Muddy Creek Cafe at Old Salem

09/05/2026

September is coming in HOT! 🔥🍂🎶

Labor Day weekend is the perfect time for a wander through Old Salem—gardens, historic streets, a little shopping...and, of course, lunch + Tillamook Ice Cream at Muddy Creek. But don't put that calendar away just yet. September is going to be a GOOD one!

🎸 FRIDAY, SEPT. 11 | 7PM
Alex Misko + Forest Bailey
Two extraordinary fingerstyle guitarists, one tiny Listening Room. Misko is an international guitar phenomenon with more than a million YouTube followers, and Forest Bailey brings his own brilliant mix of fingerstyle, tapping + percussion.
$25 advance / $30 day of show

🎸 FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 | 7PM
Pierre Bensusan
This one is pretty special. The French virtuoso known as “Mister DADGAD” is considered one of the great acoustic guitarists of our time—and he's coming to our little 50-seat Listening Room in Old Salem. ❤️
$40 advance / $45 day of show

🪕 SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 | 2PM
Dear MariBella & the Pigkickers
A delightful family bluegrass band with Blue Ridge roots, sibling banter and a whole lot of heart. MerleFest performers, IBMA youth-stage veterans and recent opening act for the legendary Sam Bush!
$15 advance / $20 door

🎨 FRIDAY, SEPT. 25 | 6–8PM
Artist Meet & Greet: Miche Lane + Janice Weiss
You've seen their beautiful artwork throughout the café—now come meet the artists! Live music by Laura Clay, complimentary light refreshments, art, supper, beer + wine...and a lovely early-fall evening in Old Salem.
No cover!

AND...one more thing. 👀
Beginning Thursday, September 17, we're staying OPEN LATE! The Muddy Creek Cafe AND our new lower-level T. Bagge Cellar will be open for supper, ice cream, beer + wine and a whole new way to enjoy evenings in Old Salem.

Historic streets. Great food. World-class music. Local art. And a 250-year-old building that's about to get a little livelier after dark.
September looks awfully good from here. 🍂

See you in Old Salem!

09/04/2026

Here's what's happening at the Muddy Creek Cafe in SPARTA!

09/04/2026

Y’all are gonna LOVE this night! 🎨🎶🍷

Most Friday evenings at the Muddy Creek Cafe & Listening Room in Old Salem are reserved for ticketed concerts—but on Friday, September 25, we’re doing something a little different.

We’re opening the doors for an Artist Meet & Greet with two of our favorite local artists, Miche Lane + Janice Weiss! If you’ve spent any time in the cafe, you’ve probably noticed their beautiful work hanging throughout the rooms. Now you’ll have a chance to meet the women behind the art, hear a little about their work, and perhaps even discover a piece that needs to go home with you.
And because it’s Muddy Creek, there will, of course, be music!

Laura Clay will provide live music throughout the evening. 🎶
Join us from 6–8pm for complimentary light refreshments, wander through the cafe and Listening Room, meet the artists, and enjoy a lovely early-fall evening in Old Salem. Our full menu, along with beer and wine, will be available for purchase, so come have supper and make a night of it.

Friday, September 25 • 6–8pm
Muddy Creek Cafe & Listening Room • Old Salem

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

Oh, how we love the story of the Moravian Chicken Pie. 🥧

Like so many beloved food traditions, its history comes with a few stories passed down through the generations.

One tells of early Moravian settlers making good use of older laying hens—slow cooking the chicken, making a gravy, and baking it beneath a flaky crust. No vegetables. No fuss. Just chicken, gravy and pastry. And from those humble ingredients came the classic Moravian Chicken Pie.

Another story is one of our favorites.
For generations, Moravian churches have made and sold chicken pies as fundraisers, raising money for church projects and ministries. As the story goes, when one congregation was faced with the expense of a large building project, the minister simply asked:
“Well, how many pies is that project gonna take?” 😂🥧

And the tradition continues!
Enjoy these wonderful photos from Bethania Moravian Church, where volunteers are busy preparing chicken pies for their upcoming fundraiser. There’s something pretty special about seeing a centuries-old food tradition still bringing people together around a table—and around a purpose.

And when you get a hankering for one, you can always enjoy a Moravian Chicken Pie at either Muddy Creek Cafe.
We serve personal-sized pies hot for lunch or supper, or pick up a frozen one to keep at home for one of those nights when a warm, hearty dinner sounds just right.

09/03/2026

💗

09/03/2026

NOW HIRING! ☕🥪🍦
Muddy Creek Cafe in Old Salem is growing our crew!
We’re looking for a few friendly, dependable folks to join our café team.

Our crew does a little bit of everything:
🥪 Making sandwiches
🥗 Prepping salads
🍪 Baking cookies
🍦 Scooping ice cream
🍽️ Running food & washing dishes
☕ Working the counter & taking care of our guests

Hours we especially need help:
Afternoons & evenings
Saturday & Sunday afternoons

Restaurant experience is great, but a good attitude, reliability, and willingness to learn are even better.
Interested? Message us here to set up an interview.

Come work in one of the prettiest little corners of Winston-Salem!
Muddy Creek Cafe
Old Salem Historic District

09/02/2026

The Reuben: From a Poker Game—or a New York Deli—to Muddy Creek Cafe

Who invented the Reuben? Well, that depends on whom you ask.
The history of the Reuben sandwich is one of those great American food debates. Omaha, Nebraska, claims it was born during a late-night poker game. New York has its own story, crediting restaurateur Arnold Reuben, who supposedly created a hearty sandwich for a hungry actress in the early 1900s.
Either way, somebody had a very good idea.

So how did the Classic Reuben, Turkey Reuben, and Avocado Reuben make their way to the Muddy Creek Cafe—and somehow become our best-selling sandwiches at BOTH cafes this August?

When we opened the original Muddy Creek Cafe in 2011, we wanted sandwiches that were substantial enough for lunch but hearty enough to call dinner. The Classic Reuben was an obvious choice, and the increasingly popular Turkey Reuben joined it.

But the Avocado Reuben has a much more personal history.
Back in the 1980s, my dad owned a nightclub in Orlando. He hired a young chef named John—that's about all I remember about him!—to create a late-night menu. And on that menu was an Avocado Reuben. 🥑

As a vegetarian teenager perpetually searching for something more exciting than another salad, I was over the moon. Here was this warm, messy, savory, substantial sandwich that felt like real food.

I never forgot it.
So when Muddy Creek opened decades later, the Avocado Reuben went on the menu. It's been there since 2011, and 15 years later, people are still ordering it.

And apparently August 2026 was The Month of the Reuben.
Classic. Turkey. Avocado. Between our Old Salem and Sparta cafes, the Reubens were among our biggest sellers of the month.

Not bad for a sandwich that may have started at a poker table, may have started in a New York deli—and, in our case, took a little detour through an Orlando nightclub before finding its home at Muddy Creek.

Come find your favorite.
Classic, Turkey or Avocado?

08/30/2026

It’s that lovely, strange little time between summer and fall. 🌻

The gardens are still abundant, late-season sunflowers are reaching for the sun, the days are warm… and somehow, school is already back in full swing.

So what if, just for today—for this glorious Sunday—we put the busyness aside?

Take a stroll through the Historic District of Old Salem Museum & Gardens. Wander the gardens. Admire the old buildings.

Then stop for lunch at the Muddy Creek Cafe in the historic T. Bagge Building, and somehow the afternoon feels complete.

Maybe that’s what Sundays are really for: connecting with the friends and family who join us around the table, enjoying a beautiful place together, and finding that little pause we need before the week ahead begins.

We are so grateful to be a small part of days like these.
Happy Sunday, friends. Come take a stroll. 🌻