This has come up a few times, and sooner or later, someone will cite the statutes, but here it is:
In NC, you cannot bring a firearm into a restaurant that serves alcohol unless you have a CHP. For those who do have their CHP, the manner of carry is not specified in the statute, so open and concealed are both legal. You cannot conceal if you have any alcohol in your system, but there is no such prohibition for open carry.
Remember my thread about a year ago, where some goobers went into a pizza place in Cary and sat at the bar OC'ing and drinking a beer? Owner didn't say anything to them but was terrified that the Alcohol Troopers would walk in and rip his ABC permit off the wall. As soon as they left, he found a gunbuster sign and the place has been posted ever since.