Life > August 23, 2007

By Kell Wilson | Life editor

When you move to a new town it always takes a while to orient yourself. It’s almost a rite of passage for every new university student to get lost and discover a new part of Winston-Salem they’ve never seen before. But getting lost can be frustrating, especially when all you’re looking for are groceries or a nice restaurant. So here are the five vital places in Winston that every student needs to know about.

Target/Wal-Mart

These two stores are the staples of any college student. From clothes to food to a pharmacy, Target has most of what you’ll need for your dorm room. They even sell some food in bulk at the back of the store if you don’t want to bother with a Sam’s Club or Costco card.

Unfortunately, it’s not a SuperTarget so there are only a few aisles worth of food products and it is not open past 10 p.m.

However, for those who need to grab some snack food late at night for an all-nighter, there is a 24-hour Wal-Mart just down the road. It has everything that you’ll need and more for your basic needs, just try to avoid it during the day on the weekends or you may find yourself walking a mile from your car to the door.

How to get there: To reach Target, take a left out of the University Parkway exit and just continue straight for about 2.5 miles. It’s on the left side of the road by a Hess gas station. To get to Wal-Mart, take the same route and continue about a mile past Target. You’ll pass Highway 52 and take a right on Summit Square Boulevard. Keep going straight, through a light and it’s right in front of you.

Hanes Mall

Winston-Salem surprisingly has the largest enclosed shopping mall in North Carolina. Hanes Mall boasts over 200 shops throughout both floors and is surrounded by several other stores and restaurants such as Best Buy and Olive Garden. The five department stores are Macy’s, Dillards, Sears, JCPenny and Belk. The layout is different than most malls. It’s split into two sections with JCPenny in the center. You actually have to cross through the store in order to go back and forth between both sides. Hanes Mall doesn’t have designer stores or anything really upscale, but it has the basic Old Navy, Gap, Abercrombie and Hollister that many college students wear.

How to get there: Take the Reynolda Road exit and go straight through the first light right at the entrance of the school. Turn left at the next light, Silas Creek Parkway and continue down that road for about 4.5 miles. Take a right on Hanes Mall Circle and you’re there.

Stratford Road

When furnishing your dorm, your best bet for all your decorative needs is Bed Bath & Beyond, which is conveniently located only 3 miles from school on Stratford Road.

In fact it’s one of the several well-known attractions on this road. Stratford is a hub for college restaurants and stores in Winston. Ishi Japanese Restaurant offers a great selection of sushi and Nawab has a great lunch buffet of Indian cuisine at affordable prices.

The Loop Pizza Grill is also a popular spot for all Winston inhabitants. Stratford also offers a Borders bookstore and a Fresh Market for those who like organic groceries. Stratford can also get you to the mall, so if Silas Creek is backed up, you can take a short cut.

How to get there: There are several ways to get to Stratford Road. The easiest way is to take the Reynolda exit out of campus and take a left at Silas Creek Parkway for 3.5 miles. You’ll see a sign for the Stratford Road exit on the right. You’ll come to a light, which is Stratford Road. If you take a left you’ll be on your way to Bed Bath and Beyond. If you take a right you’ll be passing by the mall on your left.

Cook Out

If you’re not from North Carolina, when you hear the words “cook out” you probably think of a big group of people, hanging out by a grill full of hamburgers and hotdogs.

Around here though, when people say these two words, they usually think of milkshakes. Why? Because of a small, yet extremely popular fast food chain called Cook Out, centered in North Carolina.

It is known for its real, smoked hamburgers (not the frozen kind like most fast food joints use) but it really specializes in milkshakes. Cook Out regularly offers 34 types of shakes year round, ranging from banana berry to walnut and even has two seasonal offerings (watermelon during the summer and egg nog in the winter time).

How to get there: There are a few Cook Outs in Winston, but the easiest to find is down University Parkway by Wal-Mart. Take a left at the University exit and go for about 4 miles past Highway 52. It’s on the right between Burger King and Taco Bell.

Fourth Street

Downtown Winston may not be huge or glamorous, but it does have some good spots, one of those being the ever-popular Fourth Street. This road is home to some of the best restaurants in Winston. Mellow Mushroom is a fabulous pizzeria on the corner of Fourth and Marshall. Foothills brews its own unique beer and offers any kind of food you’d want. Fourth Street Filling Station is a slightly more upscale restaurant. Downtown Thai offers authentic Thai cuisine. Entertainment-wise, Fourth Street is considered the Arts District of Winston and you can find many interesting galleries down there.

To support people coming out, the Downtown Arts District Association holds a First Friday Gallery Hop the first Friday of every month. The event is free and the galleries extend their hours till 10 p.m. and even offer free food.

There is also Films on Fourth sponsored by the North Carolina School of the Arts’ School of Filming, which shows independent movies for only $6 with student ID.

How to get there: Take a right out of school on the University Parkway exit, continue straight for three miles. University Parkway turns into Marshall Street right outside downtown so don’t get worry when the street name changes. Fourth Street intersects with Marshall and you can turn either right or left. To get back to the university, you have to take Cherry Street since Marshall is one way.