North Carolina
2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year: How we decided who made the list
Catch named one of USA TODAY’s best restaurants of 2024 – Video
Take a look inside Catch in Wilmington, NC, named one of USA TODAY’s best restaurants for 2024
It’s one of the most common questions when visiting a new place: “Where should I go to eat?”
Answers can be found all around, whether you consult a well-traveled friend, strangers on social media or online reviews.
Allow us to introduce another option: Our inaugural list of 2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year.
Plenty of other Best Restaurant lists exist, offering their take on standouts. So what makes our list stand out? For one, we pulled together the expertise of journalists who live in the places they cover. This is not compiled by writers who swooped into cities like Wilmington for a weekend.
The restaurants on this list are the ones we’d take our family members to for a special night out. If an old friend was visiting and asked where to eat, these are the restaurants we’d recommend.
“Our food writers live here, they work here, they eat here,” said project leader Liz Johnson, senior director at The Record and northjersey.com and a former food writer. “They know their beats. These may not be the fanciest restaurants in the U.S.A., though some are. These are the restaurants we want to eat at over and over again.”
Our list is also unique because it truly covers the country. Let’s hear it for representation of restaurants in cities beyond Los Angeles or New York. The list praises places in Bloomington, Indiana, and Shreveport, Louisiana.
The USA TODAY Network is made up of 200 sites in 42 states and our writers worked together to share favorite restaurants in the communities we cover. More than 150 restaurants were nominated, and that number was whittled down to 47, including two in North Carolina.
How many have you been to? Check out USA TODAY’s 2024 Restaurants of the Year.
A team of seasoned editors and writers considered the restaurants with great service, interesting atmospheres, and food that keeps you coming back.
They also looked for a spread full of different flavors and feels. The list includes a seafood shack, a Laotian restaurant, and a farm-to-table spot in an old Kentucky barn.
Now, we invite you to dig in and enjoy the USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2024, including Catch in Wilmington.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will be a young program across the board next season, with well over two dozen freshmen and numerous additions from the transfer portal this offseason. Expectations for the 2026 season are lowered dramatically after a disastrous first season for head coach Bill Belichick, though those expectations could help the Tar Heels fly under the radar.
As the Tar Heels approach the end of spring ball, it is time to look at the veterans of the team—the ones who have the experience to lead, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Let’s look at three underrated seniors for the 2026 football season.
Ade Willie, Cornerback
Willie joins the Tar Heels program after four years with Michigan State, as the former 4-star player in the 2022 recruiting class gets an opportunity to not only provide depth to the secondary, but potentially start Week 0 against TCU.
Willie played in over 30 games with the Spartans and brings experience in the secondary at cornerback and safety, along with quality length and closing speed to the football. For a defense that needs players to step up, the redshirt senior from IMG Academy will be asked to do so.
Isaiah Johnson, Defensive Lineman
The defensive line is beginning to look like one of the Tar Heels’ strengths for the 2026 season. Johnson, a former transfer from Arizona, enters his redshirt senior year looking to add another year of production after 40 tackles and two sacks this past season.
North Carolina has an impressive group of starters with Malkart Abou-Jaoude, Leroy Jackson, and incoming transfer Jaylen Harvey. Johnson adds value to the group as a run defender with the ability to penetrate the pocket. While not discussed as a key player, Johnson’s name will be used plenty during the regular season as a potential standout for the program’s defensive front.
Coleman Bryson, Safety
Bryson was a reserve player for the Tar Heels’ secondary last season as a big nickel defender in the rotation. Heading into his redshirt senior year, the former Minnesota Gopher is looking to become a full-time starter in the secondary.
It wasn’t long ago when Bryson was making plays as the 2022 Pinstripe Bowl Defensive MVP. His special teams abilities were valuable for North Carolina last season, and he flashed at times in coverage against tight ends, including a pass breakup in the season-opener against TCU. The Waynesville, North Carolina, native could be a key defender on the back-seven in 2026.
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Friends and family members gathered in Washington state on Saturday, remembering former Miss North Carolina Carrie Everett, who died on Easter Sunday. Another memorial service is planned in North Carolina next month.
Web Editor : Sydney Ross
Posted
Virginia 3, North Carolina 0 | First Quarter
Virginia 3, North Carolina 0 | Q1 8:19
After a faceoff win by Henry Metz, Brendan Millon finds Truitt Sunderland to give the Hoos a 3-0 lead. Timeout North Carolina.
Virginia 2, North Carolina 0 | Q1 9:00
Brendan Millon gets the scoring started for the Cavaliers with a question mark style goal. On the defensive end, Jake Marek opens the game with three early saves with his third save setting up a transition goal by Tommy Snyder.
Virginia vs North Carolina pregame notes
UVA owns a 59-33 advantage since the series began in 1938.
The 59 wins are UVA’s most against any opponent in program history (followed by 51 against Duke).
In Chapel Hill last year, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers 18-9, snapping UVA’s six-game series win streak.
UVA has won nine of the last 11 meetings, dating back to 2018.
The Hoos have won the last two meetings with Carolina at Klöckner Stadium, 11-4 in 2022 and 14-6 in 2024.
The Tar Heels’ four goals in 2022 marked the fewest goals in a game under Joe Breschi, who was named UNC’s head coach in 2006.
The last time the Tar Heels knocked off the Cavaliers at Klöckner was a 16-13 decision during the first of three games between the two teams in 2021.
Later that year, UVA claimed back-to-back meetings against the Heels, including in the NCAA semifinals on the way to capturing the 2021 national title over Maryland.
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