Dining Well in Downtown Cary

For decades, many Raleighans and Durhamites dismissed the town of Cary as the “Containment Area for Relocated Yankees,” a snoozing suburb full of fast food chains. As the downtowns of nearby Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham became crazy-hip places to dine and sip, with mentions in national publications, downtown Cary ambled along.

There was absolutely no reason to go to downtown Cary, people said, unless you craved the midday hot-dog deal and a fresh-squeezed lemonade at the Ashworth Drugs lunch counter.

Who thought the time would come when you might have a hard time finding a place to park in downtown Cary on a Saturday night?

The daily dog deal at Ashworth Drugs used to be the only real draw to downtown Cary (Catherine via Flikr under CC BY 2.0)

You might now. There are a plethora of restaurants, breweries and bars concentrated around the intersection of Academy and Chatham streets, part of an area which the Town of Cary designated as a Business Improvement District in 2012. The town’s goal is to make downtown walkable and community-oriented.

You can find offerings ranging from Asian food to small-plate patio dining, homestyle Italian, and more. If you need something to do between noshes, catch an indie movie at The Cary Theater or a performance at the Cary Arts Center.

So, yes, you can have a good meal, and a good beverage, in downtown Cary.

The explosion in construction of condos and apartments around downtown is a visible explanation for the surge in dining, along with a new library and the town’s ambitious plans for a seven-acre, $70-million park.

Once the park is completed, Patio diners at the recently-opened Peck & Plume at The Mayton on South Academy Street will have a prime view. The 44-room hotel was bought out of bankruptcy in 2020 by a group of Cary developers along with the group that runs The Durham in Durham, N.C. Peck & Plume opened in the summer of 2021, says operating partner Craig Spitzer, making it one of the newer downtown additions.

The patio at Peck & Plume on South Academy will soon offer prime views of Cary's new Downtown Park (Baxter Miller)

Spitzer, who calls himself a “Durham guy,” knew nothing about Cary before he began working with Peck & Plume, which offers small plates and larger entrees in a casual setting (try the duck quesadillas). He credits the town government with fostering an attractive sense of place downtown.

“It’s all local, and there’s a lot of talent and creativity,” he said. “It’s a true neighborhood, with little bungalows and beautiful historic homes a few blocks away, now the larger condos and apartments coming in.”

Two of the town’s oldest eateries are nearby. At the intersection of Chatham and Academy, Ashworth Drugs, where folks line up for hot dogs, has been operated by the same family since 1957. Next to Ashworth’s on South Academy Street is the sandwich shop Serendipity, which opened in 1977 and remains popular.

Four bakeries are practically within aroma-sniffing distance of each other. Once in a Blue Moon Bakery has been in a small shopping center off West Chatham Street for about 20 years, serving traditional southern-style cakes, pies and desserts. A branch of La Farm Bakery near West Chatham and Harrison serves renowned baker Lionel Vatinet’s breads and rolls. Near La Farm, Annelore’s German Bakery offers European-style pastries. On East Chatham, Big Dom’s Bagel Shop produces hand-rolled bagels mornings until they run out (order online early, and try the B’donuts, if available).

The Raleigh coffee shop Brew has a Cary outpost next to The Cary Theater. Near Serendipity, Esteamed Coffee serves coffee drinks and sweets while employing people with developmental, intellectual, communication or visual impairments.

For a night out on the town in downtown Cary, there’s plenty to choose from, too—and there’s no need to laugh at the idea. Here are some highlights.

If you’re interested in Asian food, Taipei 101 on Chatham offers Szechuan, Zhejiang and Taiwanese style food. For a different Asian experience, head down South Academy Street to MC, a restaurant by former An chef Michael Chuong, located in a historic house. Chuong combines Vietnamese touches with local ingredients in a menu that also includes sushi and changes weekly.

For Italian food, house-made mozzarella at Pro’s Epicurean on East Chatham Street finds its way into the family-owned restaurant’s version of Eggplant Parmesan and other dishes. A market offers meats, cheeses, wines and vinegars. Next door is Pizzeria Faulisi, whose wood-fired pizzas use a combination of locally milled and Italian flours for crusts. The owners, Pittsburgh natives, also make use of local produce. If you prefer your slice foldable, head back down East Chatham to Di Fara Pizza, run by the nephew of the man who started the New York original.

Pizzeria Faulisi on East Chatham makes wood-fired pizzas with a blend of locally-milled and Italian flours (Pizzeria Faulisi)

Thirsty? Select from 16 rotating beers on tap or shop the six-packs at Pharmacy Bottle + Beverage near the corner of Academy and Chatham streets. Bond Brothers Brewery, just off East Chatham on Cedar Street, was one of the early newcomers to the downtown Cary scene and is known for its sours. Next to The Mayton on South Academy, Cotton House by Triangle Beer Co. serves a variety of its own and other North Carolina-made brews in a historic house and patio

Near the center of downtown, Crosstown Pub & Grill has been serving drafts, cocktails, and pub food since 2015. It bills itself as the official viewing home of area Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame fans, and if there’s any other team’s flag hanging outside, there are probably fans inside. One of the newest beverage spots is Hank’s Downtown Dive on East Chatham, from the same owner of SideBar, which is beside Pizzeria Faulisi. Both offer cocktails and small plates.

There’s plenty like about what's going on in downtown Cary. Even if you have to park a little ways off from your ultimate destination these days, there are plenty of places to stop in along the way. And best of all: the restaurants, bars, bakeries, and coffee shops are all locally run.