Dining in Wilkes
Wilkes County dining offers variety of
Flavors for Every Appetite
By Mike Danahey
If you’re looking for a place to eat but find yourself in a restaurant rut, you’ve come to the right place.
On the menu below, if you will, is an alpha list of seven places in the Wilkes County area with morsels of information about what makes each unique.
Expand your palate by trying any and all of these tasty places.
Bon appetit!
Almost on the Lake
3600 NC-268, Wilkesboro, NC
336-921-5253
www.facebook.com/AmyCJBallard/
Almost on the Lake is a small, family owned-and-operated casual dining spot. Matriarch Amy Ballard has been in the restaurant business for 35 years.
“We hand bread our chicken and fish in our unique breading,” Ballard said. “We make most of our own sauces and seasonings.”
Ballard said Almost on the Lake is decorated with unique antiques and some paintings and photos from personal friends and family, including a youngins coloring wall.
Some menu options include “Fish Bait” (hand breaded chicken livers), “dam” shrimp, southwest mahi bites and perfectly seasoned steaks and seafood.
Almost also offers daily homemade lunch specials such as meatloaf, country style steak and fish cakes.
“We have monthly pig pickin’ (baby back ribs) and chicken pickin’ (bone in wings), along with live original music by CJ Ballard,” she said.
Amalfi’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
1919 US-421 G, Wilkesboro, NC
336-838-3188
amalfisofwilkes.com
One thing that makes Amalfi’s Restaurant distinctive is that owner Tony Castagliola hails from Naples while his wife Lellena is from Sardinia. So house specialties reflect traditions from both of those regions of Italy, combining mountain with sea, he said.
The couple has been living in North Carolina for 25 years. They bought Amalfi’s, which first opened in 2002, in 2008 Castagliola said he’s been working in restaurants since he was 13, while Lellena attended culinary school in Italy.
Authentic Italian dishes are on the menu, as are Italian-American ones. So you’ll find cannelloni, manicotti (with chicken & broccoli and seafood options), a variety of pizza styles, sub sandwiches and even chicken wings.
A family operation, Castagliola’s brother-in-law, Peppe Tiano, recently has been serving as chef. Putting family first, Amalfi’s is closed on Sundays.
Brushy Mountain Smokehouse & Creamery
201 Wilkesboro Ave., North Wilkesboro, NC
336-667-9464
Jeff Swofford is one of the family members involved with The Brushy Mountain Smokehouse & Creamery, a family restaurant that opened in October 2002.
“We offer a variety of smoked meats, numerous vegetables, breads and a fairly large salad bar with several homemade pastas and other salads, cornbread salad being one of the favorites,” Swofford said.
Brushy Mountain makes its own ice cream daily and usually carries up to 18 flavors. Mud Pie, Butter Pecan, Red Velvet and Toasted Coconut are among the most popular.
“We have numerous photos and paintings pertaining to the history of Wilkes County concerning the moonshine era, NASCAR and several businesses which started in Wilkes — Holly Farms and Lowe’s to name a couple,” Swofford said.
Menu favorites include pulled pork, barbecue, hand cut and breaded chicken bites and tenders and pot roast, as well as out of the ordinary barbecue crunchers appetizers — barbecue wrapped in a tortilla shell then deep fried.
The restaurant also gives a free scoop of ice cream to children ages 4 and under.
“I think parents enjoy a good part of that,” Swofford said.
Dom Bakeries & Pizzeria
908 D St., North Wilkesboro, NC
336-990-9243
www.dombakeries.com
Dom Bakeries & Pizzeria owner Dave Barricklow says his spot is a one stop shop for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as for eats and treats both sweet and savory.
“Our restaurant is unique in that not only are we a restaurant but we are a full line bakery with everything made fresh daily,” he said. “Our downstairs is set up not only to present our freshly made products such as apple fritters, classic donuts, cookies, cakes, but we also freshly make our pizzas, sandwiches, breakfast biscuits, croissants, bagels and more.”
With its open floor layout, customers can see all aspects of kitchen production, from pizza and latte making to cake decorating.
“That’s just downstairs,” Barricklow said. “Our upstairs is cozy and welcoming with a fireplace and a balcony for outdoor eating. We are particularly welcoming to families and have a small toy kitchen area for kids to play. Our patio is dog friendly, and we make our own dog biscuits.”
Barricklow and his wife, Bronwyn, were in the bakery business from 1972 to 1996 in the Ann Arbor, Mich. area. They moved to North Wilkesboro in 2012, noticed a shortage of bakeries and decided to open one.
Dishes you might not find elsewhere around greater Wilkesboro include a breakfast sandwich on a donut, Texas-style kolaches, loaded buffalo chicken nachos and specialty cheese dip, he said.
“One unique donut that we brought from Michigan is the fried danish. It’s not sold anywhere else. Another item we sell only around Fat Tuesday, just before Lent, is paczkis, a Polish tradition and a delicious, rich filled donut,” Barricklow said.
Dooley’s Grill & Tavern
102 E. Main St. Wilkesboro, NC
336-667-0800
www.dooleyswilkesboro.com
Seth Cohn says one thing that makes his Dooley’s Grill & Tavern unique is that it has a sister establishment right across the street. That would be TwoBoros Brewery & Pizzeria, which holds a brick oven for making the pizzas and where the dough is made fresh daily.
When the pandemic hit that March 2020, Seth and his brother, Grayson, transitioned Dooley’s into a place for takeout, delivery and outside dining that featured TwoBoros beers, while the pizzeria side of the brewery still offered pizzas to go.
Now the operations are running full-tilt, with both offering TwoBoros brews. Popular styles include a Neon Lager and Bikini Bottom, a gluten free Pineapple IPA made with sorghum
At Dooley’s everything is made inhouse and all but a wonton dish are available in gluten free options,
Cohn said.
Dooley’s has been lauded by the Wilkes Journal-Patriot on three occasions as the area’s best nightspot and for having the best hamburgers.
Those burgers are made fresh to order with meat ground in-house multiple times a day, Cohn said.
“We also serve truly rare roast beef. I haven’t seen that anywhere else,” Cohn said.
Another thing you won’t find anywhere else: Cohn’s mom, Sue. She makes Dooley’s desserts, including Brushy Mountain apple pie and the house specialty, homemade cheesecake.
Mad Jax
2867 D North HWY 16, Millers Creek, NC
336-990-9008
www.facebook.com/people/Mad-Jax/100062297355861/
The handwritten menu boards give clues that Mad Jax is a family-owned and operated business with a casual atmosphere.
“It is truly a family place,” owner Eddie Jarvis said. “We take pride in making our guests feel right at home and ensuring that no one leaves hungry.”
The Mad Jax menu offers a twist on traditional seafood and steaks.
“We have authentic family recipes used from the Captain’s Table since 1978,” Jarvis said. “We serve only choice meats and seafood. Our seafood is freshly breaded and made to order, and we pride ourselves on flavor innovation.”
Unique dishes include the Mad Jax take on shrimp scampi, prime rib and smothered chicken, as well as its very own Captain’s Taters.
“We also carry funnel cake fries, loaded tater tots and onion petals to start your meal off right,” Jarvis said.
The restaurant prides itself on making its customers happy, Jarvis said, and has extraordinary young adults from the community working there in a team environment to provide the highest level of customer service.
“Also, we give back to our local Christian radio station, providing prizes for the weekly Bible Verse Trivia,” he said.
Roselli’s on Tenth
211 10th St., North Wilkesboro
336-818-4343
www.rosellison10th.com/
John Roselli and his restaurant have deep roots in the area. His father, a Brooklyn, NY native, opened a barbecue, hot dogs and burger spot called the Green Pig back in 1935, about three blocks from where Roselli operates his place today.
In 1966, his dad opened Sunny Italy in town, using materials from a nearby chicken house in the building process. Roselli, then in high school, waited tables there.
In fact, Roselli still uses family recipes from back in the day.
His restaurant’s red sauce comes via his father by way of his Naples-born grandfather, with a touch of his mother Daisy’s sugary southern influence. Sunny Italy salad dressing is Roselli’s mother’s creation from her days shopping at the local A&P. Both, along with other items, are available for sale to take home.
Roselli also works with local food producers as he favors using fresh ingredients from known sources. He is chef as well as owner, while Roselli’s wife, Sharon, handles making desserts including cream puffs and cheesecake.
The couple actually had a takeout place prior to the pandemic. That experience helped them shape Roselli’s on Tenth, which also does well with carryout business.
Roselli said his restaurant has no televisions to help create an atmosphere that encourages people to talk to each other. He likes to come out of the kitchen, too, to chat with diners.
“People know who owns this place. We are always here,” Roselli said.
Roselli said he finds a good many Italian eateries “boring as hell,” so he works to have a unique item on the menu every week.
Like the dinner menu, the pizza menu can include out of the ordinary creations, such as a Philly cheesesteak pie and one called the Mona Lisa made with eggplant.
If the dining room is busy, guests are welcome to visit Rosie’s Bar at Roselli’s on the lower level. There’s room there for 100 or so patrons, music to be heard and conversations to be had, Roselli said.
“During the COVID pandemic, Wilkes Chamber created the restaurant group page as an inclusion to the chamber’s Facebook page as takeout and delivery options. This “group” addition to the Chamber Facebook page, a very active page, enables Wilkes County restaurants to post on a daily basis and be a method to truly market and advertise on social media.”
