State Farmers Market Restaurant
Rating
Family of 4
Plan on roughly $45 to $75 before tip for breakfast or lunch for four.
Duration
About 45 to 70 minutes for the meal itself. Budget two to three hours for the whole outing if you walk the Farmers Market sheds afterward, which is what most families do and what makes the trip worth it. The kitchen moves quickly for a sit-down Southern restaurant, so this is not a long lingering meal unless you make it one.
Best Ages
Genuinely good at every age, and the best all-ages pick in this batch. It is a casual Southern breakfast and lunch room on the North Carolina State Farmers Market grounds, so nobody is worried about noise, the food is familiar, and biscuits and hush puppies come to the table for everyone. Toddlers get bread in hand within minutes of sitting down, which solves the hardest part of eating out with a two year old. Older kids and teens get a full Southern plate. At a 4.6 rating across 4,834 Google reviews, this is one of the highest-rated family restaurants in Raleigh.
About
State Farmers Market Restaurant sits on the grounds of the North Carolina State Farmers Market at 1240 Farmers Market Dr, and it is the highest-rated listing in this batch at 4. 6 stars across 4,834 Google reviews. For families, it is also the easiest.
This is a casual Southern breakfast and lunch room where nobody is going to look twice at a loud four year old, and where bread reaches the table before you have finished reading the menu.
That bread is the whole trick. The restaurant is known for its biscuits, to the point that its web address is realbiscuits. com, and a basket of biscuits and hush puppies comes out to every table.
If you have ever tried to keep a hungry toddler civil during the twenty minutes between sitting down and food arriving, you already understand why that single detail makes this restaurant worth the drive. The menu is home-style Southern built around fresh vegetables, pork and poultry, with a stated preference for Got to Be N. C.
products, which fits given where the building sits.
The schedule is the thing to plan around. Reported hours are Monday through Saturday 6 a. m.
to 3 p. m. and Sunday 8 a.
m. to 3 p. m.
, and breakfast is served all day until close. There is no dinner service here at all. That 6 a.
m. weekday open is a gift for families with early risers, since you can eat a full breakfast and be done before most of Raleigh has left the house. Saturday morning between roughly 8 and 11 is the opposite experience, with market traffic and breakfast traffic arriving together and waits of 25 to 45 minutes.
What makes this a trip rather than a meal is what is outside the door. The State Farmers Market spreads across open-air sheds and vendor buildings, and walking them is free. Depending on the season you get pumpkins, peaches, boiled peanuts, flowers and a garden center, which is a considerably better post-breakfast walk for a six year old than a shopping center parking lot.
Budget two to three hours for the combined outing. The lanes are flat and paved, so a stroller or a wagon works well.
A few things we could not confirm and you should ask about at (919) 755-1550. The restaurant's own site was not loading for us, so current menu prices, a children's menu and highchair availability are all unverified. Changing tables are also unconfirmed, so keep a kit in the car.
Market Grill is the nearest listed alternative on the same grounds if the wait runs long, and Gipson Play Plaza at Dorothea Dix Park is the nearest playground in our directory for an after-lunch stop.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Yes
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Limited
Setting
Indoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Early. Reported hours are Monday through Saturday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with breakfast served all day until close. A weekday arrival before 8 a.m. or after 1 p.m. avoids the heaviest crowds, and Saturday morning is the busiest stretch of the week because market traffic and breakfast traffic land at the same time. If you want the market experience with the meal, go Saturday and accept the wait. If you want a calm breakfast, go on a weekday. Confirm hours at realbiscuits.com or call (919) 755-1550, since the restaurant closes mid-afternoon and there is no dinner service.
Wait Times
No admission line. Table waits commonly run 25 to 45 minutes on Saturday mornings between roughly 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., which is peak market traffic, and are usually 5 to 15 minutes or less on a weekday. Arriving at the 6 a.m. weekday open means walking straight to a table.
Nearby Food
You are eating here, so the useful version is what else sits on the market grounds. Market Grill is the nearest option in our directory and is right there if the wait at the main restaurant is too long for your crew. The Farmers Market itself also has produce vendors, a garden center and specialty stalls, so snacks, fruit and baked goods are available without leaving the property. That is the practical advantage of this location: if the restaurant is slammed on a Saturday morning, you have real fallbacks within a two minute walk rather than a drive.
Why Kids Love It
Biscuits and hush puppies arrive at the table before you have finished deciding what to order, which is the single fastest way to make a hungry kid happy. The room is loud in the good way, a working farmers market restaurant where nobody notices a toddler being a toddler. And the payoff is right outside the door: rows of open-air market sheds stacked with pumpkins, peaches, boiled peanuts and flowers depending on the season, which is a more interesting walk for a six year old than any parking lot.
Pro Tips from Parents
- Go early. Reported hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. There is no dinner service, so an evening plan will not work here.
- Saturday mornings between 8 and 11 are the busiest hours of the week, with 25 to 45 minute waits. A weekday morning is a completely different experience.
- Order breakfast at lunchtime. Breakfast is served all day until close, and it is usually the better value on the menu.
- Let the biscuits and hush puppies do the work. They come to the table for everyone and will keep a toddler occupied through the entire ordering process.
- Budget time for the market sheds afterward. The walk through the open-air stalls is free and is honestly half the reason to make this trip.
- Call (919) 755 to 1550 to ask about a children's menu and highchairs. We could not verify either, and the restaurant's own site was not loading for us.
What to Bring
- Cash or a card for the market stalls, since produce vendors outside are separate from the restaurant
- A stroller or wagon for the market sheds, which are flat and paved
- A diaper changing kit you can use in the car, since changing tables are unconfirmed
- Sun hats in summer, because the market sheds are open-air
- A bag for whatever produce your kids talk you into buying on the way out
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Plan on roughly $45 to $75 before tip for breakfast or lunch for four.
This is a farmers market breakfast-and-lunch room rather than a dinner house, and Southern plate pricing at that format sits well below the downtown restaurants elsewhere in this batch.
We could not load the current menu prices, so treat this as an estimate and check realbiscuits.
com for today's numbers.
Parking on the market grounds is a lot rather than a garage, which keeps that line item off your total.
Tips to Save
- The biscuits and hush puppies that come to the table are complimentary bread, so let the kids fill up on those before you order extras for them.
- Breakfast is served all day until the 3 p.
- m.
- close, which means you can order a breakfast plate at lunchtime, and breakfast plates are typically the cheaper side of any Southern menu.
- Two younger kids can usually share one plate here rather than needing two.
- Combine the meal with the free walk through the Farmers Market sheds and you have most of a morning's entertainment without a second admission cost anywhere.
- Ask about a children's menu when you sit down, since we could not verify one.
