Clayton Lunch Spots

A bit to my surprise, the town of Clayton has a number of good lunch options to take advantage of during the work week while I'm out here at Talecris.  Of course, there are the typical fast food places and other chain restaurants (which I'll avoid reviewing), but I've found quite a few good local restaurants as well...

The best place, in my opinion, is the Flipside located just off Main Street.  Their menu is widely varied, with typical "bar" options like wings and burgers, but also other specialties, like homemade soup (I particularly like the chicken and rice), salads, sandwiches, and gyros.  Each week, they feature three lunches (one for $5, one for $6, and one for $7) which offer great value and taste.  On top of all of this, the restaurant itself has a cool local bar feel, with excellent music playing (Social Distortion and Alice in Chains on one recent trip) and a casual, friendly wait staff.  The Flipside is often overlooked, but really does offer a great lunch spot!

In the Mexican food category, I've found the best to be at Festejos at the corner of Main Street and Highway 70.  Their lunch menu has a little bit of everything on it, but I particularly like the chicken quesadilla and the burrito al carbon.  The star here, though, is the cheese dip, which is flavorful and spicy, and honestly fills me up before the main course even arrives!  Down the road on Highway 70 are La Cocina and La Fiesta, which are also good and affordable.  I find their foods to be a little more "fast food Mexican" but you can't really go wrong at any of the places.

For the bigger wallets, I'd highly recommend the Clayton Steakhouse in downtown.  The service is always spectacular and their featured item, the ribeye steak sandwich, is one of the best I've had.  Some people have complained at the price or the amount of steak they use, but I find the combination of ciabatta bread and thinly sliced, fatty, medium rare beef to work perfectly together.  As a side dish, there's really no option other than a broasted potato, which is (I think) a baked potato that has been cooked, then quartered, then deep-fried and sprinkled with seasonings.  They are a much-improved spin on traditional steak fries, with an extra crunchy outside.  Expect to spend $12-15 here, but I find it to be well worth it!

There are two options if you're looking for BBQ... one is Smithfield's, which always provides quality pulled pork without much fuss (or cost).  The other is a local place called McCall's, which is a huge buffet offering a wide range of BBQ and other Southern specialties.  While McCall's has solid BBQ and great variety, I lean towards Smithfield's based on the service, ease, and general quality of the food.  McCall's is obviously fantastic when you're extremely hungry and looking to really dig in, but I find some of their dishes to lack flavor and feel like I'm feeding from a trough when I'm there.  Smithfield's, on the other hand, is affordable, always tasty, and never too heavy.

American Hero has taken over as THE sandwich shop in Clayton with Hungry's closing last year, and it does a fair job of serving that role.  I enjoy their philly cheese steak (and the chicken philly) as both are flavorful, not too heavy, and affordable.  Straying from the sandwich menu is uncharted territory for me, but they do offer gyro plates, pasta and meatballs, and other such items.

Sadly, I feel Venero's has gone on the decline in the past several months (so much so that I've not been back recently, even if part of that is trying to avoid buffets of any kind!) with a changing buffet line and generally poorly prepared pizza.  While I used to cite their pepperoni pizza as one of my favorites in the area, I now find that their pizzas seem hurried to get out, resulting in under-browned cheese and sloppiness on the pan.  Their cheesy pasta dish on the buffet is always delicious, and some days their pizza is top notch, but I ultimately find their lack of consistency frustrating and off-putting.

If you're in for a drive, check out...

Sami's Pizza and Sandwich Shop - Probably the best pizza AND sandwiches in the area (located in Selma); it feels like you've walked in to a little shop in NYC when you eat here, truly great!

Robin's Nest - Also in Selma, the Robin's Nest features chicken pastry, fried chicken, fried fish, and BBQ in a homestyle, all-you-can-eat format.  Every bite of every dish I've tried is delicious, just be prepared not to be hungry for days after!