The best restaurants in Wake Forest

Wake Forest has about eighty restaurants and no shortage of lists telling you they are all wonderful. This is not that. These ten are ranked on things you can check: the 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards, TripAdvisor standings and review counts as of September 2026, and how long a place has kept its doors open on the same street.

One rule shaped the list. Everything here is independently run or, in one case, a franchise location that won its category outright. Chains that happen to have a Wake Forest address did not qualify on that alone.

Hours below were taken from each business's own published information and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Over the Falls

A downtown restaurant and bar on Brooks Street that has quietly become the place locals name first when someone asks where to eat in Wake Forest. The room is comfortable rather than styled, the menu is American with a bar-food backbone done properly, and the crowd skews regulars who know the staff.

Hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Sunday.

Address: 419 S. Brooks St., Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• Ranked first among all Wake Forest restaurants on TripAdvisor as of September 2026, at 4.4 out of 5 across 470 reviews, which is the largest review base in town.
• A 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards finalist for best neighborhood bar.
• Walking distance from White Street, so it works as the anchor for a downtown evening.
• Closed Sundays, which is the one thing to plan around.

See the full directory listing

Farm Table

Farm-to-table New American at Gateway Commons, with menus that change by season and a garden patio that is the best outdoor table in Wake Forest on a September evening. This is the closest thing the town has to a special-occasion restaurant that is not a chain steakhouse.

Hours: Tue-Sat 5 to 9 p.m. Sun 5 to 8 p.m. Closed Monday. Dinner only.

Address: 960 Gateway Commons Circle, Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• Third on the Wake Forest TripAdvisor ranking with the highest score of the top three at 4.5 out of 5.
• Seasonal menus mean the food actually changes, which is rare at this end of Wake County.
• The garden patio is a genuine reason to book rather than a few tables on a sidewalk.
• Dinner only and closed Mondays, so it needs planning.

See the full directory listing

Amalia's Authentic Italian Restaurant

Italian cooking out of a renovated historic house on South Main, which gives it a dining room no purpose-built restaurant in town can match. Small, busy, and the sort of place where a Saturday table without a reservation is optimistic.

Hours: Tue-Thu 5 to 9:30 p.m. Fri-Sat 5 to 10 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Address: 1248 S. Main St., Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• A 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards finalist for best Italian restaurant, competing against all of Wake County.
• Holds 4.7 out of 5 on TripAdvisor, the highest rating of any restaurant on this list.
• The historic house setting is the differentiator and the reason people bring visitors here.
• Only open four nights a week, so reserve.

See the full directory listing

Shuckers Oyster Bar & Grill

A Rogers Road oyster bar that has been feeding Wake Forest long enough to have generations of regulars. Live music several nights a week turns it from a seafood restaurant into somewhere you stay, and it is one of the few places in town open seven days.

Hours: Sun-Thu 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Open daily.

Address: 3309 Rogers Rd., Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• 409 TripAdvisor reviews, the largest review count of any Wake Forest seafood restaurant, which says something about staying power.
• Live music Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
• Open all seven days, which almost nothing else on this list manages.
• Full bar and a raw bar in the same room.

See the full directory listing

Backfins Crabhouse

A Maryland-style crab house on Stadium Drive doing steamed crabs by the dozen and crab cakes that are mostly crab. This is a get-messy restaurant, served with mallets and paper, and it is the only thing of its kind in northern Wake County.

Hours: Tue-Sun noon to 8 p.m. Closed Monday.

Address: 1009 Stadium Dr., Suite 100, Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• A 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards finalist for best seafood.
• Steamed crabs by the dozen, which no other Wake Forest restaurant offers.
• Early close at 8 p.m. makes it a family dinner rather than a late one.
• Genuinely regional cooking rather than a Southern seafood menu with crab added.

See the full directory listing

Shorty's Famous Hot Dogs

Open on White Street since 1916, which makes Shorty's older than most of the buildings around it and by a wide margin the oldest restaurant in Wake Forest. Grilled hot dogs, burgers, and a counter that has not been redesigned to look nostalgic because it never stopped being what it is.

Hours: Mon-Thu 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fri 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sat 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sunday.

Address: 214 S. White St., Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• 110 years in the same downtown location, which is the single most remarkable fact about any restaurant in this town.
• Cheapest full meal on this list by a distance.
• The counter is the actual historic interior, not a recreation of one.
• Lunch hours only most days, and it shuts at 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

See the full directory listing

Bodega Tapas, Wine & Rum

Small plates on White Street with a wine list and a rum list that are both longer than you expect in a town this size. Built for grazing and a second drink rather than entrees, which makes it the one downtown room that works for a long evening with four people.

Hours: Wed-Thu 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Fri-Sat 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sun 4 to 8 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Address: 110 S. White St., Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• The only tapas-format restaurant downtown, so it fills a gap rather than competing for the same table.
• A rum program, which is genuinely unusual outside Raleigh.
• Right on White Street, so it pairs with a brewery before or after.
• Closed Monday and Tuesday and never open for lunch.

See the full directory listing

Mellow Mushroom Wake Forest

The South Main location of the pizza chain, and the only Wake Forest business the 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards named outright, where it took two categories. Stone-baked pies, a long beer list, and the kind of room that survives a table of six-year-olds.

Hours: Sun-Thu 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Address: 2125 S. Main St., Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• Won two 2026 Maggy Awards, best pizzeria and most kid-friendly restaurant, and is the only Wake Forest location explicitly named in the countywide results.
• Open seven days with late weekend hours.
• A real beer list attached to a family restaurant, which is a harder combination to find than it sounds.
• Gluten-free and vegan options on the standing menu.

See the full directory listing

The Lemon Tree

A Brooks Street cafe and market that is a lunch counter, a prepared-food case and a caterer at once. Sandwiches, soups, quiche and salads that rotate constantly, and the best option in town if you want lunch that is not fried.

Hours: Cafe Tue-Thu 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fri-Sat 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Grab-and-go also Sun 1 to 5 p.m. and Mon 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 415 Brooks St., Suite C, Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• A 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards finalist for best healthy dining options.
• The rotating menu means the case is different week to week rather than a fixed list.
• Prepared food to take home, which nothing else downtown does at this level.
• Cafe service and grab-and-go run on different schedules, so check which you need.

See the full directory listing

Milazzo's Ristorante

Italian fine dining on Rogers Road, doing pollo martini and shrimp fra diavolo as the plates people order by name. Quieter and more formal than the downtown restaurants, which is the point.

Hours: Tue-Sat 5 to 10 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Address: 3325 Rogers Rd., Suite 109, Wake Forest, NC 27587

Why they made the list

• One of only two fine-dining Italian kitchens in Wake Forest, and the one that is not downtown.
• Open until 10 p.m., later than most of this list.
• Signature dishes that regulars order by name rather than off the menu.
• Off Capital Boulevard, so parking is never the problem it is on White Street.

See the full directory listing

Frequently asked questions

What is the best restaurant in Wake Forest, NC?

Over the Falls on S. Brooks Street ranks first among Wake Forest restaurants on TripAdvisor as of September 2026, at 4.4 out of 5 from 470 reviews, and it was a 2026 Wake Living Maggy Awards finalist for best neighborhood bar. For a special occasion, Farm Table and Amalia's are the two strongest options.

What is the oldest restaurant in Wake Forest?

Shorty's Famous Hot Dogs at 214 S. White Street has been open since 1916, which makes it 110 years old and by far the oldest restaurant in town.

Which Wake Forest restaurants are open on Sunday?

Shuckers Oyster Bar & Grill and Mellow Mushroom are open every day. Backfins Crabhouse and Bodega are open Sunday but closed Monday. Over the Falls, Shorty's, Amalia's, Milazzo's and Farm Table are all closed Sunday or Monday, so check before you go.

Where can I eat outside in Wake Forest?

Farm Table at Gateway Commons has a garden patio, which is the best outdoor dining in town. Several White Street restaurants and breweries have sidewalk seating in fair weather.

Does Wake Forest have a fine dining restaurant?

Yes. Farm Table does seasonal farm-to-table New American, Amalia's Authentic Italian works out of a renovated historic house on South Main, and Milazzo's Ristorante on Rogers Road is the third option. All three are dinner only and most are closed at least two days a week.