This weekend Heather and I had family in town and on Sunday morning, we went on a walk searching for the perfect brunch spot. We decided upon a hidden gem in Downtown Raleigh, the Oakwood Cafe. The Oakwood Cafe is a small, quaint restaurant that flies under the radar. The only time Heather and I had been before was for dinner, which is when they serve their delicious Cuban and Argentinian food. We were unaware that they had brunch and when we were walking by and saw they had brunch as well, we had to give it a try!
The brunch menu is very impressive with choices ranging from classic Southern American dishes to their specialty Cuban dishes. I decided to go with the classic two eggs, link sausage, home fries, wheat toast and for some Cuban flare, I ordered a chicken empanada. All of which I must say was superb! Heather ordered the classic two eggs as well with smoked sausage, grits, biscuit and a pancake to satisfy the sweet tooth! She was not disappointed! The grits, she did let me try JUST a little bit, were very creamy with a wonderful flavor. Last, but not at all least, one of our favorite things about this restaurant is their house made hot sauce. The word incredible does not do it justice. It is one of those type of sauces that you can put on everything to enhance the flavor. Both times we’ve been to Oakwood Cafe, we did put the sauce on everything. We had the sauce on empanadas before but on Sunday morning we tried it on the eggs, sausage, grits and home fries. Oh my goodness, it is so good! They do sell the sauce that you can buy to take home and on this visit we could not resist taking home a jar. The family members who came with us bought two jars of the hot sauce to take home with them too!!
We cannot say enough great things about this restaurant!! It is one of those easy places that we are so happy that we stumbled upon a few months back. Now, I have a feeling it will be one of our favorite brunch spots as well. If you are in the downtown area and wanting something different, check it out! We will definitely be going back.