sourced mountain trout.