Winston-Salem was founded by Moravian settlers, and their baking survives as a genuine local specialty: paper-thin spiced Moravian cookies, and Moravian sugar cake, a yeasted cake dimpled with butter and brown sugar. Old Salem, the restored eighteenth-century settlement, still bakes both.
The city is at the heart of Lexington-style barbecue country — pork shoulder with a thin red dip and vinegar slaw — and the barbecue houses in and around town are the reason many people stop here.
Krispy Kreme started in Winston-Salem in 1937, and the original shop still operates. The West End and the downtown Arts District hold most of the newer restaurants and breweries.