New restaurants bring diversity to Thomasville
This Dairi-O on Liberty Street in Thomasville serves up hamburgers and hot dogs, as well as other sandwiches, in addition to a wide variety of ice cream and milkshakes. {Contributed photo}
A regional fast-food chain, a fried seafood restaurant and a Mexican eatery specializing in takeout orders have delivered some diversity to the Thomasville restaurant scene.
Dairi-O, located at 1811 Liberty Dr., opened in April. With the slogan “real food made simple,” the Winston-Salem-based restaurant chain features a wide variety of foods, including fresh hand-patted hamburgers, all-beef hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, homemade soups, chicken tenders, chicken wings and specialty sandwiches such as fish, barbecue and chicken souvlaki in pita bread.
Healthier options include turkey dogs and veggie burgers, grilled chicken wraps and salads, including a blue cheese wedge and apple crisp chicken salad.
Sides include French fries, sweet potato fries, chili cheese fries and onion rings.
As the name implies, there are many dessert options! More than 30 flavors of hand-scooped ice cream - s’mores, deer tracks, banana pudding and, new for the fall, pumpkin praline pecan - can satisfy any sweet tooth. The restaurant offers milkshakes, soft-serve ice cream, sundaes, flurries and dipped cones.
Lauren Speaks, marketing officer for Dairi-O, said the Thomasville store is the ninth location for the chain, which began in 1947 in King as a drive-up curb service known for hamburgers. In addition to King, the chain has locations in Archdale, Asheboro, Clemmons, Kernersville, Mooresville, Stanleyville and Winston-Salem. A tenth store is set to open this fall in Lenoir.
Dairi-O is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It features two drive-thru lanes and is one of its larger restaurants, Speaks said.
The Captain's Table, a family-owned seafood chain that began in Detroit, Mich., opened at 908 Randolph St. in late March in the former Hunan restaurant location.
Mahone Zad, one of the partners, said the restaurant is best known for its hand-breaded and fried seafood — popcorn and jumbo shrimp, flounder, perch, tilapia, cod, whiting and catfish — served with homemade tartar and cocktail sauces. Additionally, they are known for their fried chicken wings served with homemade sauces, such as Buffalo, sweet chili, barbecue and sweet mustard.
Popular side dishes include fried corn on the cob, fries, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, hushpuppies, collard greens and fried okra.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The Captain’s Table on Randolph Street in Thomasville features fried seafood and chicken wings. The restaurant owners hope to open a location in Lexington as well. {Contributed photo}
Zad, who noted there are three Captain’s Table locations in the Detroit metropolitan area, said he and his partners are looking to expand in North Carolina “because it’s the fast-growing state in the South.”
“We know the type of food we sell is more Southern and it was also suggested to us by one of our managers who is originally from North Carolina,” he explained.
The first restaurant opened in the state in Greensboro in 2020, which Zad noted was recently voted “Best Seafood Restaurant in the Triad” by readers of Yes! Weekly magazine in Greensboro. They are planning to add a second location there as well.
Lexington is another possible location if they can negotiate a lease by year’s end, with plans to open in the summer of 2023. Zad and his partners are looking at the former BB&T branch location on Highway 8 near the High Rock Landing shopping center.
They are scouting possible locations in High Point, Kernersville and Winston-Salem, too.
Bueno Burrito, which opened at 703 Lexington Ave., Suite 6, in late June, serves breakfast and lunch burritos from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Nathan Stringer and his wife, Isabella Bueno Stringer, focus on burritos because it’s the type of food customers can “grab and go.” The small storefront has no dining area except for a few seats where customers can wait on orders for takeout.
A chicken and chorizo burrito is one of many items on the menu at Bueno Burrito on Lexington Avenue in Thomasville. {Contributed photo}
The name of the business not only derives from his wife’s maiden name, but because bueno means “good” in Spanish. The slogan for the business is “quick delicious fresh.”
“Everything’s really fresh — we make 95 percent of our food from scratch.”
Stringer said they offer five homemade salsas, ranging from mild to spicy. “The Sauce” is a popular smoky chipotle sauce.
The signature burritos range from the B&E, which has bacon, cheese, grilled onions and salsa, to Higher Steaks, which has grilled flank steak, onions, peppers, mushrooms, egg, cheese and “The Sauce.” They offer “smashedbrowns,” shredded potatoes covered with bacon, onion, cheese and “The Sauce.”
Customers can also build their own burritos and put some of the same ingredients in bowls and over nachos. Bueno Burrito has started running specials on quesadillas and tacos are planned for the fall. Pork tamales in red sauce are available on Friday and Saturday by ordering ahead.
The storefront for Bueno Burrito is geared to takeout because much of the space in the building serves as a commissary kitchen for Stringer’s own food truck, Snickety Snacks, and several other trucks. The snack food truck goes to birthday parties and concerts and offers items such as funnel cakes, candy apples and fresh lemonade. Stringer would like to launch a Bueno Burrito food truck this coming spring.
