Nana’s

Took my wife there for her birthday. Excellent atmosphere with top notch service and creative dishes. Would recommend this to anyone looking for a great dining environment.

I’m afraid that I was not impressed by the tasting menu. Given all five courses, the only one I really liked was the risotto dish. Salad was alright, the lamb a bit overcooked, and the dessert an average chocolate mousse. It saddens me that it did not match up in terms of my previous experience. In short, for the price, it’s not really worth it.

Normally I go next door to Nanataco as it is much more in my budget, but for our one year wedding anniversary my husband and I decided to splurge and go to Nana’s– and it definitely lived up to the hype. The food, ambiance and service were all some of the best I have experienced in Durham.
There are a few parking spaces out front and more around the back if you don’t want to pay for the valet. Walking in the décor is warm and inviting (although some of the artwork is a little weird) but it feels fancy without feeling pretentious. All of the servers were so polite but didn’t make you feel awkward. I especially enjoyed the pumpernickel bread that came with a ginormous thing of butter. My husband and I had the pâté appetizer and I never eat pâté and it was delicious. For the entrée I had bacon wrapped rabbit (again, I usually don’t eat rabbit either) and it was cooked perfectly and the sauce was amazing. For dinner we split the apricot sorbet which was also phenomenal. Looking at some of the other dishes I really don’t think you could make a poor choice. To drink the beer and wine list are solid and not overpriced ($ 7 – 10 for a glass of wine). We each had a cocktail and they were both well made and the bartender even came over when they were missing one of the ingredients to give me options about what to substitute.
The only negative part of the meal (and this was totally not Nana’s fault) was the people at the table next to us. A family of 4 came in and was seated next to us (it was rather crowded for a Monday night) and the mother must’ve had a terrible headache or have been really sick because she literally just had her head on the table the entire time. And no one else in the family seemed to care and they were all on their phones the whole time. It was very strange and distracting while we were trying to have a romantic dinner to have someone so distraught sitting 5 ft away. The staff handled it very well and even comped her meal since she didn’t eat it– again, great service! Despite this as I realize that is a total fluke (and I hope the woman feels better!), Nana’s is a top choice for fine dining in Durham. I had expected it to be very expensive but the prices were in line with other fine dining places like Piedmont and Revolution. I will definitely be back– maybe next year for the second anniversary!

This is probably my favorite restaurant in the triangle. The prices are reasonable for upscale dining in the area and food is incredible. The menu changes frequently, so there is always something new to try, it has a long list of good wine to choose from, and the ambience is very fun and welcoming (not too fancy).

The fricassee of shaved morel mushrooms, fennel, and spring onions over polenta was excellent as was the swordfish but the real star was the duck breast with kale and a blackberry balsamic sauce. My wife never orders better than me but this time I have to admit drooling over her plate. Don’t miss the lemon chiffon cake for dessert!

It’s really disappointing that I had a terrible experience here because I had been wanting to try this place out for awhile. Also, I brought my parents and brother, who were from out of town, to enjoy a nice meal out as a belated birthday celebration for my brother and not only did they not enjoy it, they were made to feel uncomfortable during our dinner. And looking through the reviews, it seems like all the stellar reviews came from a few years ago, so it’s possible that there has been a downward trend here as of late. Lesson learned, go for the sure option (I was debating between this and Second Empire, which I love love love) when celebrating something major.
All in all, the food here was good, but I think there are tastier places in the area:
App:
Pâté — ²⁄₅ meh, this was highly recommended, but honestly it wasn’t anything special
Entrees:
Pan Roasted Red Grouper — ³⁄₅ good, but not outstanding. There was a good mushroom based sauce.
Cast Iron Roasted Duck Breast — 4/​5, tasty, especially liked the blackberry balsamic sauce and the black rice
Grilled Angus Filet of Beef — ⁴⁄₅ very good except it was burnt, ²⁄₅ after they remade it via pan sear method
Grilled Firsthand Pork Chop — ³⁄₅ I think this was my least favorite out of all of the dishes.
So now the issue at hand. The steak and the pork chop came out burnt. As this was a nice dinner and we were celebrating an occasion, I wanted to make sure my mom was actually enjoying her meal as she doesn’t dine out often (she was actively complaining about it tasting bitter, my brother’s stance was oh well I’ll just accept the burnt bits). So we flag down a waiter and let her know the situation. Let me stress this is not something I do normally, I’ve sent back two steaks in my life (and I dine out quite frequently). Though technically this wasn’t my steak/​pork, this has a dubious distinction of being one of out the two.
A few minutes later, a person who I assume was the chef came out, hands on hips, with a very gruff, «It’s supposed to be like that. It’s cooked on a grill.» No greeting, no polite inquires on our night, just straight up attitude of ‘I’m right you’re wrong, the food is perfect’. Look, I’m not expecting you to grovel or anything, but can we talk like normal polite human beings because yes, I understand there’s a difference between grilled and burnt. I tasted it — it was bitter and burnt. A little bit of a char adds flavor, a lot of char leads to burnt, blackened crunch.
During this time, he just kept asking us loudly and impatiently, «so how do you want me to cook do?» Well, gee I don’t know, I came to your restaurant tonight hoping that you would make the food. It was also super uncomfortable because he was practically making a scene in the restaurant. Honestly, had he even just taken the time to talk to us like a normal people and explain things, we might have just accepted the situation and the food. Instead, we were made to feel like we were inferior and unwelcome because we pointed out that the food was burnt. He suggested that he could do a pan fry, but it would taste completely different. I asked him what he suggested between the two options and he wouldn’t give us an opinion, just «whatever you want me to do.» We definitely felt like we were pressured into picking that option, which obviously tasted way less good, but no chance of being burnt there.
Overall, the service was slow as well. We had to wait ten minutes even though we had a reservation and during the meal, we kept wondering when the food was going to come out and it was hard to flag down a waiter at various times during our meal. Also, at the end of the meal, the server boxed up everyone’s meal except mine which they threw out by mistake? so it took extra long for them to cook up some replacement for me to take home.
Maybe we came on an off night and the chef was stressed out due to other things in his life, but there are so many amazing places in the Triangle, there’s no need to take your chances with this one. :(
Bottom line, avoid.

Definitely a go-​to for special occasions. Food is always top-​notch and I have never had a bad meal here. Definitely one of the best Italian places you will find in Durham.

Finally came here for dinner and was not disappointed! Can’t even remember what I ordered but my salad and entrée were very delicious.
Definitely up to the hype.

Atmosphere/​Décor: Very nice, quaint, personable but not quite romantic.
Food: 9.5÷10; you will be hard pressed to find another restaurant that can deliver the Variety of entrée’s @ this quality in the Piedmont. Pork Chop – Excellent 10/​10, Ribeye 9.9÷10 (Basically the second best I’ve ever tasted), Catfish-​simply sublime and all the deserts we tried were memorable!
Parking: Mehhhh, not the best but really NBD!
Service: absolutely no reason to complain – 20% tip service!
Value: above average to Excellent with all things above considered!
Next stop NANASTEAK (which was really disappointing)!

Service is always prestige at Nana’s. There is table seating which usually requires a reservation. But there’s bar service high top seating which is first come first service and there’s quite a few tables available. The food is excellent and definitely exemplifies fine dining in Durham. Perfect for a date night, birthday or even a fancy dress up nigh out with the ladies.

This review is based on my African American best-​friends experience. After sitting for 20 minutes, a waiter finally came to get her order. He came after she had asked a white waiter for service and he ignored her. She then received her soft shell crab undercooked and was told she could order something else, she ordered the chicken. When another white waiter came out and said «is this a more comfortable choice for you?» She was also made a spectacle by the tables around her staring at her. Her grandfathers best-​friend, who is a regular, came in and offered to pay for her meal and ANOTHER waiter exclaimed «YOU are going to pay for THIER meal?»
And to top it off the bread girl never brought them bread. This hurts my soul and we will never go back.

Come here for the first time today and absolutely love it. The staff are very friendly and nice. The food is fresh and delicious. I will bring my friends come here next time. Well done

I have heard about Nana’s for many years; This was my first visit. My big-​picture take is that it offers good food at a fair price with attentive staff. It exactly satisfies my expectation for a fine dining restaurant — and perhaps even a special occasion restaurant — but it’s not exceptional.
I had the black bass ceviche and the halibut entrée. Both were ample in portion, tasty, served at the proper temperature, and well presented.
The coconut ice cream for dessert was disappointing: minimal flavor and rather icy. Ben & Jerry’s does a way better job.
Great ambiance: nice colors, comfortable seating, interesting art and not noisy. It’s a treat to be able to talk in a normal tone and actually be heard.
I would have awarded 4 stars but for the guys staffing the valet parking. Hey guys … and I do mean plural as in 2 of you … you are there to assist patrons, not to stand at your podium wowing yourself and each other with your phone!

My wife and I really enjoyed our first visit to Nana’s. The food was great and the service was what you would expect from a restaurant in this price range. We really enjoyed the atmosphere. We plan to come back sometime in the near future. The only thing that kept us from rating our experience 5 stars was the server made a couple comments that my wife and I felt were rude and inconsiderate. Overall I would definitely recommend Nana’s to anyone looking for a great hole in the wall fine dining experience.

I’ve never been to a fancy restaurant before and was a little nervous about silly stuff, like not using the proper utensils for the proper dish. I had heard about Nana’s from a couple of people, so decided to try it out. We made a reservation, which was a good idea because it seemed like there were a lot of people on a Tuesday night. I stared at the menu for a while, unsure of what to get because I didn’t know what a lot of things were. I guess I’m pretty sheltered. I couldn’t pick something to get, so I just went with the tasting menu. The tasting menu comes with 5 dishes: 1 small appetizer, 3 small entrees, and a small dessert. I was in heaven. It was amazing. I’m glad I was able to try multiple things because their chefs are amazing!!! Our server was very attentive and answered, a lot, of my questions. I will definitely be back. Well worth it!!!

After hearing about this place from so many people, I tried it out finally for dinner. I was impressed. The ambience inside is very intimate and warm, with this rustic feel to it. Service is very polite and relatively quick.
The focaccia they serve in the beginning is stellar and so fresh. Definitely grab a slice when the maitre d’ comes around to offer bread!
I got the February beet salad with endives and duck confit. There were also slices of oranges in the salad as well as feta cheese and pecans. Anyway, this salad was so impressive. Absolutely fascinating how the chef managed to weave all of those flavors together into one cohesive culinary narrative. Individually all the elements were great (especially the duck confit!!!), but together they were out of this world.
I also got the lobster risotto, since the bartender said that in the 20-​some years this restaurant has been open, that specific dish (as well as a three others that I don’t recall) has survived through all the continuous, monthly menu changes. I think I went in with my expectations set wayyyyy too high. The lobster was nice, but the risotto itself was a bit bland for me. It wasn’t terrible; it was actually pretty good, just not as good as everybody made it out to be.
Ended the night with their Greek yogurt panna cotta that came with baklava wrapped in phyllo and drizzled in pomegranate coulis. Fantastic. I can’t emphasize this enough. The panna cotta was SO FRICKIN’ GOOD. Normally I shy away from panna cotta because I find it to be too artificially sweet and and too mushy, but this one wasn’t too sweet and the texture was perfectly creamy (not mushy at all!). The baklava was a bit too spiced up for my tastes, but eating it with the panna cotta was really nice. Plus the pomegranate seeds and sauce made the entire thing just pop! Really great dessert that was executed very well.
I will be back here for sure.

I have been here a number of times, and each experience has been different (3.5−5 stars).
Food: I’ve had the tasting menu twice in the last year ($ 50 with an option for a wine pairing). Your waiter has some influence over the wine pairing. Both times, there were two stand-​out dishes, and the remainder of the dishes were good, but didn’t wow me. Based on this, I’d recommend indulging in individual dishes.
I’ve been impressed by a tuna carpaccio
Service: I took my parents here for dinner on my mom’s birthday (a 4.7 star experience). The waiter was among the best I’ve had — filling beverages in time, folding napkins whenever anyone left the table, providing direct and insightful answers when we asked questions about the food etc. Since it was my mom’s birthday, they brought her 3 truffles (without me having to remind them) and sang to her.
Ambiance: There is significant background noise when the restaurant is full. Otherwise, it’s a semi-​formal restaurant, with high-​quality paintings on the walls.

Almost drove past Nana’s since I was expecting a location fit for a «dressy» affair, not a mini strip mall next to the Q Shack. Then I almost pulled into the Nana Taco next door — kind of confusing. The only thing that tipped me off was the valet parking.
The atmosphere inside quickly feels different, as everyone is dressed in long-​sleeve button downs and nice dresses. Service was pretty good — just hostess and servers doing their jobs, even if they did clear our plates early multiple times. To be fair, our party was very talkative and not paying attention to our food…
I had a field greens salad with a pomegranate vinaigrette, and wow I really love poms! As my entrée, I ordered the Maine halibut, which came out grossly overcooked and thus not tender at all. In fact, it was almost as hard as my mother’s well-​done steak (although she had only ordered it medium well) and way less juicy. I surprisingly enjoyed bits of my mom’s steak, which had a hint of sweetness. The fries were all right, but I personally don’t enjoy truffle oil.
I do have to say prices are very fair for such a highly rated restaurant. If only I had gotten that 5-​star experience everyone else was talking about…

Such great food here! Don’t think twice about the price, so worth it! Drinks and service are spectacular to.
This is a must for dinner!

This was one of the last Durham dining stalwarts I needed to check off my list, so I finally hit it this past Saturday night. The place has kind of a Santa Fe vibe going on, with the stucco/​adobe exterior and the big open wooden beams over the entry. Inside, there’s a curved wall separating the bar area from the host stand and main dining room and the walls are a sunset orange. I went in right after opening and sat at the bar and there was no trouble getting a seat. Going early, I got one of the few parking spaces along the front of the building, but if you have a later arrival time, you’ll probably need to just plan on using the valet because this whole area is parking-​challenged.
Service at the bar was great – very friendly and the bartender was able to help me narrow down my choice of entrée by describing the dishes well. He also pours a nice strong vodka tonic and at $ 7 it’s well-​priced for a restaurant of this caliber.
For an appetizer, I had the lobster tamale ($ 12). The dish had plenty of lobster, as well as poblano peppers and goat cheese, but even with those ingredients it still managed to be puzzlingly bland.
For the main course, I selected the rabbit loin wrapped in Serrano ham ($ 25), because the bartender said it wasn’t on the menu very often due to availability. The rabbit was served over black lentils with roasted root vegetables with a carrot-​foie gras sauce. This dish was perfection – the wonderful saltiness of the ham kicking up the mildness of the tender rabbit, all topped with the richness of the foie gras sauce. These strong flavors balanced well, with nothing overpowering anything else. Had a glass of a terrific Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($ 9) with the main course.
I don’t normally do dessert, but they had a cheese plate ($ 10) so I got that. It had a marvelous bleu cheese and a creamy, powerful goat cheese. The third selection was a triple cream, which I found kind of bland. Plus I would have preferred a firmer cheese to balance the other two – a nice gruyère or sharp cheddar, maybe. The slightly toasted walnut bread accompanying the cheeses was great, as was the whole wheat focaccia offered at the start of the service.
They seem to rotate their menu often, so I definitely want to go back and see what other creative goodies the chef dreams up – I’ll just avoid the lobster tamale.