It’s crunch time – graduation is coming up and my goal is to get through as much of my UNC bucket list as possible before I graduate. In the interest of consolidation, I decided to put all the food-related bucket list items together in one massive UNC food blog post. These are the best of Chapel Hill and definitely things that you should eat way before you graduate – so you can come back and eat them again and again.
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#4: Get frozen yogurt at Yogurt Pump
Photocred: Chris Waugaman of The Rush Online
The Yogurt Pump, or YoPo as everyone calls it (I can’t remember the last time someone said to me, “Want to go to the Yogurt Pump?) is a true Chapel Hill staple. It’s been serving frozen yogurt since long before froyo was cool – YoPo was founded in 1982 and plenty of people’s parents went on dates to the same place where their children now grab a snack on a hot day. YoPo is a pretty typical frozen yogurt place, with machines that mix different flavors and toppings that you can have sprinkled on top of your cup of yogurt. The inside of YoPo is pretty tiny – there are maybe 3 or 4 tables and it always feels crowded because the line usually goes out the door. What people typically do is take their yogurt outside and sit on the curb – if you walk by, you’ll often see a line of students perched on the curb with a cup of dripping yogurt. YoPo is very active on Twitter, tweeting about what new flavors are in so you can run over if they have a rare favorite. Their website, on the other hand, is hilarious to look at because it reflects the fact that YoPo has been around since the 80s. It even features a links section with a link for both the Google and MSN homepage. YoPo is a Chapel Hill classic and absolutely everyone who passes through has experienced the deliciousness of its frozen yogurt.
Old Well Ranking: (9 out of 10)
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#7: Eat a cheddar-chicken biscuit at Time Out after 2 a.m.
Time Out is another Chapel Hill institution (it’s been there since 1978) but unlike YoPo, where you’ll often see small children licking frozen yogurt out of a child-sized cone, Time Out’s big draw is that it’s open 24 hours – which means its biggest clientele is college students. There’s a reason this bucket list item specifies a time. The cheddar-chicken biscuits are okay before midnight but when it’s late at night and you’re starving, suddenly that crispy fried chicken and giant buttermilk biscuit sounds like heaven. I’ve actually never heard of anyone going to Time Out for dinner or lunch – just after midnight. They’re kind of like Boston Market with a Southern twist, offering mashed potatoes and other sides to go with your chicken biscuit. Time Out is famous for their chicken-cheddar biscuits, which have been featured on TV shows like Man vs. Food. I’ve only tried the chicken biscuit but it was pretty great…after midnight. Time Out is incredibly sketchy though. As you would expect from a 24-hour fast food place, it attracts a lot of creeps. I went there once at 4 a.m. with a couple friends, and we could hear the guys at the next table dividing us up – as in, which one of them got which one of us. If there’s any advice I could give you for Time Out besides don’t go before midnight, it would be this: don’t go alone. No chicken biscuit is worth that. If you go with friends late at night though, the chicken biscuit is giant, hot and delicious – a perfect late night snack.
Old Well Ranking: (3 out of 10)
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#9: Eat lunch at the counter of Sutton’s Drug Store
Speaking of Chapel Hill institutions, Sutton’s is one of the oldest and best traditions in Chapel Hill. Founded in 1923 – that’s right, they’re less than 10 years away from their 100-year anniversary – Sutton’s has been serving students and families alike with milkshakes, hot dogs and hamburgers for as long as anyone can remember. The basketball players frequent Sutton’s and TV stars like Rob Lowe of Parks and Rec have been known to stop in for a quick bite. Anything you get at Sutton’s is going to be hot, greasy and delicious, and their creamy milkshakes go perfectly with some salty fries. Sutton’s is decorated in photographs – the entire wall is papered with pictures of student athletes, well-known Chapel Hill figures, families and UNC students. Signed jerseys hang from the ceiling and it’s clear that the people at Sutton’s are die-hard Tarheels. If there’s one restaurant that sums up Chapel Hill, it’s Sutton’s.
Old Well Ranking: (10 out of 10)
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#39: Grill some hot dogs/s’mores at a residence hall grill
There’s always a grill and most likely a picnic table outside every residence hall on campus, but more often than not they go unused, because how many freshmen brought charcoal with them when they moved in? Grilling out beside a residence hall requires a lot of forethought, but it’s a delicious experience. I’ve used the residence hall grills a couple times with friends for burgers and hot dogs or a failed attempt at s’mores and the result is always slightly burned but incredibly tasty. When should you grill out? In that sweet spot between pollen-heavy spring and blazing hot summer, or in the fall when you can cozy up in a sweatshirt. It’s one of those things that you imagine yourself doing as a college student when you go on college tours, and though it’s not as frequent as you’ll imagine, it’s worth doing at least once.
Old Well Ranking: (5 out of 10)
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#40: Eat a deep-fried candy bar at the State Fair
The North Carolina State Fair comes around every year and even though the mixture of crowds of people, rigged games, questionable food with enough grease to give you an instant heart attack and rides that have injured people always sounds like something I want to stay away from, I’ve been to the state fair almost every year I’ve been in college. Just walking around the fair gives you so much opportunity for people-watching, and it showcases some of the things North Carolina has to be proud of through animals, art, gardens and food displays. I can do without the turkey legs and funnel cakes, but the one thing you absolutely have to try is a deep-fried candy bar. You may feel your arteries slowly clogging as you eat it, but they have so many different things that are deep fried that you just have to try it out of curiosity. My personal favorite is deep-fried Oreos – they’re sweet, melty and bite-sized. But everyone has their favorite and some people swear by the fried Three Musketeers or Twix bars.
Old Well Ranking: (4 out of 10)
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#50: Eat traditional Southern food at Mama Dips
Southern food is known for comfort and for being completely delicious. Fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, green beans, fried green tomatoes…the list goes on and Mama Dips has it all. Founded in 1976 by Mildred Cotton Council, the restaurant was named after the nickname Mildred’s siblings gave to her – Mama Dip – because her arms were long enough to “dip” to the bottom of the barrel. Mama Dips is known as the place to go in Chapel Hill if you’re looking for Southern food, and its reputation is well-deserved. I’ve been here for brunch and for dinner, and I highly recommend their chicken tenders and buttermilk biscuits – washed down by sweet tea, of course. This photo is of me and my roommate Melissa, along with our suitemate from sophomore year, Yoko. She studied abroad at UNC for a year from Japan and we became good friends because we lived together. Before Yoko left to go back to Japan, she needed to have one last experience of Southern food, so we went to Mama Dips for a goodbye meal.
Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10)
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#57: Eat cheese fries/sweet potato tots at Linda’s on Franklin Street
The actual bucket list item says you should eat cheese fries at Linda’s, but I disagree. Their sweet potato tots, also drenched in cheese and accompanied by cups of ranch, are always piping hot and the perfect blend of sweet and salty. While I love their cheese fries as well, I crave sweet potato tots like no other. Linda’s is a bar on Franklin Street, sandwiched in between East End and McAlister’s. I’ve been to Linda’s a good amount because it’s a more casual bar that doesn’t require a cover or for you to be 21 to get in (and obviously because of their sweet potato tots.) While Linda’s is definitely a bar, I once read somewhere that the majority of their revenue doesn’t come from alcohol; it comes from food. Linda’s has a chef and is open for lunch and dinner, and is supposed to have really delicious food. I haven’t tried it yet but hope to go in for a meal before I graduate. Linda’s is a great place to go if you want to go out and relax, to have a drink and a delicious snack – and in case you haven’t gotten my point so far: get the sweet potato tots!
Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10)
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#59: Eat a bagel at Alpine Bagels
I’ve stumbled into Alpine both early in the morning and late at night to get a cup of coffee and a bagel to fuel my studying on minimal hours of sleep. It’s just so convenient to have a bagel shop in the bottom of the student union. The bagels are top-notch, too: I’m mostly a plain bagel kind of girl, but people await the weeks when cinnamon sugar bagels are the special at Alpine. I recommend the Southwestern Omelet, which is a breakfast bagel sandwich that I really never deviate from, and their hot chocolate, which is balm for the soul late at night when you’re sitting in Davis trying to make an annotated bibliography and instead banging your head on the table. The line at Alpine can stretch pretty far across the Union but it’s worth it.
Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10)
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#60: Head to the drive-through window at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen and order a biscuit
When I’m not running to class or work in the morning, it’s safe to assume I’m sleeping in. For this reason, normally I don’t make it to Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen before the drive-through line stretches out the driveway and towards 15-501. But one early morning during my summer stint as a reporter for the DTH, I covered the same story as my roommate, who was the photo editor. On our way back, we knew we had to check out Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. She had a sausage biscuit and I had a chicken biscuit and they were the perfect early morning breakfast for student journalists on our way back to bed. If you’re feeling brunch with a low level of commitment, I recommend SBK for their delicious biscuits that you can pick up at the drive-through in pajamas.
Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10)
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#65: Go to the Pittsboro Soda Shoppe
The Pittsboro Soda Shoppe, or S & T Soda Shoppe as it’s actually named, is a pretty far drive from Chapel Hill compared to the rest of this food. I didn’t check it out until my senior year for this reason. Why would I drive 20 minutes to get a burger and fries when I can get that at Sutton’s on Franklin Street? The answer is because of their Northern Flavored Sodas. You might have guessed because of their name but seriously: you need to try one of these sodas. You get to choose your favorite flavor of soda (and I’m not talking Coke vs. Dr. Pepper, I mean raspberry, chocolate mint, almond or peach.) And that’s just the beginning. You can mix it with any flavor of ice cream. The actual soda shoppe is adorable, with the decor of the old-fashioned soda shop that it is. Families sit in booths and college students crowd around tables. There’s a jukebox in the corner and a cash register that’s from a distant decade. Go here for a soda when you want to celebrate or if you need a place to kick back and relax. It may not be in the center of Chapel Hill, but it’s worth the drive at least once.
Old Well Ranking: (5 out of 10)
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#69: Eat at Merritt’s (but not a BLT because I don’t eat bacon)
I was lucky enough to discover Merritt’s as early as my sophomore year of college, thanks to my church Love Chapel Hill having baptisms nearby in Morgan Creek and taking everyone back to Merritt’s for a celebratory BLT. I was even luckier to live within a quarter-mile of Merritt’s that summer. My roommates and I took countless trips to Merritt’s after wading in Morgan Creek and exploring the nearby park. Their BLTs are supposedly to die for. I can’t speak to that because I don’t eat red meat (no, I don’t like bacon and no, that’s not blasphemy.) But that doesn’t matter because Merritt’s has some pretty excellent non-bacon options. While their veggie sandwich is pretty good, I would kill for one of their chicken salad sandwiches on sourdough. Merritt’s is just enough off-campus, past the hospitals and right where 15-501 hits the road out to Pittsboro, that only about half of UNC students know and love Merritt’s. If you’re part of that half that hasn’t been to Merritt’s yet, find a friend with a car or figure out the bus system and get yourself a chicken salad sandwich. Or a BLT.
Old Well Ranking: (7 out of 10)