Traditionally as new restaurants open and diners have more variety, the diners get so excited with their new options that they abandon what they used to love. Thankfully in downtown Raleigh there’s a place where you can still get some down-home cooking in a modern, clean setting.

Yancy’s has been discussed a lot recently, and indeed, the restaurant is open . Ever since opening two years ago they’ve offered a nice lunch buffet and a plethora of sandwiches. The menu has been pared down, but still contains burgers, barbecue sandwiches, and some other staples. I chose the buffet option, so I could sample more. Here’s what I ate:

• Tossed Salad – decent, basic salad bar with 4 dressing choices
• Smothered breaded pork chops – a bit salty for my palate
• String beans – excellent
• Baked spaghetti – not bad
• Barbecued pork medallions – excellent, almost western north carolina flavor
• Red beans and rice – cooked for a while, these beans were about to fall apart
• Stewed corn – fine
• New potatoes – delicious
• Fusilli pasta in red Italian sauce- surprisingly peppery.

While the food won’t be confused with Sarah Chase’s food in New Orleans, I still enjoyed my lunch (and isn’t that what it’s all about?). Food + Coca-Cola was $13 (about normal for a sit-down, nice, pleasant restaurant)

The restaurant was on the quiet side, but I was excited to be dining among Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West , who were in town on business. It was good to see that they were unaffected by erroneous reports that appeared online recently. (A business deserves the right to terminate underperforming employees. If these former employees wish to maturely prove their mettle, they can get on with their lives by helping some other restaurant in the area that needs excellent help.)

Yancy’s is an important part of downtown Raleigh’s fabric. Hopefully their business will get stronger as summer ends. Downtown needs a restaurant like this to maintain a healthy offering to everyone who’s hungry.