Rockwood Area Notes

1. Nanataco, Scott Howell's latest venture, is open across from University Green behind the Q-Shack.  It's casual Mexican-American, with a large helping of outdoor seating, and delicious extras like pork belly and duck confit to go in your creation.  They also have inexpensive beer :) and "traditional" things like chips and salsa.  The "'fondito'" with house-made chorizo was yummy, and had so much meat in it that it was more like eating chili than cheezy dip. The "Big Daddy's" burrito will turn you into a big daddy in about 3 seconds: without being messy, it was like eating a delicious meat stew in a flour tortilla.  The main offering seems to be 3 tacos for $6, with your choice of 5 meats or roasted veggies.  4 more "dirty meats" are an extra $2: hog jowl, lamb cheeks, duck confit, and crispy pork belly.  Lunch: yes -- 11 am to 3 pm; lunch special.  Vegetarian options: yes.  Fish tacos: yes.  Margaritas & mojitos: yes.  :-D  Hours: 11 am → 9 pm, Sunday→ Thursday, 11 am → 10 pm Friday & Saturday.  

   Joe E. says check it out.  

   Was that a review?  Wow.  :)

2. Wine Authorities had their 4th birthday party last week.  Some of us weekend ditch-diggers missed it, and also miss their regular Saturday free tastings.  

   So we're happy to learn they've started a series of free Tuesday tastings.  They start at 5 pm until they close at 6:30.  The wines so far have been different from the wines on the Saturday tastings, so you can double-dip if you like and, um, not be harmed.  :)  I certainly wasn't harmed when I stopped in one night after some, um, canal work, and actually managed to buy something delicious.  So enjoy that.

3. Local Yogurt now has a food truck.  They're apparently expanding all across the state, with new stores in Elon and Greenville.  They also have a second location in Durham at Erwin Terrace that's really convenient for the west side of Duke's campus, as well as anyone near The Mixmaster.

4. Happy China Sushi and Bar, formerly known as "Red Zen," formerly known as "Kimono," formerly known as "Pao Lim," is open.  I've read that the owners after this last transition are different, but I don't really know.  Nor have I tried it.  I imagine they'll have a hard row to hoe going against Thai Cafe in University Green (which I think is OK, not great, but most of my friends love [but this isn't the Chinese restaturant post ;-} ] ).

5. The fried chicken at Shrimp Boats is, in fact, typically pretty good.  Thanks, Phoebe.  :)

Comments

[Robust McManlyPants]

Happy China is definitely under new ownership with completely different staff. Excellent service, but they had that under the old owners, too. The food is not as good as it was: OK, but in no way exciting. It's out of the rotation for now.

[Joe Eater]

R.McMP: Thanks for the report. I don't think I got in there any time after it stopped being called Pao Lim. I'm also trying to remember what was there before Pao Lim, but I can't. So much for Papal infallibility. :)