Where to eat in Cary: lists by category

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Refreshed every three months.

These are Cary Daily’s dining lists, one page per kind of food. Each one is alphabetical and gives every confirmed place inside Cary town limits with its address, phone and the hours it publishes on its own website. Downtown’s East and West Chatham Street, Maynard Road, Kildaire Farm Road, High House Road and the newer centers at Fenton, Parkside and Waverly Place turn up on most of them.

How we made these lists. The places come from OpenStreetMap records inside Cary’s town limits, the same data behind our local directory, checked against each place’s own website. Where a site would not load, we used a 2026 record in Wake County’s restaurant inspection data. The lists are not rankings or recommendations, and nobody paid to be on them. Run a restaurant? Write to us to correct your entry.

The lists

Where to get wings. Nine places, most of them sports bars and pizza shops on Maynard Road, Walnut Street and Kildaire Farm Road, plus Wingstop on Cary Towne Boulevard.

Where to get pizza. Seventeen pizza places, from delivery chains to sit-down pizzerias with a bar, clustered on Kildaire Farm Road, NW and NE Maynard Road and at Parkside and Bradford in west Cary, with one pizza tavern downtown.

Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. Nineteen restaurants, from taco counters on East Chatham Street to full-service restaurants at Fenton, Parkside and Renaissance Park.

Where to get barbecue. Six places: pit barbecue downtown and on NW Maynard Road and Ashville Avenue, two grills that list barbecue, and a Korean barbecue restaurant.

Breakfast and coffee. Twenty breakfast restaurants, bagel shops and coffee shops, including several downtown on Chatham and Academy streets and a 24-hour diner on Walnut Street.

Where to get burgers. Eleven places, from burger-only restaurants and fast-food chains on North Harrison Avenue to taverns and sports grills.

Sushi and Asian restaurants. Fifty Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indo-Chinese and Nepali restaurants, the longest list, with a cluster around the H Mart on High House Road.

Ice cream and desserts. Thirteen scoop shops, gelato shops, frozen custard shops and dessert cafes, two of them a block apart on East Chatham Street.

Bakeries. Twelve bakeries and bakery cafes, with a German bakery, a French bakery cafe and a cake shop downtown on West Chatham Street.

Patios and outdoor dining. Eleven restaurants and bars whose own sites say they have a patio, terrace or outdoor bar, downtown, at Fenton and in shopping centers across town.

More on eating out in Cary

Brunch. Weekend brunch days and hours at Cary restaurants, from downtown to Fenton.

Date night. Ideas for an evening out in Cary, from restaurants and a wine bar to The Cary Theater and the ice rink at Fenton.

Restaurant inspection scores. How Wake County grades Cary restaurants and how to look up a score.

Also: the business directory and dog-friendly places.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find a list of restaurants in Cary?

Cary Daily keeps alphabetical lists by category: wings, pizza, Mexican and Tex-Mex, barbecue, breakfast and coffee, burgers, sushi and Asian, ice cream and desserts, bakeries, and patios. Each gives the address, phone and hours each place publishes.

Are these Cary restaurant lists rankings?

No. Every list is alphabetical. It is not a ranking or a recommendation, and nobody pays to be on it.

How often are the Cary restaurant lists updated?

Each list is checked against the restaurants’ own websites and refreshed every three months. The current lists were checked Oct. 12, 2026.

How do I check a Cary restaurant’s inspection score?

Wake County Environmental Health and Safety inspects Cary restaurants and posts every report online. Our restaurant inspections page explains how to look one up.