Located in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem on North Liberty Street, Roar is bringing back the joy of the roaring ‘20s with both casual cuisine and fine dining, as well as an abundance of family-friendly games and entertainment across four floor levels. Located in the former Twin City Motor Building (across from Camel City BBQ Factory), Roar is a food hall and entertainment destination. It houses multiple restaurants featuring a variety of cuisine, including American street food, a steakhouse, seafood, Mexican fare and Italian dishes, all available in a communal, food hall dining experience.
Roar also offers a 90 tap, three story, self-serve beer and wine wall, four full-service bars, and a rooftop club complete with VIP cabanas and city views to create a memory that’ll last a lifetime. Not to mention bowling and golf simulators, plus live music every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This will easily become one of your new favorite hangout spaces for both weekdays and weekends!
Ford’s Food Hall opens at 12pm Monday through Friday, and 11am Friday through Sunday. There are seven restaurants currently open in the Food Hall, including Joey Correll’s American Street Food, Blue Crab Seafood Bar, Centenario, Zero Sei Piadina, Est! Est!! Est!!! and JL Caspers Tavern. And while there are still new restaurants opening each month in the Food Hall, we had the opportunity to delight in a little taste of a few that were already fully open.
First up was Joey Correll’s American Street Food that serves a wide variety of Premium Burgers, Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, and good ol’ American Classic Street Foods. We chose one of their most popular menu items, The Spicy Pig Burger that was a premium patty with apple-wood smoked bacon, jalapeno bacon, bacon aioli, grilled jalapenos, lettuce, and pepper jack cheese. It was served alongside their Hand-Cut Fries Palo Alto Style – aka crispy garlic fries that taste out of this world delicious – and a creamy house-made dipping sauce.
Next up was the Blue Crab Seafood Bar that features everything from lobster rolls to fry baskets to grilled salmon. We ended up choosing from their Raw Bar the NC Local Oysters that are typically served with a Wasabi Cocktail Sauce and Mignonette Sauce. The oysters were not overly fishy, but rather had a subtle taste like the ocean, with mineral notes for a light lunch or afternoon pick-me-up to share with friends!
Centenario was next on our agenda – a place known for their collection of Mexican cuisine. We decided to give the social media viral Birria Tacos a try, and to say we were impressed would be an understatement. The slow-cooked shredded short rib tacos have this addictive sweet, slightly spicy, sour, and savory flavor that is absorbed in the fall-apart juicy meat. The corn tortillas are slightly caramelized in the asadero cheese prior to adding the meat and served with a dipping broth for a jaw-dropping meal!
Zero Sei Piadina was next up, and they serve rather impressive portion sizes to leave you more than satisfied! Now, you may be wondering, what is a Piadina? A Piadina is a thin Italian flatbread that originated in the historical Romagna region of Italy. We tried one of their most popular: The Legend. The Italian flatbread was layered with Prosciutto di Parma DOP, fresh arugula, sliced tomatoes, grilled eggplant, and stracchino for a creamy cow’s milk cheese that melted all the flavors together. It’s safe to say that it was a fan favorite!
Keeping the Italian theme, we took the 30-second walk down the hallway to Est! Est!! Est!!! – an authentic fine-dining Italian restaurant and cafe at Roar. We started with their Tagliere as our antipasto, a charcuterie-like board beautifully decorated with a variety of cured meats, cheeses, grilled vegetables with phenomenal flavor and texture, and their homemade bread. Next on the menu was their Grilled Caesar Salad that was once again beautifully plated grilled romaine, housemade croutons, and grana shaves for a classic reimagined. And lastly, we had a sneaky bite of their Orecchiette Alla Pugliese – orecchiette pasta cooked to perfection with broccolini, sausages, garlic, Pecorino Romano, and a white wine sauce – to finish off this delicious afternoon.
The Italian fine-dining restaurant is open for lunch Friday-Sunday and dinner Monday-Saturday. And while we didn’t have the time to taste from JL Caspers Tavern located on the second floor of Roar, it’s sure to be one you won’t want to miss out on!
Thank you to the friendly staff and owners at Roar for an incredible afternoon! And if you’re seeking food, fun and festivities all in one place, here is your sign to head on over to Roar and tell them that the Forsyth Mags Foodie said Hi!