Restaurants

Several restaurants won their first Maggy Awards this year, including a new Cary eatery that that placed first in two categories.

Mimis Café won first place in both the Best Ladies' Lunch and Best New Restaurant categories. The restaurant chain, which has six locations in North Carolina, opened its Cary location in late February. The restaurant is located at 1115 Walnut St.

Arthur Forgette, market partner for the restaurant, said that even though there are 140 Mimis Cafes across the nation, each one strives to provide a unique dining experience. Forgette attributed the restaurant's success to its commitment to quality food and customer service.

"Guest service is the most important mission, as well as having a menu that has so many different selections of fresh, quality food," he said. "It's all about taking care of our guests and fresh food."

Mimis Café provides an upscale yet relaxed environment that makes it ideal for lunch meetings, Forgette said. The menu offers fresh salads, sandwiches and breakfast all day.

"For a casual dining restaurant, it's very upscale," he said. "It has a great warm feel to it."

Forgette recommended that first-timers try something off the Comfort Classics menu, such as slow-roasted turkey breasts, handmade pot roasts and homemade pot pies. For more information and a more detailed menu, visit www.mimiscafe.com.

Popular pizza parlor Mellow Mushroom was this year's winner for Best Outdoor Dining. The restaurant, which is located at 601 W. Peace St., sits in the heart of Raleigh's trendy Glenwood South district.

Kyle Watson, kitchen manager, said the location is especially popular among the young professionals who work in the area. Though the restaurant has as much outdoor seating as indoor seating, the wait for an outside table can exceed three hours on a busy Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, Watson said.

"(Glenwood) is probably one of the most popular areas in town to go out in," he said. "You'll see a ton of people sitting outside when the weather is right."

Watson attributed the restaurant's success to its location, ample seating — "No other place has as much space as we do" — and quality food.

"The food is fantastic," he said. "There are not too many places where pizza is baked on the stone. It gives it a real nice crispiness on the bottom and top."

For a complete menu, visit www.mellowmushroom.com

For those looking to enjoy a quality meal in the comfort of their own digs, try Dinner Savvy; it placed first in the new Maggy category Best Meal Assembly.

The restaurant, which is privately owned by Sharon Albrecht, has operated for about two and a half years in Apex. Dinner Savvy offers fresh, home-cooked meals and can cater to most dietary restrictions, said Albrecht, who got the idea from a similar franchise that used to operate in Raleigh.

"I thought, 'Wow, what a great thing for busy families like mine,'" she said. "I love to cook, but I didn't have a whole lot of time to cook. What a great way to help families have dinner together again.

"We do all the prep work, and (customers) get the fun part of putting that meal together."

Because Dinner Savvy is not a franchise, Albrecht said she has the freedom to experiment with new dishes and customize meals for her customers. Albrecht said she also tries to buy as much locally owned meat and produce as possible.

"I get to develop my own recipes and get feedback from customers about what they want to see on their menu," she said. "I try to use local, family-owned suppliers."

Most meals require a 48-hour notice. For information, visit www.dinnersavvy.com.

The Irregardless Café, which opened in 1975, won the Maggy for Best Vegetarian Menu.

Arthur Gordon, owner and chef, said he opened the restaurant to fill a niche in the restaurant scene, namely that most restaurants didn't make meals intended for vegetarians.

"The problem for most vegetarians is when they want to go out and eat, they go out to restaurants and the restaurants leave something out of the dish," he said. "But by definition you have designed a dish, and made it less than it could be. We, on the other hand, designed a dish with the finished product intended to be a meal for a vegetarian."

Gordon attributed the restaurant's success to hard work and a commitment to quality ingredients.

"This is a restaurant that loves its vegetables," he said. "I literally go to the farmer's market every day and buy the produce."

He recommended that those going to Irregardless for the first time try one of the most popular items in the restaurant, a salad dressing called lemon tahini, which is a pureed mix of celery, pepper and onions and toasted sesame butter, lemon juice and soy sauce.

"It's like pouring a salad on top of your salad," he said. For information, visit www.irregardless.com.

The winner of the highly competitive Best Pizza category was the family-owned N.Y. Pizza, which has operated in the Cary area for 17 years.

Anthony Masino, manager and son of the founder, thanked customers for the restaurant's success. He said that a combination of quality ingredients, craftsmanship and loyal customers made the restaurant a winner.

"The award is nothing we take lightly, and we attribute our success to our customers," he said. "Without them there is not a Maggy Award or business for us."

In addition to quality pizzas, N.Y. Pizza also offers pizza wraps, a store specialty that is similar to a calzone. Offerings include cheese steak, chicken, spinach, meatball and eggplant wraps. For more information, visit www.theoriginalnypizza.com.