A shrimp burger with tartar sauce on a steamed white bun wrapped in wax paper from The Seafood Hut reminds me of my youth.

I'm gonna go with the others, Ella's or Seafood Hut.. my grandma always called it, "Eller's"

Totally not staying in Calabash, , but I love to go down to Little River,(about 10, 15 minute drive) there are a handful of restaurants, great little raw bar down on the water..

My favorite restaurant on South Blvd is Doan's Vietnamese, any stop is fine for riding the light rail, I guess stay on the stop that is closest to your hotel.. They are all relatively safe.

If you have a GPS and have the time, I would go to Super G on Independence for produce! It's an international market. There is a little bun shop in Super G called Honey Buns, I would get a pork bun snack too!! And there is a Vietnamese restaurant in the same shopping center, they have bbq beef fresh summer rolls, I cannot drive by there and not get those rolls!!!!

Another fun thing on the way, at the East/West Blvd stop on the lightrail -there is a small retail store for beer and wine. Great local place, if the weather is nice you can sit outside. Common Market Southend.

I'm posting pictures of Doan's! My favorite menu item at Doan's is the yellow pancake, it's an entree, but I order if for an appetizer.. They also have delicious limeade and avocado smoothies..

Brilliant!!

I think simple and easy to prep, no fuss when people arrive..
pasta (big pot of sauce) or lasagna, salad + bread

chili, rice, toppings... jalapeno, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, (beans if vegetarians are there)- you could also have chips and tortillas, for make your tacos/nachos

chicken marsala- (a little more expensive, but delicious and easy.. after you cook it, you can put in oven on low heat cover and it stays fine, serve over pasta or mashed potatoes.

pork - you could have sandwiches -- buns, homemade slaw, baked beans, green bean casserole, deviled eggs.. or you could even do the taco thing with pork too..

you can make snacky items, if you feel like messing with and depending how crafty, you can buy little individual aluminium cups and make baby mac&cheese, chicken pot pies, meat loafs.. You layer little individual meat loaf and top with mashed poatoes!!!

big pot of chicken red curry with coconut milk.. super easy and it's something that gets better the longer it sits and can make in crock pot... have cilantro, jalapenos, peanuts for garnish.

However, the squash is not psuedo fried squash.

McKoy's isn't pseudo yuppy/biker bar, have you been there? Those boys are down home country boys.

Sir Gus has looked closed every time I drive by it. McKoy's Smokehouse has the best fried squash, I order a side for an appetizer the minute I sit down. It is served so hot, you have to wait to eat it!

Hushpuppies!! My dad owned a grill when I was a kid, he made tartar sauce with dill pickles and we would put it on hamburgers.

I make tartar sauce with bread&butter, dill and capers. It's so good!!

That's slaw without cabbage!

If you like a true dive bar White Oak Grill & Lounge. I will post pictures. We sat at the bar one Saturday, it was delicious, make sure you get some deviled eggs if she made some.

Capt. Stanley's is a great restaurant for Calabash style restaurant. Tartar sauce, hushpuppies and sweet tea all the way!

However, if you want upscale, cocktail, great wine list... you will have to drive downtown to Raleigh. Which is extremely close to Garner. Another random fact, not answering your question, my favorite Indian restaurant is Royal India in Raleigh, I asked my husband how the food was in India, he said, "not as good as Royal India."

Lima beans!

My favorite place for bbq is Ten Park Lanes Bowling alley, it's not the normal slaw, hushpuppy, sweet tea, bbq house, but delicious food and in a bowling alley!! I'm going to post a one picture of the bowling alley. One of my favorite menu items is a layered Mason jar, you can do bbq, slaw and beans and add smoked jalapenos!!! YUM.

I also like Bill Spoon's and McKoy's.

My favorite bbq place ---that is what I think of when I think of bbq restaurants is in Spartanburg, SC, not too far of a drive, but I stop every time!
Southern Barbecue
6 Fairview Church Rd Spartanburg, SC

Depending on where you are staying and how far you want everyone to drive. There are restaurants down on the water in Little River, that might be fun for everyone to walk around. I don't know if there is a 'delicious' restaurant, but scenic and fun.

Joe's Bar & Grill used to be the hot spot many moons ago.
http://www.joesbarandgrillonline.com/

Are you renting a house? Having it catered might be fun, you can have southern bbq or a shrimp boil with big tubs of wine and beer. If you have it catered, I would make sure you hire staff so you aren't stuck cleaning.

If it's convenient, I would go to some restaurants and see who has private rooms. Parties in the middle of a normal restaurant is too loud when you are wanting to toast or just even talk! I'm a wedding photographer if you need one! lol

Bring a jar of marshmallow fluff!! And a box of brownie mix!

I like to bring Burt's Bees (NC) products.
Or salt water taffy?

CROCKPOT is your answer!! Soak peas overnight, cook in crock pot! Your frozen peas will be fine when you cook them again.

Motor Supply CO. For brunch. They have bacon infused vodka bloody marys. Also for dinner they have a charcuterie board , everything house made!

Mr. Friendly's is a staple too.

Totally agree with winefuhrer! Asheville is filled with great local food and priced reasonably. Cocktails at Sazerac too!

I think it's dubious to decide certain items on the menu aren't worth tipping what is customary. All servers would agree, "don't want to tip, stay home and drink."

Before everyone goes off, try over tipping one day, it feels so good! I always leave $1 to $5 extra. If 20% is $8 leave $10. If 20% is $20 leave $25. A tiny amount of money can make a server's day. Being generous in life in all aspects comes back ten fold!

Mo's Diner http://www.mosdiner.net/

http://www.craftrestaurantsinc.com/co...
Eat at Colicchio and Sons, make your reservation and sit in the bar area. Last time I ate there, they had key lime dounuts and coconut ice cream! And everyone can walk around the High Line and go in Chelsea Market before. Then go to the Tippler for drinks afterwards.

Off the Cuff.

Worth the trek for lunch or brunch, 5Church Uptown, maybe 20 min drive. Lamb burger.

The minute I saw that you commented, I knew you tipped! lol

Poppy's is great for bagels.
Doan's Vietnamese.
Good Food on Montford.
Park Ten Lanes bowling alley.
You might be like what? Bowling alley? But they have a smoker and they have layered Mason jars, with bbq, baked beans and slaw and you can top it with house smoked jalapenos, their bbq sauces are coffee jalapeno, apricot something something and two others, but I can never get past the jalapeno coffee one! Also burgers, flatbread, smoked sausages..

These are all a drive from Phillips Place, all under 15 minutes. These are inexpensive places with good food, Good Food is more expensive and upscale than the others, but still casual--must try the pork bun!

If you want to drive around a little, there is a grill cheese food truck Papi Queso, worth seeking out.

Fav hot dogs JJ's Red Hots.

You can drink wine retail at Dean & Deluca, great for afternoon drinking and you can drink wine in Whole Foods!

Yes, yes, yes, tip normally, if you have $250 to spend on one bottle of wine, you have the money to tip properly.

Enrigo in Cary isn't very romantic, but you can sit outside and the food is delicious.

Don't limit yourself to walking, seven minute drive, there's NoDa Brewing and Song Bird Brewery right beside it, then further down on North Davidson, there's Growlers restaurant and Jack Beagles across the street. Drive there and cab it back if it gets too ugly.

During the day on Camden, there's Common Market, great place for beer and sandwiches. Beers on tap and a wall of coolers with individual beers. You can sit outside too.

If you do decide to stay within walking distance, I do not think you will be disappointed with beer selections in most restaurants, beer is the new black right now.

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Noda Brewing Company
2229 N Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Growlers Pourhouse
3120 N Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

common market
1515 S Tryon St #100, Charlotte, NC 28203

Smalls is a new restaurant on Elizabeth Ave. It has small plates and a reasonably priced menu.

These sound delicious, can't wait to try this recipe. I love chicken meatballs, I make them all the time, but I always do a crushed tomato sauce. It's a basic recipe, salt, pepper, onion, parsley egg and a little panko.

http://local.yahoo.com/info-31391899-...
This used to be an Italian restaurant, it just changed to Spanish.
Coco Osteria, now called Malabar.

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Coco Osteria
214 N Tryon St Ste 2, Charlotte, NC 28202