“This place will evolve, just like Fred’s did on Currie Street.” Fred's Texas Cafe sells nachos, fried pickles, chicken-fried steak and the like. But the most popular order is burgers ...

An inexpensive pinot gris and a bowl of pickles is more than passable. Fred Thompson is a Raleigh cookbook author and publisher of Edible Piedmont magazine. Reach him at [email protected].