Another dining stop we had during our brief stay in Raleigh was at the Raleigh Beer Garden. We actually had tried to go elsewhere, but a popup storm had us quickly changing plans to find a large indoor space for dinner. This place is so big that our party of ten was able to be seated right away just past 5 on a Saturday. We had a cool table with a fake tree growing out of the middle of it.

Tree Table

There are two floors inside, an outdoor rooftop bar, and a large patio on the ground level. They claim to have the worlds largest draft beer selection, and there are plenty of choices for every style. The full list is online and includes over 300 options. Some of my wife’s selections turned out to be pretty expensive, so watch what you order as prices are also listed.

Inside

The food menu is not nearly as long as the beer list, but there is a wide variety of apps, wings, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, and platters. I went with the North Carolina pulled pork sandwich with pickle on a brioche bun. This was served with fries and coleslaw ($10). This was a lot of food for a fair price as the sandwich was piled high and the fry cup seemed to be never ending. The taste was good and seemed fairly true to North Carolina style.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

My wife went with the firecracker shrimp platter with fries and coleslaw ($13). I think she jumped the gun on the shrimp order and should have waited until we were closer to the ocean to enjoy. She thought that these were not very fresh and she commented that she should have ordered something else.

Firecracker Shrimp Platter

The kids enjoyed their burger and chicken tender meals ($5 with fries). Overall I was impressed by the beer selection and for the most part the food was enjoyable. The pork was a popular item in our group, as was the brisket and burgers.

Our first vacation of the summer took us to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. On our way there we stopped for a night in Raleigh. After driving through the night to get there we immediately headed for breakfast at the Flying Biscuit Cafe, a southern chain of roughly 20 restaurants through 4 states.

Inside

The parking lot was crowded upon our arrival and the restaurant appeared fairly small from the outside. Our group of 10 was told that it would only be 15 minutes wait for a table, and it turned out to be even less than that. The inside is much more spacious than the outside led me to believe.

Biscuits

After placing our drink orders, plates of warm biscuits and apple butter were dropped off for our table. The biscuits were light and fluffy and the apple butter added some great flavor. Our group also enjoyed a selection of mixed drinks including the manmosa with vodka, blue moon beer, and orange juice.

Biscuits & Gravy

For breakfast I went with more biscuits, but this time they came covered in homemade chicken sausage gravy ($5.99). I almost always order biscuits and gravy if it is on the menu, and these did not disappoint. The chicken gravy was a little different than the more traditional pork sausage, but overall I enjoyed it.

Grits

I also had a cup of grits on the side ($2.69). They claim these to be award-winning creamy dreamy grits, and they certainly were creamy. Normally when I order grits I enjoy them with cheddar and jalapeno, so these were a little bland for my tastes. Others in the group enjoyed them more than I did. Though overall we all had a really good breakfast.

Our last meal in Colorado was a pleasant surprise. We were staying one night in Stapleton before a morning flight the following day. After searching for nearby restaurants that are good with kids, we settled on Next Door Eatery.

Inside

Our arrival before six was great as the restaurant was nearly empty and it also happened to be happy hour! The inside was very clean and still looked new for the most part. The house made fried pickles and pepperoncinis were a great start to our meal ($4 during happy hour, $5.95 otherwise). I’m a huge fan of fried pickles but I don’t recall having fried pepperoncinis before. I really enjoyed the addition of these. Neither of them begged for the dipping sauce that was provided as they had a great flavor on their own.

Pickles & Pepperoncinis

For dinner I went with Merlin’s Carolina pork with mustard BBQ, cole slaw, crispy onions, and house pickles ($11.95). The sandwich was piled high with well flavored pork. It was very filling and came with a side of chips and simple salad.

Merlin’s Carolina Pork

As good as my dinner was I was pretty jealous of my wife’s order of the ancho chile chicken bowl with brown rice, black beans, corn, fresh pico de gallo, tortilla strips, lime creama, and cilantro ($13.95). The flavor combination in this bowl was outstanding, similar to a taco style bowl from other places, but the ingredients were fresher and the serving size was huge.

Ancho Chile Chicken Bowl

Our kids enjoyed the cheeseburger slider and the kids bowl, though my son really wanted fries with his burger, which are not available. Next time I would try to talk him into trying the crispy smashers. Overall we really enjoyed the food, service, and quality from Next Door Eatery and would definitely visit again.

Before and after our ski trip to Copper Mountain we spent some time in Denver. Upon our arrival we met some friends at the zoo and then met even more friends at the Lowry Beer Garden for lunch. One a nice sunny Denver day this is the perfect place. The outdoor patio is huge and lined with plenty of picnic style tables. The beer selection was good, a kids menu is available, and food comes out fast!

Outside

For lunch I chose the pulled pork sandwich with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, and pickles on a cornmeal Kaiser bun with a side of Carolina slaw ($9). This was messy but tasted quite good. The side of slaw was immediately dumped on my sandwich and the flavors melted together perfectly. I also stole a bite of a Cubano sandwich ($10) which was equally as good.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

The prices are a bit high since sides are not included, but who can complain when you can get a side of fried pickles for $5! This was more than enough to share and came served with dipping sauce. Our kids enjoyed the grilled cheese with fries and drink for $6.50. Overall we enjoyed our visit and would not hesitate to swing by again on another sunny visit to Denver.

Fried Pickles

I was recently given some free meal coupons to use at the Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers location on Red Bank. Started in 2002, the chain has grown coast-to-coast and serves made to order food without a long wait. The Red Bank location has been open since October 2016.

Outside

There is a drive through window, but I chose to get my to-go order from the counter to check out the entire space. The dining area is very large and customers flooded through the doors just past noon on a Friday to get a quick lunch.

Inside

I placed my order, grabbed my cup and filled a cup of ice tea. Within a couple of minutes my order number was called and I was on my way.

Inside

Initially I was a little hesitant to give them a try as most of the menu focuses on steakburgers. But I decided to give it a try anyway. Before I get to my sandwich, I must note that the fries are excellent! They also have their own fry sauce, which seems to combine mayonnaise and ketchup with some signature spices. Make sure you get some of this!

Fries

As I don’t eat burgers I was left picking between the veggie burger and the grilled chicken sandwich. I went with the veggie burger and was presently surprised. The patty is made mostly of black beans, and though mine seemed to be a touch over cooked, the texture and flavor were good. It came topped with cheese, a full slice of onion, Freddy’s sauce, lettuce, and tomato on a toasted bun.

Veggie Burger

I look forward to another visit to Freddy’s. Next time I’ll be sure to take the kids as they will love the burger, grilled cheese, and chicken tender options. I also need to try some of the frozen custard. I’m sure I will have plenty of opportunities to do so as they are located just down the street from our swim club.