By Dathan Kazsuk
Last week, I was invited out to Good Day Good Night—the neighborhood restaurant located inside The Casso in downtown Raleigh for dinner. It ended up being a quiet Monday evening, but that is actually a good thing—no weekend chaos or brunch mobs to get in my way, and an opportunity to sit, drink, and eat.
To me, the restaurant has always felt like it lives in that tricky middle ground—it’s a hotel restaurant, but clearly striving to be more than just a convenient place for guests who don’t feel like wandering outside.
The menu leans Southern at heart with just enough modern restraint to keep it from feeling heavy or predictable. But first things first—drinks. Before even looking at the menu, it was time to see what the bartender was up to. And since ’tis very much the season, Good Day Good Night rolled out its Winter Wonders cocktail menu, a lineup of properly holly-jolly pours including the Bad Santa (not Billy Bob Thornton), Gingerbread Espressotini, Pear Martini, and a Jolly Old Fashioned. We opted for the espresso martini and Old Fashioned—and now it’s time to peruse the menu for our lineup.
After the complimentary Granddaddy’s Famous Cornbread and butter, we placed our order. For starters, we went straight for the cranberry crostini, layered with spiced cranberry relish, crumbled goat cheese, apple cider caramel, and fried sage. If that doesn’t scream holiday appetizer, I’m not sure what does. We followed that up with an order of wings, but skipped the predictable route and went nontraditional with the garlic Fresno sauce.
In my opinion, crostinis can go one of two ways—the bread is either cooked too long and breaks like peanut brittle, or it’s done the right way: toasted. These were the latter. Add fresh cranberry relish and creamy goat cheese. Pro tip: Use the bread to scoop up the caramel sauce at the bottom of the plate. Don’t leave that behind.
The wings held their own, too—eight nicely sized pieces coated in a garlic Fresno sauce that strikes a balance between creamy garlic richness and a slight Fresno chili heat. Flavor-forward without going overboard, which is exactly how it should be.
I had my sights set on the beef short rib with sage-whipped parsnips, pickled golden beets, and shaved asparagus, but they were already out—some lucky diners snagged the last plates. So, Plan B: the Wagyu burger. Given my recent burger streak—from Bobby’s Burgers at RDU to the cabernet burger at Sixty Vines—it just felt like the logical choice.
The Wagyu came topped with beefsteak tomato, butter lettuce, tobacco onions, garlic aioli, and your choice of cheese. I went with gruyere, though any of the options would’ve worked. The burger easily holds its own, with that signature Wagyu richness coating the palate just enough to make you reach for another sip before going back in for the next bite.
Jen was undecided between the butternut squash ravioli with grilled plum and shaved gruyere and the honey walnut salmon with watermelon radish and a Dijon cream sauce. A suggestion from our server—who clearly has a soft spot for seafood—sealed the deal. The salmon arrived flaky and perfectly cooked, pairing nicely with the cream sauce, and I won’t pretend I didn’t steal a watermelon radish or two off her plate along the way.
And those weren’t the only dinner options on the menu. Good Day Good Night also offers a Caesar and seasonal salads, along with entrées like seared airline chicken with wild mushroom ragù and a bone-in pork chop served with braised collard greens and cauliflower rice pilaf. On the small-plates side, there’s crab dip, truffle fries, and Brussels sprout tempura—plenty of solid combinations to build a meal around.
And for the morning people out there, Good Day Good Night also serves breakfast and weekend brunch, where you’ll find crowd-pleasers like chicken and waffles, smoked salmon eggs Benedict, French toast, and avocado toast. That last one alone is enough to get my attention—topped with avocado mash, queso fresco, grilled corn, pepitas, and red pepper flakes.
The Casso is located in downtown Raleigh, right across the street from Dram & Draught on West Morgan Street. Reservations are recommended, especially as word gets out about what Chef Bayles is doing in the kitchen.
