Hello, friends! I thought I’d take a cue from my friend Ellie Whittington. She put together a fabulous guide for where to eat in Wilkesboro ahead of the first All-Star Race held there in 2023, and when the Clash at Bowman Gray was announced I knew I wanted to do something similar for Winston-Salem, especially in this time of year. Presenting my certified Winstitutions™️, better known as my picks for dining in Winston-Salem during Clash weekend! Winston is easily navigable – just about everything is within a 15-minute radius of the track – so the emphasis here is more on places that you can go to wearing what you would to the Stadium than it is about what’s easily accessible – because it all is!

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Lunch / Dinner

PULLIAM’S HOT DOGS & BBQ
4400 Old Walkertown Rd
(336) 767-2211
https://www.pulliamshotdogsnc.com/

This place is the quintessential Bowman Gray Stadium restaurant, and a Winstitution in its own right. It’s been in business for over 100 years and is one of the oldest continuously-operated restaurants in Winston-Salem. The menu is simple – primarily hot dogs and barbeque – but incredibly well executed by Mark Flynt and his team. If you want to know how good the food is here, legend has it that before Bill France Sr.’s plane departed from Smith-Reynolds Airport to Florida every year for Speedweeks, he had Pulliam’s make a tray of hot dogs and had them brought directly to the runway so he could enjoy some Pulliam’s when he made it to Daytona. Pulliam’s has long been involved with the Stadium in some form – currently, they are partners of Tim Brown, and the interior of the place is littered with historic photos from both Bowman Gray and Peace Haven Speedway, which operated in west Winston from 1946-1956. Even in the off-season, this place is a massive part of the community – I went in for lunch last week and saw Stadium GM Austin Shuford and one of the folks on the old SME team at R.J. Reynolds from back in the day. Top things off with old-school bottled sodas (you’ll find all of sugar cane Coke, Cheerwine, Sun Drop and even RC Cola in the cooler) and a fried pie for dessert and you’ll call it a day.

Pike’s Picks: The No. 1 Combo is a no-brainer. Two dogs, all the way (chili, slaw, mustard and onions), with a side of chips and a soda of your choice (if you want to go full North Carolinian, Cheerwine is the play).

GRECIAN CORNER
101 Eden Terrace Street
(336) 722-6937
https://www.greciancorner.com/

If there was one Winstitution that I would pick to represent the city as a whole, this is the place. For a city of 250,000 people, Winston-Salem has a disproportionately large Greek population. This means three things: 1, we have a fabulous Greek Festival, 2., there are a fair number of restaurants in the city that are owned by Greek people, and 3., the Greek food we have in Winston-Salem is very, very good. Most of the Greek places tend to lean more into the “Greek Diner” vibe, and they are tasty, but this place stays closer to its Greek roots than the rest. If you want a gyro, a souvlaki, a greek salad, anything traditionally Greek – look no further. The Grecian Corner does Greek staples better than anyone else in the city. The actual building isn’t the biggest, but they are quick to turn around meals if you order takeout.

Pike’s Picks: Avgolemono Soup if you’re in that mood, a gyro sandwich if it’s lunch, the combination platter (gyro meat plus a chicken souvlaki skewer plus a Greek salad or fries) if it’s dinner, or the Loukoumades if it’s dessert (they’re Matthew-Dillner approved!). If you’re going with friends, their Greek twist on appetizers is fabulous – I’m a big fan of the Greek Nachos and Feta Fries.

BOBO’S DELI AND GRILL
3478 Robinhood Road
(336) 760-3711
https://www.bobosdeli.com/

If this list has the Grecian Corner to cover Greek staples, it needs an example of a Greek-owned place that leans in a more general direction – and this place, by far, is my favorite in that category. Bobo’s traces its roots back to 1999, when it opened as Teddy G’s. Teddy ran the place until 2017, when his nephew, Andrew Bobotsiares – or “Bobo” – bought the restaurant. Today, business is as strong as ever, and you will see all kinds of people come in – from the kids who either just got done with a basketball game to the over-60 guys who just finished their meeting to nurses and doctors and even the pre or post-game crowd from Wake games. Bobo’s may have the most diverse menu of any place on this list: salads, deli-style sandwiches, burgers, and even seafood plates make an appearance here, not to mention the specials that rotate daily. If you’re not 100% sure what you’re in the mood for, this is a good bet – Andrew, Nick, Molly and the crew will be happy to host you! Tell them I sent you.

Pike’s Picks: The Grains and Greens Salad in the tortilla bowl just about single-handedly got me through the COVID iRacing broadcasts on NBCSN and FOX, the Bo-Cali Chicken is another good salad, and I do love the Popcorn Shrimp plate. But if I’m picking one thing, it has to be the Original TG Burger: two all-beef patties covered in lettuce, tomato and American cheese… with tzatziki sauce, wrapped in a pita! It sounds a bit crazy but it is delicious – and maybe the single best example of how the Greek population in Winston-Salem has influenced the city’s food culture.

REAL Q
4885 Country Club Road
(336) 760-3457
https://www.real-q.com/

I have a belief that the best barbeque restaurants in this state – and we have plenty of them – possess some of these traits:

1. They look shack-like in their exterior appearance or are covered in full-on red brick.
2. They have a backlit letter board for a menu that’s at least 20 years old, preferably with the logo of a soda company that is equally as old.
3. They are covered in 1960’s-style broken quarry tile flooring that looks like someone smashed a million plant pots on the ground. 
4. They are filled to the brim with tin advertising signs that had their heyday in the mid-20th century.

You see any of these and you know you’re in for a good meal. It shouldn’t surprise you, then, that Real Q covers all the bases on those traits listed above. Dig further into the menu and you know you’re working with people who have a clue when the question is not if you want a barbeque sandwich, but rather if you want your meat chopped, sliced or coarse chopped. Ditto for the slaw too – you have the option of regular slaw, or barbeque slaw just the same. Their best sauce is a vinegar-based one more in the Eastern North Carolina tradition, but that doesn’t mean the sandwiches aren’t tasty!

Pike’s Picks: The classic is the play here: a Chopped sandwich with barbeque slaw, a side of hush puppies and a sweet tea to drink.

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BREAKFAST

KERMIT’S HOT DOG HOUSE
2220 Thomasville Road
(336) 788-9945
https://www.facebook.com/p/Kermits-Hot-Dog-House-100057323183612/

Kermit’s is the unofficial breakfast spot of the Bowman Gray community and as such was the obvious choice to lead off this portion of the list. There are countless people in the pits at the Stadium who have stories of coming to get food here either before or after morning practice on Saturdays. It also happens to be the closest restaurant on this list to the Stadium. Lunch is also available here too, and the menu touches a ton of corners – their famed Buster Burger is here in all its variations, but so too is a Pimento Cheese Sandwich, a Chuckwagon, and a hamburger steak. And yes, plenty of hot dogs too: regular, footlong, and beef Super Franks are all potentially yours for the taking.

Pike’s Picks: Take your pick between any of the Baked Ham, Country Ham or Pork Tenderloin biscuits. It’s hard to find places within the city that offer any of these on a regular basis, much less do them well, and Kermit’s does a fabulous job with any of them every time I’ve had one.

MIDTOWN CAFE AND DESSERTERY
151 South Stratford Road
(336) 724-9800
https://www.midtowncafews.com/

This is the breakfast Winstitution of the city. Ask natives of the city where to go get breakfast and this is going to be the place that gets mentioned the most. Yes, they do lunch and dinner – and of course, dessert, per the name – but when you can get breakfast at any time when they’re open, that should say enough. They truly do it all at Midtown, and do it well. Eggs? Name your style. Omlets? What do you want in yours? Pancakes? Stack ‘em high. French Toast? They have ten different variations of it on the menu!

Pike’s Picks: There may be no kids’ meal more iconic in this city than the Caterpillar. Everyone remembers how good the chocolate chips are in the pancake that they use to make the face, though you can get them added to the rest of the plate too. Beyond that, the Smoky Mountain Sweet Potato Pancakes are a favorite of mine. The Citrus Berry Pound Cake Combo takes a classic French Toast and puts a Midtown spin on things by using their most famous dessert, the Five-Flavor Pound Cake, as the base. Of course, you can also get the pound cake on its own, with or without cream cheese icing.

BOBBY BOY BAKESHOP
1100 Reynolda Road
(336) 955-3284
https://www.bobbyboybakeshop.com/

If you’re thinking you want the first meal of the day to be less of a breakfast plate and more of a grab-and-go pastry, look no further! For a place that is only six years old, this place might have climbed to Winstitution status faster than any other restaurant in memory – and has the credentials to back it up, having made it as a James Beard semifinalist last year. Croissants and Danishes are aplenty here for breakfast, as are tarts, eclairs, crumbles and cookies. They even sell their own bread if you want to take a loaf home with you! Coffee lovers will be right at home too – Bobby Boy sells a house blend in partnership with Magic Beans Coffee and it is every bit as fabulous as the food.

Pike’s Picks: The Ham and Cheese croissant is fabulous, though if you want something more traditionally breakfasty, the chocolate croissant is hard to top.

KRISPY KREME
259 South Stratford Road
(336) 724-2484
www.krispykreme.com

This list would not be complete without arguably the most famous dining Winstitution of them all! Krispy Kreme was founded in the city in 1937 and has since gone on to become known the world over for their doughnuts. No surprise, then, that the primary location in Winston-Salem is a better location than most. The full Doughnut Factory display is in full effect here, as you witness the baking process from start to finish as you walk into the place. This location also sells merch too. The best part about this location, however, is that because it’s so close to the longtime global headquarters of the company (approximately half a mile down the road), it gets special perks most other locations don’t. The best example of this is the 1939 delivery truck that spends its summers in the parking lot and is available for all the photo opportunities you could want! It doesn’t reside far away in the winters, if you’re inclined to go hunting for it.

Pike’s Picks: It’s hard to beat the Original Glazed, to be honest. But if you happen to catch them with either one of the Chocolate or Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnuts (usually seasonal flavors around Valentine’s Day and the start of Fall), don’t ask questions, just get a dozen! And remember that in this town, that other doughnut chain counts as a six-letter word, the same way some people look at certain four-letter words.