Favorite Lunch Places in Durham/RTP

1) Neomonde -- Lebanese cuisine served up fresh daily. I love this place because the food is always always fantastic. You can sit outside or inside and there is always someone there that I know. My favorite thing to order is the "Make Your Own Sampler" because you can choose whatever you like from their deli selections. I'd recommend the Mujadhra (lentils with onions and rice), the Eggplant stew (don't know official name), the stuffed grape leaves and trying either the Hummos or the BabaGanoush. The average price is $7- $10 for lunch.

2) BabyMoon Cafe -- Italian/Meditteran food served up in a lively and bustling cafe style restaurant with a lovely garden outdoor area. Like Neomonde, this place is consistently great. This is a full service restaurant unlike Neomonde, so sometimes it can take a little longer to get your food. The service is always friendly and great too. My favorite? The fried eggplant sandwich. (As you can tell from my other recommendations, I really like eggplant or aubergine). Average lunch is $ 8 - $12. Don't go at noon. Get there early or you'll wait.

3) Whole Foods (Raleigh - Wade Avenue)
Okay, to this place isn't really a lunch place, rather a grocery store and isn't really in Durham or RTP, but it's close enough. It's great when you don't know what you feel like eating since they have a huge selection. It's not good for business meetings, only casual ones as it's really noisy and crowded and self service.

4) Saffron -- excellent South Indian cuisine. I've only been there once, but it won me over.

5) Azitra (BrierCreek) -- excellent Indian cuisine ( I think it's a mix of regions in terms of cuisine). What's so great about Azitra is that the restaurant exudes an aura of elegance and the food is simply delicious. The service is wonderful, the location is convienant to Raleigh, Durham and RTP as well. Brier Creek offers so many options that even if your lunch date doesn't like your choice of restuarant, there are plenty others to choose from (like Champas which is a Thai restaurant).

6) Moe's -- yes, it's a chain, I know, but it's fun and has good food. This one is off Harrison Avenue in Cary.

7) NY Diner -- it's off Harrison Avenue in the shopping mall where there's a Sam's Club. They have daily specials and my favorite is their eggplant parmigan sandwich. (What a surprise).