Roots: Bakery, Bistro, & Bar

Great brunch! Huevos rancheros, pork barbecue and grits… and did I mention the plantains with crema? Everything delicious and the staff is friendly and attentive. Right across the street from UNC Chapel Hill campus.

This place is an interesting fusion of guatemalan and southern food. On the inside, it’s very cute and home-​y. We went here on a Friday afternoon for lunch and I was surprised that there weren’t more people there. For students, it can be pricey, but they recently offered this deal where students can get half off with a beverage purchase which definitely makes it cheaper.
For a beverage, I got the mango orange juice. At first, I expected it to be fresh, but alas, it came out in a glass bottle. Though, it was still pretty good. It was sweet and thick and tasted pretty much like standard mango juice.
For the meal, I got the Guate-​burger and it was delicious. The beef is local and grass-​fed, and you can definitely tell when you taste the meat. It tasted fresh and it was not super greasy. One of the things that I really enjoyed about this burger was the queso fresco on it. This queso paired well with both the avacado and the beef. It oozed out from the burger when I was eating it and that never happens when I’m eating cheeseburgers. The fries that I got were also decent. Some of the fries were a little bit undercooked on the inside, but they were okay overall.
Side note: My friend is also vegetarian and got the veggie wrap which she said was also good, so this place is also vegetarian friendly (yay!).

GREAT food, wonderful service, very reasonable prices and a refreshingly generous glass of wine. Highly recommend, especially the sweet potatoes fries and the crusty cod. Well done!

I have passed this restaurant several time while on Franklin street and made note to try it at some point. The menu posted outside looked pretty eclectic and an interesting blend of southern and Guatemalan dishes. This probably isn’t the best review since I did not try any of their Guatemalan specialties but I have tried three items off the menu so far and they were good.
I’m always looking for the next best sandwich in Chapel Hill and though this wasn’t it the rosemary chicken sandwich was good. The chicken was juicy and tender and sliced so no big breast to work around which tends to get dry. The bread was fresh and the greens on the salad were a nice touch. It had a bit of red pepper cream sauce but could have used a more so you could taste it in every bite. Granted, I have asked for five refills of ranch dressing with the last salad I ordered so it could just be me. I ordered it with the avocado slaw and put some of the slaw on the sandwich to dress it up a bit. The slaw is absolutely delicious and I would love to get the recipe. It was spicy but had a touch of sweetness to take the edge off a bit. I would buy this by the quart if they offered it.
I also tried the penne with cliantro cashew cream sauce. Pasta is pasta to me and I usually don’t get it while out because it’s so easy to make at home but the sauce was so amazingly creamy, tangy and a bit crunchy that I would love to see a non pasta dish that offered this. Again, would buy this sauce alone if offered. It came with two sliced bread halves which I didn’t try because it’s overkill in such a carb rich dinner. It would have been better to offer a veggie especially at $ 11.
I really enjoyed the flavor combinations and would go back to try a few other items. I not sure why it refers to itself as a bakery first in the restaurant’s name because it wasn’t obvious anywhere that that was a highlight.
I’d consider the elusive five star review if they added a self serve ICEE MACHINE. I want cherry and a Diet Coke version. Thanks!

I ordered the Rosemary Chicken Sandwich to-​go on a slow Sunday night and it was delicious. Also got a side of jalapeño ranch for the homemade fries, which were great and very crisp. Friendly staff behind the bar and in the kitchen. I’ll be back soon to dine in and have a beer (good selection).

Had the blackened salmon, sweet potato soup and flan. The salmon was excellent, served over a very interesting madly of veggies. The sweet potato soup was thick, creamy and delicious. The flan was the best I’ve ever had. Service was very good, with a cordial visit from the manager. Anxious to go back and try the chili rellenos.

We tried Roots after having passed it several times — it was excellent and we think the best we’ve found on that end of Franklin Street yet. We’re new to Chapel Hill-​Carrboro and think this restaurant ranks high. Definitely worth checking out.

We came upon this place because the Ye Olde Waffle Shop was packed. They offer breakfast. Nothing you can say wow! About it. We ordered the eggs with toast bacon and hash browns. For starters, the hash browns are actually potatoes with peppers. Toast no butter only jam (I hate jam). And it seems that all is cooked in the same skillet. Way too greasy for my taste. Not coming again

Great brunch and great service! Possibly some of the best pulled pork I have ever had.

First visit for dinner and my review is based on the dishes we tried. The menu is a fusion of Eastern NC/​South American embracing the Local food wave. Loved the atmosphere and service. Very casual and cool setting. Good selection of beers on tap.
My husband, son and I started with the ceviche appetizer which was awesome. I’m not sure I can have a meal there again without always having the ceviche. Two of us had the fish special which happened to be a crab cake sandwich. Sandwich’s aren’t normally the dinner special but in this case, I’m glad it was. There was a light remoulade on top that blended so well I’m not even sure what it tasted like because the overpowering flavor was of sweet and delectable crab meat. We are very picky about our crab cakes because even the best restaurants struggle to get these right but from the moment we bit into these, we knew we were in for a savory experience. Very well done.
My son had the tamales and he thought these were awesome too. I’m personally not a tamale fan so I can’t give those the justice they deserve.
I will definitely be back and I would say put this place high on your list to try. They are just starting up so I’m sure there are still imperfections being ironed out. I only hope they can get these crab cakes on the daily menu!

I was walking along Franklin St on a Monday night after the college semester finished and ended up here for a late dinner. The ambience is upscale casual. There’s a lot of seating space, mostly dark wood chairs and tables, and bar seating, along with a couple of couches. It was very quiet on a Monday night in the early summer. Aside from our group walking in, there was one man sitting at the counter eating.
They have a huge menu with a variety of foods all with an emphasis on farm-​to-​table dining. The cuisine definitely has some Southern influence, but also a Central and South American influence as well. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Partner had the huevos rancheros and said they stood up well to his Tex-​Mex standards. I had the vegetarian tamale which was served on banana leaf on a bed of rice and avocado slaw. The tamale had a really soft consistency and was a little bland to my taste. The rice was good. I thought there could’ve been a little more avocado in the slaw. We were too full to try dessert.
They have a good selection of draft beers and Monday night had a $ 3 pint special. We didn’t take too much advantage of that because we’d been at Beer Study before dinner. Had we known…
Accepts credit cards. Street parking. Good service. Would come back and try more stuff.

Disclaimer: my review is on the dishes I tried. Regarding Roots’ ambiance and service: 5 stars. Super nice, clean, and welcoming.
I tried the Monte Cristo sandwich with a fruit side and a pork pupusa for lunch.
Regarding the sandwich: it is grilled in egg custard with muenster cheese, house-​roasted turkey, Dijon aioli, and cranberry spread. The cranberry spread saves the sandwich because it was a bit in the dry and bland side, but simultaneously overpowers the sandwich. That being said, adding salsa brava hot sauce was a nice compliment to the sandwich and redeemed it in many ways.
Regarding the pork pupusa, I think next time I’ll try the queso pupusa. Perhaps just a personal preference.
Spice (like adding hot sauce) created the flavor I was hoping for.
I would revisit this restaurant, but order different menu items.

NO REASON TO RETURN…
It was one of those places that I really wanted to like. Homemade signage, claims to the ‘freshest’ food in Chapel Hill, rough-​hewn with cloth napkins, friendly but tentative greeting and service and then there was the food.
First — I really like tamales and Roots brags on theirs. Second the waitress assured me that the pork tamales were the best. Third when I complained that the tamale was bland and I thought it didn’t come with the garnishes mentioned on the menu, I was brought some bottled hot sauce. Fourth I pulled out (after eating some and saying what the …) a three inch strip by one inch strip of pork fat. Fifth with the pork fat strip removed there wasn’t much filling to the tamale.
And then… the owner and I had a little chat. I showed him the rather large hunk of fat and asked if that was what was intended to be served. Here’s his answers in our conversation (roughly).
«No that isn’t what we would want to serve.» «Didn’t you see the avocado slaw under the banana leaf?» «No, that isn’t the way we would want to serve the slaw.» «I’ve never had a complaint about our tamales before and we sell fifty of them a day, so, yeah, I want your feedback. I need to know what we’re doing wrong.» «No, I need to hear this.» «I’d say you should order the same thing next time and see if we got it right. It is one or our best dishes, I mean, I pick out pieces of the pork all the time, as I walk by and just eat it, but you’re right, a big piece of fat will change the whole dish. I mean, it will make the whole masa not set out right, it will be too soft, so I need to hear this.»
No sorry, no offer of something else, no other suggestions … and as I left I wondered why, with so many places to eat on Franklin St. I would come back.