Every part of the experience is top notch. It's an elegant atmosphere with superior service. The food is exquisite, delicious and pleasantly presented. I visit every time I celebrate a special occasion or want to treat someone.
January 2024
As usual great! Sill wondering why they have not updated furnishings. Chairs are old and are frankly never matched well with the table heights. You sink down in them now and feel like a 4-year-old at the grown-up table.
January 2024
Got a reservation at the last minute while attending a professional meeting. Great food and service. Scallops were perfect and dining companions also liked their meals. Wish I could do their brunch, sounds fantastic.
The Fairview Dining Room has come to define Durham fine dining with its regional American specialties and impeccable service. The Fairview’s elegant ambiance only adds to the overall experience. Every meal at the AAA Four Diamond rated restaurant is executed with culinary mastery and meticulous attention to detail.
Hours
Breakfast: Monday to Sunday 6:30 am - 10:30 am
Lunch: Monday to Sunday 11:30 am – 2 pm
Dinner: Monday to Sunday 5:30 – 9:30 PM
Afternoon Tea : Friday to Sunday 2:30 - 4:30 (reservations required)
Other Information
Attire: Dressy
Alcohol: Full Bar
Parking: Lot, Private
Cuisines: American, European, Continental
(UPDATED: 01 02 17) I've had more than a half-dozen wonderful meals in the past year at the Fairview Dining Room in the historic Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club on the Duke University campus. It's my go-to place to for business meetings and personal catch-ups. Friends and colleagues must feel the same way-because it's high on their list for get-togethers, too. While I've never belonged to a country club, if I did I'd want it to be like the WaDu (the nickname bestowed by locals and Duke alums). Most months of the year you can sit on the shaded patio overlooking hundreds of acres, including a world-class 18-hole golf course, with unparalleled sunsets (enhanced, perhaps, by a cocktail). In the chill of winter, relax in the warm ambiance of the wood-paneled dining room while looking out over the snow-dusted grounds. The Fairview is simply magical any time of the year. The fine dining restaurant looks back in time when the Duke family (the tobacco Dukes, that is) ruled the roost, and yet manages to be contemporary, too, notably with its staff of first-rate professionals who greet their regular guests by name. Old-school formality -- with a decidedly modern twist. (For a more boisterous bar scene check out the Bull Durham Bar, also in the hotel, and stay tuned for the opening of the new JB Duke Hotel just across the street.) The menu, under the ever-vigilant hand of executive chef Jason Cunningham, is completely of the moment, with an emphasis on local ingredients from area farms. Some of my most recent favorite dishes included the ?winter salad? with tea-soaked cherries, Norwegian steelhead salmon with a root vegetable and potato hash, and the chef's take on shrimp and grits (a Carolina classic). For dessert, don't miss the sticky toffee cake or the banana pudding. I've eaten at the Fairview for more than a decade, and Cunningham's preparations are consistently excellent no matter the year or the season. The dining experience is crowned with top-flight service; it's as though there's a conductor behind the curtain making sure everything runs perfectly. In fact there is: It's the chieftain of food and beverages Don Ball who knows not only how to make this joint hum but to hit all the high notes, too. What do I like best about the Fairview? I don't have to golf to live the life of those who do.
