AC Restaurants (Ashley Christensen Restaurants) Employee Directory
RestaurantsNorth Carolina, United States11-50 Employees
AC Restaurants is a Raleigh-based restaurant group led by award-winning chef Ashley Christensen that operates multiple dining concepts focused on quality, seasonal ingredients and thoughtful beverage experiences. The group began in 2007 with Poole's Diner, a modern take on comfort-food classics housed in a historic downtown Raleigh building, which expanded in 2024 to include a wood-fired oven and a redesigned space. Its other flagship concept, Death & Taxes, opened in 2015 in a historic downtown building that had previously housed a bank and later a funeral home, and centers on wood-fire cooking with Southern ingredients, featuring an open kitchen and an extensive cocktail and wine program. Poole's has earned regional recognition, named the best diner in North Carolina by Southern Living in 2024 and receiving a Michelin recommendation in 2025. In addition, AC Restaurants launched the Beard House Fellows program in 2021, presented by Capital One, to advance opportunities for emerging chefs at the James Beard House.