The Only Restaurant In North Carolina That Can Boast This Prestigious Award
North Carolina's foodie scene thrives on its uniqueness. From serving ice cream that's too hot to handle to having one of the best gas station burgers in the country, North Carolina is a great place for the adventurous to get their fill. The state even has its own unique approach to barbecue, which their residents are quite proud of.
Although this adventurous reputation is something North Carolina wears with pride, this state also happens to be home to an extremely prestigious restaurant. Herons, located inside of the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Raleigh, NC, is one of 79 restaurants in the world to have a Forbes Five-Star Award. This award, combined with the restaurant's reputation for serving up reimagined American cuisine, truly embodies the unique spirit of North Carolina.
Herons has held this award for 14 consecutive years now. This award alone makes Herons stand out, as only a few restaurants are selected each year to be given this award and it takes a lot of work to continuously keep all five stars. Receiving one of these awards is considered an indicator of high quality combined with luxury for restaurants.
What exactly is the Forbes Five Star Award?
For those not in the know, the Forbes Travel Guide is an independent global rating system. It encompasses not only restaurants, but also hotels, spas, and cruises. The system includes three tiers of awards: recommended, four-star, and five-star.
The breakdown of these tiers is straightforward. Anything with the "recommended" level is a place of consistently good service. A four-star location is considered exceptional in comparison to its competition with higher level quality than most. Last but not least, a five-star award is the highest possible tier, indicating a unique and outstanding experience of highest quality.
Currently, the Forbes Travel Guide contains 267 restaurants total, with only 79 carrying the five-star designation. The United States is home to 37 of these five-star restaurants, with most of them located in California, Nevada, and New York.