The Bottom Line
Pros
- Southern cooking done right!
- Affordable prices
- A great place for families to eat
Cons
- Limited menu and hours
- Not a great choice for dieters or vegetarians
Description
- Big Ed's City Market Restaurant is located in the heart of the Historic Raleigh City Market.
- 220 Wolfe Street, Raleigh (919) 836-9559
- Breakfast prices start at $4.50, Lunch entrees are priced around $7.50.
- Breakfast is served all day, lunch is served from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., weekdays only.
- Big Ed's is open from 7:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Mon-Fri, and 7:00 a.m.-12:00 noon on Saturday. It's closed on Sundays.
- No alcohol is served at Big Ed's.
Guide Review - Big Ed's City Market Restaurant Raleigh - Review of Big Ed's City Market Raleigh
Big Ed's City Market Restaurant's owner Sam Hobgood has carried on the traditions started by Big Ed's Restaurant founder, Big Ed: he serves up big portions of Southern comfort food made with farm-fresh ingredients. The service is fast, the food is fresh and made from scratch daily (every afternoon, Hobgood donates all the restaurants "leftovers" to local food banks) and the restaurant has an old-timey, family-friendly feel to it. Even the kitschy décor harkens to a bygone era. I've never seen so many old farm implements in one place!On a recent visit to the restaurant, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hobgood, and also caught a glimpse of Big Ed himself, wearing his trademark red flannel shirt and denim coveralls. Apparently, Big Ed still has breakfast at the restaurant several days a week, and is more than happy to chat with customers and pose for photo-ops.
I sampled two of Big Ed's City Market Restaurant's signature dishes: Collards and banana pudding (strange combination, I know). The collards were tender, flavorful and full of ham (die hard meat-eaters will be thrilled with Beg Ed's collard greens). The banana pudding was absolutely out-of-this-world! It was fantastic--caramelized banana slices in gooey homemade pudding, crowned with cakey wafers and a marshmallow-like topping--it was too good to be true. Even the most ardent foodie probably couldn't find fault with Big Ed's banana pudding!
Several of my dining companions (all of them native Carolinians) indulged in Big Ed's chicken and dumplings and swooned over them. They vowed to return to Big Ed's next time they got a hankering for cooking that was "as good as their mama's cookin'".