Chicken restaurant in Durham, NC
Dame's Chicken and Waffles began in 2010 as Blue Mountain Catering, a small operation that opened only a few days a week. Demand for the food outgrew the catering model, so owners Damion "Dame" Moore and Randy Wadsworth closed the kitchen for a few months, rebranded, and reopened as a full-service restaurant. The two are college friends who reconnected after corporate careers and turned Moore's catering venture into one of Durham's best-known Southern kitchens. The restaurant built its name on what it calls its Almost World Famous Chicken & Waffles. The signature format is the "Inspiration": a plate that pairs award-winning fried chicken with one of the house waffles and a shmear. Shmears are the detail that sets the kitchen apart: whipped crème butters folded with fresh ingredients and matched to each waffle. There are seven of them, including strawberry-crème, chocolate-hazelnut, blueberry, vanilla-almond, orange-honeycomb, peach-apricot, and the maple-pecan that regulars order most. The most popular Inspiration, "What a Classy Hen," pairs a chicken cutlet with a classic waffle and the vanilla-almond shmear. Waffles come in more than the standard batter: classic, sweet potato, gingerbread, and a vegan option, so the pairings can be built well beyond the familiar chicken-and-syrup plate. Around those combinations sits a full Southern menu. Sassy Shrimp & Grits and Blackened Salmon anchor the heartier side, the What Da Cluck fried-chicken sandwich and a Fried Chicken Salad round out the lunch options, and Return of the Mack turns a bowl of mac and cheese into a plate of its own with the kitchen's Roo-Rooster and K-Pop drizzles. Sides run to the expected Southern lineup, from collard greens and grits to mac and cheese, and the shmears, drizzles, and pure maple syrup are all available on their own for building a plate exactly the way you want it. Geography has been part of the story from the start. Dame's spent nearly a decade at 317 W. Main Street, was among the first restaurants tied to the revitalization of downtown Durham, then moved to 530 Foster Street in 2019. After roughly fifteen years downtown, the restaurant relocated to 455 South Driver Street in East Durham, describing the move as a return to a pioneering role in a changing part of the city. Success in the Research Triangle also carried the concept outward, with additional locations opened in Greensboro and Cary over the years. The Durham dining room keeps an easygoing, full-service atmosphere aimed at families, couples, and anyone who came specifically for the food. Everything leans on fresh, made-daily Southern cooking rather than speed, and the staff works the room as a sit-down restaurant rather than a counter. Between the shmear-and-waffle combinations, the shrimp and grits, and the salmon, the kitchen covers breakfast, brunch, and lunch appetites in one place. Reach the restaurant at (919) 682-9235 or [email protected].
Dame's Chicken and Waffles started in 2010 as Blue Mountain Catering, a part-time operation run by Damion "Dame" Moore. As demand grew, Moore and his college friend and business partner Randy Wadsworth paused the catering kitchen, rebranded, and reopened as a full-service restaurant. It became one of the first restaurants associated with downtown Durham's revitalization, operating on West Main Street and later Foster Street before relocating to East Durham on South Driver Street after about fifteen years downtown. The concept also expanded to Greensboro and Cary. Customers most often single out the signature shmears — the whipped crème butters paired with each waffle — and the "What a Classy Hen" chicken-and-waffle Inspiration, alongside the shrimp and grits.