A few interns and I decided to walk to Porter’s City Tavern at 2412 Hillsborough Street from the Hillsborugh Street Community Services Corporation (HSCSC) office a couple blocks away. During my three years at NC State I have curiously strolled past Porter’s wondering what type of dining experience they offer. I finally had the opportunity to eat at one of Raleigh’s top restaurants.
What is special about Porter’s is that the atmosphere and menu is not what you would typically expect to see from a restaurant on a student-populated street across from a university. The dim lighting and decor made me feel like I was dining in the heart of a big city and the food on the menu was anything but typical.
Fortunately for us interns, Porter’s was one of the restaurants featured for Triangle Restaurant Week when we went for lunch. For an entire week, restaurants in the Triangle area had a special menu that diners could eat from for a fixed price. Since we were there for lunch, three of the four of us decided to eat from the special lunch menu. This menu had a choice of three main course dishes and two dessert choices for $10.
All four dishes were spectacular. The ingredients used in Porter’s dishes lend themselves to a fine dining experience. Ordering from the restaurant week menu worked out perfectly because all three of us chose something different. The three dishes we had were Braised Short Rib Sandwich, Wilted Frisee Salad with Grilled Chicken, and Shrimp and Mussels Linguine. The other dish from the regular menu that one of us chose was Steak Frites. All of our meals were tasty and completely different from the next. A couple of us purposely saved some of our dish so we could eat it again for dinner.
Just when I thought the food could not get any better, I realized that we also had dessert on the way. The lunch special included a choice of two deserts, Meyer Lemon Crème Brûlée or Cappuccino Cheesecake. Two of us indulged in some crème brûlée and the other had cheesecake. Let’s just say that this was the highlight of my first experience at Porter’s. The crème brûlée was delectable and the hint of lemon added a fresh twist to a classic dessert.
Overall, Porter’s is definitely the place to go on Hillsborough Street if you are looking for fine service, atmosphere, and food at an affordable price.
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Written by: Megan Cyr, Communications Intern
- Photos by Brantley Atkinson, Multimedia Intern
Originally posted on hillsboroughstreet.org as Tasty Tuesday: Porter’s, Pub food with a fine dining flare and republished with permission.