I was wandering around downtown Raleigh Saturday afternoon and decided to pop into the newly opened “Raleigh Marriott City Center Hotel” (which no one will ever call it). It was built to complement the soon-to-open Convention Center.

I entered through the lobby, which is both elegant and modern.

Then I wandered back to the Posta Tuscan Grille and picked up a copy of the lunch and dinner menus. Lunch prices range from $5 soup or salad to $19 for Beef filet mignon sauteed in a balsamic vingear reduction. Most of the pizzas and pasta dishes cost $10. For dinner, appetizers start at $10 (for the eggplant parmigiana) and rise to $30 (for the bow tie pasta with fresh Maine Lobster). Dinner pizza and other pasta dishes range from $12 to $20.

Next I headed to the top floor to take in the view. Of course you can see the Convention Center:

And other downtown scenes from a different angle:

And, as you might expect, there’s a Starbucks, which is convienent for guests. But hopefully if you’re downtown looking for a cup of Joe you’ll shop local. If you want to see bigger versions of my pics, go here.