A pair of stuffed alligators prowl the tin roof over the bar at Crawdaddy's, their backs lit by the glow of neon beer signs.

Among the items on the chalkboard menu at Poole's Downtown Diner the night it opened in December were calf's liver with rosemary pan gravy, Russian tea-brined pork belly, venison meatloaf, and duck hearts with sherry and bacon.

I've just discovered one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Triangle, and I'm kicking myself.

Step inside Globe and your eyes are instantly drawn upward to panels suspended from the ceiling, their shapes and silvery glow evocative of low clouds.

In Sedona's main dining room, on a wall as intensely blue as the desert sky at noon, hang three pictures that loosely resemble American Indian cave paintings.

I've got a weakness for chiles poblanos. It could be worse, I suppose. I could have an inordinate fondness for cheap tequila.

Dining review:I seldom take advantage of valet parking, but I do when I dine at Fairview. Somehow, driving up the long approach to the Washington Duke Inn transforms me into a sophisticated man about town.

I wasn't feeling particularly open-minded the first time I pulled up in front of Hayashi, which opened last March in a drab strip mall anchored by a Food Lion on the outskirts of North Raleigh.

I like to think of myself as an open-minded foodie, able to take any cuisine on its own terms.

Caribbean Café has been open for nearly a year, but it's a modest little eatery in one of those countless nondescript three-tenant strip malls in North Raleigh, so it's easy to overlook.

The first time I dined at Bocci, the waiter was exceptional in every respect: attentive without being intrusive, welcoming without being overbearing, knowledgeable about the menu and wine list.

Four large glass panels separate the dining room from the cozy bar at Skylines Cafe.

Ed Mitchell is acknowledged as a premier practitioner of the ancient (some say dying) art of Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue.

Amy Tornquist studied cooking at the internationally renowned La Varenne École de Cuisine in Paris.

I couldn't say why I ordered the coconut shrimp. Sure, the appetizer is representative of the offering at North Seafood Bistro, a tiny new neighborhood restaurant and bar in North Raleigh specializing in seafood with a California accent.

In Italy, an osteria is a modest establishment specializing in good, inexpensive wines and simple, well-prepared food -- that country's answer to the French bistro, you might say.

Now that turkeys by the million have given their all for the holiday season, it's once again time for critics of all stripes to stick our necks out on the chopping block of public opinion.

The train cars parked on the tracks next to Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro haven't left the station in years. But they've been carrying people to all kinds of destinations since September.

When London Fish & Chips opened in April, eager customers were lined up four deep out onto the sidewalk of the Cary strip mall where the restaurant is located.

Instead of chips and salsa, Dos Taquitos Centro welcomes customers with a little -- hmm, what's the Spanish term for amuse-bouche?

Just inside Junior's Long Island Pizza awaits a larger-than-life mural portrait of the restaurant's namesake, "Junior" Castellaneta, who bears a welcoming smile and a pizza topped with tomatoes as big as your hand.

Order the assorted meats appetizer platter at Tamarind, a deceptively unassuming Indian restaurant which opened in June in Apex, and one of the specialties you'll get is a tandoori chicken dish called murg manpasand.