But if you're craving something more ambitious than nachos, your options drop to nearly zero.

Nearly, but not quite. At The Pickled Onion (7901-101 Falls of Neuse Road; 848-4161; www.thepickledonionrestaurant.com) in North Raleigh, the full menu is served until 2 a.m., seven nights a week. And by "full menu," I mean a varied offering ranging from homemade chili and half-pound burgers to seafood fondue and Chinese five spice seared ahi tuna. Oh, and did I mention that executive chef Scott Becker has worked in fine dining establishments such as Fins, Sullivan's Steakhouse and The Wild Orchid Grill?

Not that Becker is a culinary snob. He's as proud of the meatloaf he makes with Italian sausage and ground beef as he is of his jumbo lump crab cakes. He attributes the popularity of his eight-ounce burgers to their juiciness, which he says is the result of a "secret" fat-to-lean ratio. The chef says the fried calamari is popular, too, and having tasted it myself, I can see why. Same goes for the restaurant's signature chicken wings, whose Buffalo sauce is made from a recipe that owner Tom Kaznowski brought with him from upstate New York. The grilled black pepper-rubbed steak sandwich I sampled was a decided cut above the norm for pub fare, too. So were fish tacos.

If the menu almost lets you forget that The Pickled Onion is essentially a pub, the atmosphere -- in the form of numerous TV screens and wafting cigarette smoke -- will remind you. Fortunately, an attractive patio offers an alternative in fair weather.

Also in North Raleigh, but far away in cultural terms, is Pho Thu Do (2821-138 Brentwood Road; 790-7884). So far away, in fact, you may feel as if you'll need to get your passport stamped when you enter An Chau Plaza, the Vietnamese mall where Pho Thu Do is one of three food court options.

The specialty -- pretty near the only thing on the menu, for that matter -- is the Vietnamese beef noodle soup, pho. Really, really good pho.

What makes it so good? Owner Duong Truong makes it the old-fashioned way, for starters, a time-consuming process that's infrequently practiced nowadays. Duong, who owned a restaurant in Boston before moving here a few months ago, begins by boiling beef bones for eight hours to extract all the flavor. She then subtly seasons this beefy broth with cinnamon, cloves and anise, and simmers it some more.

When you order a bowl, Duong ladles the fragrant elixir into a bowl over rice noodles, adds the beef cuts of your choice and garnishes with chopped fresh cilantro and scallion. Then she serves it up with a dish of bean sprouts, jalapeños, lime wedges and fresh herbs on the side. Add these to taste, along with any of the condiments on the table. Enjoy.

The menu does list a handful of other dishes, among them banh mi. I have a weakness for these little Vietnamese sandwiches on French bread, and next time I'll order a couple. I'll have to get them as takeout, though.

Even the smaller bowl of pho is more than enough to fill me up, and not ordering the pho is unthinkable.

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