Belle's Bites

By: Laura Giovanelli | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: December 31, 2009

Bleu Restaurant & Bar

3425 Frontis St.

Phone: 760-2026. $$$. NS. ABC.

Bleu is a creative restaurant. The menu's big, but there are gems that show the kitchen's not getting lost in it. Such classics as roast chicken and sweet-corn bisque are simple, straightforward and unforgettable.

Las Estrellas

845 Silas Creek Parkway.

Phone: 724-1893. $$. ABC. S/NS.

Huge menu, heavy on the seafood (the owners are from Guadalajara) and yes, there are choices beyond refried beans and fajitas. You can't go wrong with the fish tacos.

The Loop Pizza Grill

Thruway Shopping Center, Stratford Road.

Phone: 703-9882. $$. BW. NS.

Come as you are to eat creative pizzas, enormous salads, burgers and great milkshakes. Family-friendly. Takeout available.

Mary's Of Course

301 Brookstown Ave.

Phone: 725-5764. $. S/NS.

It's a joy to taste what's on chef and owner Mary Haglund's mind and her specials board: chilled fruit soup, crab-cake eggs Benedict, vegetarian this and that. Sunday brunch is legendary, but be prepared to get in line.

Meta's Restaurant

102 W. Third St.

Phone: 750-0811. $. NS.

Southern comfort self-serve cafeteria (but not a chain). Grab your tray, get in line and choose from beef ribs, fried chicken, baked salmon, meatloaf, mac and cheese, cobbler, and collard, turnip and mustard greens.

New Town Bistro and Bar

420-U Jonestown Road.

Phone: 659-8062. $$. ABC. S/NS.

New Town loves to change its menu regularly, so it's hard to pinpoint dishes that are always around. Beware the "seasonal" claim, though: when I was there in August, many fruits and vegetables tasted and looked canned or frozen.

Oriental Cafe

612 Hanes Mall Blvd. (Pavilions Shopping Center)

Phone: 774-9098. $$. ABC. Smoking only in bar.

Can it be that a strip-mall restaurant can really do Thai, Chinese and Japanese? So far, yes, and well. Terrific sushi and Mai Tais, those cheesy Polynesian cocktails served in green ceramic glasses shaped like bamboo.

River Birch Lodge

3324 Robinhood Road.

Phone: 768-1111. $$$. ABC. NS.

Mountain lodge cuisine comes to suburbia. Venison, cedar-planked salmon, trout ... and brie and huckleberry jam baked in phyllo dough. Also serves Sunday brunch.