Best restaurants in Knightdale: eight independent picks

Knightdale sits in eastern Wake County, a short drive south and east of Wake Forest along Raleigh's eastern edge. Its restaurant map is wide but shallow. Knightdale Blvd. and the Widewaters and Midway shopping centers are lined with chains, and the independent bench runs about eight deep. Every pick here sits inside town limits.

Prime Barbecue at Knightdale Station is the clear anchor, with a 2025 MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand and a spot on Yelp's Top 100 BBQ list in May 2026. Downtown First Avenue adds The Depot on First, a farm-to-table kitchen in a historic house, and A'Nets Katch pairs a seafood counter with a fish market on Village Park Dr.

Use the list to plan a dinner drive from Wake Forest or a weekday lunch near the boulevard. Several entries carry a note to call ahead, and those notes matter more than usual here.

How we chose

All eight restaurants sit inside Knightdale's town limits, so the list did not need to reach into neighboring towns. Each one had a sign of being open as of October 2026, usually its own website or ordering page, and facts come from the business first. Awards appear only when named and dated. Chains on Knightdale Blvd. were left out, along with Craften food hall, whose website now points to an unrelated site and which showed no 2026 sign of operating. Oak City Brewing belongs on the things-to-do list, and Cake Town Bakery and Unhinged Coffee & Co. do not serve full meals.

Entries are listed alphabetically, not ranked. Hours and prices were last checked in October 2026; call ahead for anything an entry marks as unconfirmed.

A'Nets Katch

Half seafood counter and half fresh-seafood market, this small storefront sits in a strip center on Village Park Dr. The kitchen side turns out oyster sandwiches, trout, catfish, creamy shrimp scampi, crab cakes, an 8-oz. lobster tail, snow crab, jambalaya and lemon-pepper salmon. The market side sells live blue crabs, crawfish, oysters and king crab for cooking at home. No menu prices were available to check.

Why we chose them

• Orders are cooked as they come in, and A'Nets Katch says its seafood is "never sitting under heat lamps".
• In business since at least April 2014, when WRAL covered the shop.
• WRAL described a small space with a couple of tables, so plan on takeout.
• Online orders earn points through a rewards program, and catering is available.
• No dated 2026 post from the shop itself turned up, though its site shows current hours and ordering.

Address: Knightdale — 2009 Village Park Dr.

See the full directory listing

The Depot on First

A historic house on downtown's N. First Ave., next door to Oak City Brewing, holds this farm-to-table restaurant. It began as a food truck in 2021 while the house was renovated. Raleigh Magazine described modern American cooking built on seasonal North Carolina ingredients, with boom boom shrimp egg rolls, crab croquettes and fried green tomatoes. The current menu leans toward a chophouse, with prime rib and filet mignon entrees and chocolate crème brûlée for dessert.

Why we chose them

• The town took public comment in October 2020 on rezoning the house specifically for a farm-to-table restaurant.
• Tripadvisor lists a full bar with bourbon and wine, plus private dining and reservations.
• Hours conflict between sources, with Toast showing it closed Sunday through Tuesday and Tripadvisor showing Sunday brunch, so call first.
• Online ordering runs through Toast, since no working website of its own turned up.

Address: Knightdale — 608 N. First Ave.

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Grand Street Pizza

Family-owned and New York in style, this pizzeria on N. Smithfield Rd., north of Knightdale Blvd., makes thin-crust pies starting at $9.71 for a 10-inch, per a SinglePlatform menu that may be dated. Specialty pies include Buffalo chicken and Margherita. Calzones, strombolis, hot and cold subs and pasta plates served with salad and bread fill out the rest of the menu.

Why we chose them

• Visit Raleigh's 2023 Knightdale guide singled out its tiramisu and cannoli.
• Homemade cheesecake is on the dessert list, per the menu.
• Its own site shows current hours, a 2026 footer and live online ordering through Toast.
• Slice lists it as no longer active on that platform, so order through Toast or call.

Address: Knightdale — 901 N. Smithfield Rd.

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iPho Sushi Kitchen & Bar

Sushi and Vietnamese pho share one kitchen at this Widewaters Parkway restaurant off Knightdale Blvd. The menu runs from the house iPho noodle soup and drunken noodle to pad Thai, a sushi deluxe plate and the Crazy Roll. DoorDash, whose prices may carry a markup, lists the noodle soup at $19.99, the Crazy Roll at $16.95 and the sashimi deluxe at $34.99.

Why we chose them

• Visit Raleigh's 2023 Knightdale guide picked it for its noodle bowls.
• Weekday service takes a mid-afternoon break between lunch and dinner, per Restaurantji.
• Parking is ample, according to Restaurantji's listing for the restaurant.
• DoorDash was taking orders and Yelp shows an April 2026 update, but the restaurant's own website does not load, so call ahead.

Address: Knightdale — 4001 Widewaters Pkwy., Suite H

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New York Diner

Breakfast is the draw at this diner on McKnight Dr., off Knightdale Blvd. Plates include corned beef hash and eggs, chicken and waffles, NY steak and eggs, French toast and pancakes, and the menu also carries Mexican and Italian pasta sections. Uber Eats lists the French toast at $14.95 and the steak and eggs at $23.92, prices that may include a delivery markup.

Why we chose them

• Opens at 6 a.m. every day, according to its Netwaiter ordering site.
• No alcohol is served, per the diner's ordering site.
• Takes reservations and has a private parking lot, per Netwaiter.
• No dated 2026 post from the diner turned up, so call before driving over.

Address: Knightdale — 909 McKnight Dr., Suite 1

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Prime Barbecue

Pitmaster and owner Christopher Prieto, a Texas transplant, opened this smokehouse at Knightdale Station, beside Knightdale Station Park, in March 2020. Six custom pits burn a wood blend that includes aged pecan. Brisket is $19 per half pound, pork ribs $12 per half pound and house-made sausage $8 a link, while meat plates with two sides run $22 for one meat up to $36 for three. A brisket sandwich is $14.

Why we chose them

• Earned a Bib Gourmand in the MICHELIN Guide in 2025.
• Ranked No. 63 on Yelp's Top 100 BBQ Restaurants in the U.S., as CBS17 reported on May 23, 2026.
• Closed Sunday and Monday, and the kitchen serves each open day until the meat sells out.
• The Michelin Guide advises arriving early and expecting a wait, and pre-ordering is offered to cut the line.
• Rotating specials include pastrami, burnt ends, beef ribs and a Saturday chopped whole-hog lechon.

Address: Knightdale — 403 Knightdale Station Run

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Samooni Italian Restaurant

This sit-down Italian restaurant on Knightdale Blvd. makes full entrees as well as pizza, stromboli, calzones, panzerotti and arancini. On DoorDash, shrimp fettuccine Alfredo lists at $22.99, lasagna al forno at $21.99 and a large cheese pizza at $22.99, and those prices may include a delivery markup. It is the least documented pick on this list, and the notes below explain why.

Why we chose them

• A live DoorDash store with current hours and a priced menu was the only current sign found.
• No website or phone number of its own could be found, so confirm it is open before driving over.
• The address comes from Restaurantji and could not be confirmed first-hand.
• No chain connection turned up, so it appears to be locally owned.

Address: Knightdale — 7142-7144 Knightdale Blvd.

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Tikila Tacos & Mezcal

Wake Forest readers may know the original on Forestville Rd., which opened in March 2023; this Money Ct. restaurant is its second location. Food is ordered at the counter, and the menu runs to quesabirria tacos, birria pizza, Baja fish tacos and vegetarian options. Cocktails such as La Fresca and Tiki Tamarindo come from a separate bar, which leans on mezcal and tequila.

Why we chose them

• Stocks more than 35 tequilas, according to the guide site Let's Get Offline.
• Comes from the team behind the Triangle's Mi Cancun.
• Open seven days a week, with later closing on Friday and Saturday, per its own site.
• The Knightdale opening date could not be confirmed and no dated 2026 post turned up, so call before driving over.

Address: Knightdale — 706 Money Ct., Unit 101

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Prices, hours and opening status last checked October 6, 2026. Call ahead where an entry says to.