Well yeah but I’m a saint and don’t drink with lunch. 
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They’ve all got full bars 
although not sure the Fayetteville location has theirs set up yet.
Was there for a dry lunch yesterday and the bar looked ready to me.
Oh well thank god. I can still keep it on my list of places to try. My only downtown lunches are on the weekend, so I require drinks. 
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Also, Centro is getting unfairly left off these lists - They’re very solid
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I was in town last week to visit the folks and enjoyed a nice walk about downtown, the photos of which I posted, and I had dinner in Smoky Hollow.
Madre - wow. So I am already a crazy fan of small plate places, but Madre was most excellent. The interior space is so super cool. The almost suede like walls and ceiling, the niches, banquettes, even down to the serving pieces, this was a great modern mod space. I did not love the ceiling lights, but they fit the overall atmosphere. Everyone in my party was startled and intrigued by the clear glass bathroom doors.** One is unsure of what will go on here - how modern is this place??? - till you through the lock and the glass frosts. 
The food was excellent. Whipped goat cheese with Bolted bread was our favorite. Goat cheese often has a chalky after taste, but this was smooth, creamy and seasoned expertly. I loved the salmon crudo in an awesome sauce, but with 4 in our party I only got a nibble. The lamb croquettes were the surprise of the night - I not a fan of lamb, there is something about the finish that I dislike and it is often dry - these croquettes avoided both problems. Crunchy outside, tender, moist insides made for a wonderful mouthful.
The service was strong, the plates came out quickly. Our waiter got triple seated just was we were ready to order another round of plates, but we enjoyed the atmosphere, surrounded by a hip crowd that made me feel somewhat old. But then my dad was there, so I wasn’t the oldest. The room was chatty and lively, but not loud, which we always appreciate. The only miss was the Aperol sprtiz that tasted watery, but we usually make our own at home so we are use to a certain strength. Small plates places are tricky, you can run up a bill very fast. I can’t say what we spent because my stepmother grabbed the check before I could even reach for it. Parking was easy, right there in the deck. It was a truly a lovely evening.** Thanks for reading!
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Was this a copy/paste from your review on Yelp? 
Great feedback! I hope @tylerhelikson gets to read it!
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lol, I don’t have a yelp account. I always think about going on there to rate places, but then I end up reading about DTR instead. The only two reviews I’ve ever written were for the happy community here. I might have spoken to @tylerhelikson on the way out, but I don’t know him so … I did tell someone is a black chef’s coat how much we’d enjoyed it.
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I used to go to a bar in Greenwich, CT with glass doors that frost over - that was over 20 years ago. Nice to see it finally made its way down south!
Thanks for the review - we might try it though we have Las Ramblas in NH where I live so Madre is not high on the list of places to go downtown.
On the Mexican side, I was unimpressed with La Santa’s food - we crossed it off the list after one try. We stick with Gonza after testing out other places.
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Nice review! Kim and I still need to get over there. Fun fact, Counting House in the 21c Hotel in downtown Durham (the old SunTrust building) has those glass doors for the bathrooms. Definitely funny to see people try them for the first time.
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Oh man, the first time I visited 21c it was after the World Beer Festival and I was pretty… happy. Those stalls were mind-bending in that state lol. Plus the vault and everything else… 21c is really cool (does Raleigh have a place with that much unexpected intrigue?)
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Hi! one of the two madre partners here (brad, not tyler). really really appreciate the kind words and glad to hear that you guys had a lovely evening!
let me know the next time you’re coming in and we’ll whip up the purest aperol spritz for ya!
also, if you need a reason to come back, we’re launching brunch on 9/24 - starting w/ sundays before planning to add saturdays after we find our sea legs.
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OMG this is very exciting! DT Raleigh needs some more good quality restaurants doing brunches. My wife and I will probably be there monthly.
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So I’m not someone who cares about authentic Mexican food, but we’ve been following Taco Bamba’s progress in Ridgewood by Whole Foods. They opened a couple weeks ago, and we had lunch there today. So many options, and everything we tried was creative, well presented, and delicious. Here’s some of our stuff.
(I notice people love to argue about Mexican food, burgers, fried chicken, and BBQ. So I’m sure it’s not gonna please plenty of people. But we’re super excited to have this so close to our house.)
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Chido tacos still a busy place and the quality has ramped up.
We need more of this.
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How are their tacos birria? Been dying for some and theirs look damn good on their IG…
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My co-worker had it and it looked pretty good. It comes with the consomé and all. They still need to work on their presentation a little.
Ive been going to Chido for quesabirria just baout every week for the last year or two. It can vary a bit depending on who’s making them that day. On a good day its one of my favorite meals in town, and even on a rare bad day its still really good. That said, I’m no authority on birria, and have only had it at one or two other places, so my opinion may not be worth much.
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Had them this past weekend during Hopscotch. Like @RaleighD I’m no expert, but they were damn good
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