Raleigh's Local Favorites

Arthur Gordon opened Irregardless Café in 1975 with his wife Anya, his brother, and friend Andy Arnold in an old building on a shoestring budget. Raleigh's first vegetarian restaurant—dedicated to concepts that now sound like buzzwords: green, sustainable, local, farm-to-table. From day one, they featured live performers every night and Sunday brunch. 200+ mostly local musicians performing on 2-3 month rotation. Pee Wee Moore—an elderly saxophonist who played with Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane—performed with Ed Moon on bass for the dinner crowd. Arthur sold the restaurant January 1, 2020 after 45 years. Live jazz still happens nightly. The vibe remains unhurried. The sweet potato biscuits are still legendary. A half-century of seasonal Southern fare and proof that counterculture restaurants can outlast the counterculture.

Built 1913 to connect downtown Raleigh to the Boylan Heights neighborhood—the first bridge to cross the North Carolina Railroad tracks. Reconstructed multiple times. Current steel girder and concrete deck version completed 1982. Now spans the multiple tracks north of the Boylan Wye—a delta-shaped railroad junction with Raleigh Union Station positioned in the middle. Wide sidewalks make it popular with pedestrians, cyclists, photographers. In 2024, artist J. Massullo added murals on each corner. The bridge offers the best skyline view in the city. Locals gather here at sunset, especially when the light hits the downtown glass just right. Bring a drink from nearby Brewery Bhavana.

In 1975, J.C. Raulston arrived at NC State to teach and start an arboretum—a living laboratory for students and the public. In 1976, with a master plan drawn by his graduate student Fielding Scarborough, Raulston made the first plantings on eight acres at the Horticultural Field Laboratory on Beryl Road. Officially dedicated 1980. For two decades, Raulston introduced and promoted more plants into contemporary horticulture than anyone else in the latter 20th century. December 16, 1996, Raulston died at age 56 in a head-on car crash. After his death, the arboretum was renamed in his honor. Over 40 years: 40,000 plants of 17,000 taxa trialed here. Current collections include 6,000+ taxa from over 50 countries. The Japanese garden and winter-blooming camellias are worth a dedicated visit. Free and open daily dawn to dusk.

The Raleigh Cemetery Association established Oakwood in 1869—Raleigh's oldest private, non-profit cemetery. Covers 102 acres in the northeast section, walking distance from the State Capitol. Outstanding example of 19th-century garden cemetery evolution—from grid-like church graveyards to spacious, beautifully landscaped gardens. The Confederate Cemetery was established 1866, directly after the Civil War. Henry Mordecai donated two-and-a-half acres in 1867. When a federal agent chose Rock Quarry Road for the Federal Cemetery, local citizens had three days to move their Confederate dead. More than 500 bodies were hurriedly exhumed and relocated to the Mordecai property. The Confederate Cemetery now contains 2,800 Confederate dead. Total burials include seven governors, five U.S. Senators, eight North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justices, four Civil War generals, two U.S. Navy Secretaries. Victorian monuments, statuary, winding paths, ancient oaks. Eerily peaceful, especially in fog. Pick up a walking tour map at the entrance.