Brasa Steakhouse

Brasa is Raleigh's Brazillian steakhouse, and it is amazing.  On any given day, if I were given a free pass for dinner anywhere in Raleigh, I would choose Brasa.  For those not familiar with Brazillain steakhouses, let me fill you in on the basics.  First, all of the meat is cooked over a fire on a spit.  You'll be given some kind of button (a stone in Brasa's case) with a red side and a green side.  Whenever your the green side of your stone is facing up, the servers will come around with various meats still on the spit and offer to cut you off a slice.  Flip the stone to red to take a break or work on what's already on your plate.

Brasa itself is excellent.  The meat is the highest quality I've had anywhere and is cooked and spiced to perfection.  Every cut of meat is tender, and you how done your cut is by having an interior or exterior slice.  They even have a hot "side" buffet that would be worth the trip all by itself if it didn't mean missing out on having more meat.

You can save a few bucks by opting for the gold (instead of platinum) package, but you lose the option to sample some of the best meats.  I say, if you're going to go, go all the way.

The Pit

Where do I go for upscale BBQ (yes there is such a thing) in Raleigh?  The Pit.  They specialized in chopped (NC style) BBQ, but everything I've had there is delicious.  I usually get a 2 or 3 meat combo to get the most out of the opportunity when I'm there.  The appetizer menu is full of traditional southern favorites like deviled eggs and cornbread, and they offer the other other white meat (turkey) for vegetarians.

The atmosphere and service are characteristic of a "nice" restaurant, and is a great place for a date.  It gets a little busy during peak times and parking is kind of tricky, but you can always rely on the valet service and they do take reservations.

Having been featured on The Food Network and a couple of network morning shows, The Pit isn't exactly a local secret.  Still, not everyone knows its there, and that's a shame.

BrickHouse Sports Pub

BrickHouse Sports Pub has the best wings I've had in Raleigh by far!  Not only are they huge, but the flavor of the sauce is great as well.  They don't have 100 flavors like some specialty wing joints, but they do Hot Buffalo right.  The dry rub is amazing as well.  Every time I go I get a half-order of each (with a side of cheese fries), and I can never decide which to save for last.  It's hard to find a good dry rub, but this one is great and the wings stay juicy too.

As of the writing of this post, wings are half off on Wednesday, so I make this a regular part of my weekly lunch rotation.

You have to keep yours eyes open, but you can find them if you look hard enough.  They're tucked away in a little shopping center on Hillsborough, just across from Meredith College.