Lantern is a marriage of Asian flavors and North Carolina ingredients sourced mainly from local farms and fisheries. Join us in our Dining Room, the Lantern Bar and weather permitting, our Garden Patio and café sidewalk for dinner Tuesday – Saturday starting at 5pm. Snacks like raw NC oysters, salt and pepper shrimp, chaat, and handmade dumplings along with Japanese Steakhouse-style bavette, Tea and Spice Smoked Chicken, and our Cured Salmon Bento Box are all great for sharing over a relaxed meal.
If you aren’t able to find your preferred time or party size on OpenTable, please contact Lantern by phone at 919-969-8846.
PLEASE HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE FOR ALL UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION.
Asian fare made with locally sourced ingredients served in a modern storefront space. Based on 404 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.4 stars. Price $$$
✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Takeout ✔️ No delivery
Address:
423 W Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Phone: (919) 969-8846
Website:
Social Profile: 
Hours
| Saturday |
5–10 PM |
| Sunday |
Closed |
| Monday
(Labor Day)
|
Closed |
| Tuesday |
5–9 PM |
| Wednesday |
5–9 PM |
| Thursday |
5–9 PM |
| Friday |
5–10 PM |
Menu
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Menu Photos
Photo Gallery
Order and Reservations
Reservations: resy.com
Reviews
R James
incredible value. consistent experiences with both service and food & beverage quality. will continue to return again and again. check out the bar for a more intimate experience.
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Soo Hin Yeoh
Named one of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants” and “best farm-to-table restaurants” by Gourmet Magazine, Lantern is one of the more prominent Asian restaurant in Chapel Hill.
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Grace Williamson
As a vegan lantern does not skimp on the flavor for their plant based dishes. The cocktails, food, and overall service experience is always a 10/10. Their outdoor area is so beautiful and seems to be slept on since it’s never busy. Highly recommend lantern.
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Cindy Stubbs
Most of the dishes were quite flavorful. The beef dish, while tasty, was too chewy – a better cut of meat was needed. The atmosphere was superb. We will definitely return and continue to try other things on the menu.
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Chery Zheng
Food was ok. Beef was not tender, and the steamed fish didn’t taste like anything I can’t make myself. Nothing to write home about. What was outrageous was that they mandated a “Fair Wage” tip to the kitchen staff in addition to the tip for the waiters. If you charge $32 for a small plate of mediocre food, you can afford to pay a “Fair Wage” to your cooks instead of transferring the cost to patrons.
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Rebecca Griffin
The building and patio are nice. However the food was not worth the price (compared to other quality/price points in the triangle).
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Felicia Arriaga
This was a great relaxed spot with a beautiful outdoor seating area. The vegetable dishes were very fresh and the service was amazing.
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Olivia Geiger
Updating this post since they have gone back to full service: you MUST visit this restaurant! One of our absolute favorites in Chapel Hill. We have since moved to NYC and it could hold its own there 100 percent. We miss it.
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Jillian Chen Johnson
There’s a lot of hype around this place. It’s supposed to be one of the classier restaurants in a college town so we gave it a try. It was the type of Asian fusion you can get for $15/plate elsewhere. However here, because there are a couple candles lit in the hipster industrial dining area, it costs closer to $30/plate. The food was fine but the portions were tiny. My friends salmon was super over-cooked. The service was good, and the waitress was polite, but the food took forever to come out. We went for a birthday dinner, based on the recommendation of a colleague, but were disappointed overall. Overrated and they’re trying to make it feel fancier than it really is – which just ends up making it feel cheap. Try Juju if you want to scratch that itch.
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Joey H
Went there for dinner during the restaurant week. The food there is at best mediocre: Ramen too salty and Pudding with orange tastes bitter. However, wait time is crazy long. We are by the table begging for the food to come.
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