When I started our Top 50 project, picking 50 top-notch restaurants seemed like plenty.
Then the list got longer and longer, and it became quickly clear that I could make the Top 50 at least twice with entirely different restaurants.
So we wanted to spotlight the places we wish we could have squeezed into the Top 50: a list of 11 honorable mentions that hold very special meaning to our food scene.
Angie’s Restaurant
The parking lot overfloweth at this Garner institution. With a dry-erase board of daily specials (maybe field pea, turnip greens or squash casserole), Angie’s carries on the tradition of the Southern meat ‘n’ three. Opening before sunrise, Angie’s deals in bowls of grits and biscuits and gravy studded with sausage — common sights for Southern breakfast tables, but here always uncommonly good…