TRIANGLE FOOD BLOG

Triangle Restaurant News

Triangle restaurant news…that not everyone knows. Impress your co-workers at the water cooler.

Featured Restaurant News

• John Huisman, aka Triangle Explorer, brought it to our attention that LaStella Wood Fired on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh has closed, but has plans to open in August in Cary in the former Hurricane Grill & Wings spot in the Shoppes at Kildaire (corner of Kildaire Farm Road and Cary Parkway) out in front of Trader Joe’s. Fayetteville Street’s La Stella remains open. Keep up with their move here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

• The burger news out of Chapel Hill keeps getting better and better. Got word this week that Greensboro’s Hops Burger Bar has opened in the 140 West Building where Lime Fresh Mexican Grill once was on Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street. Burger aficionados may recall that Hops was ranked as the nation’s top burger restaurant in 2015 by TripAdvisor and was No. 17 earlier this year on Business Insiders’ top 50 list. Get familiar with them here. Or visit their Facebook page here. Thanks to Melissa Boyce for the heads up on the opening.

• The folks over at Taste Carolina notified us that Cha House has opened on Chapel Hill’s West Franklin Street between The Crunkleton and Mellow Mushroom. Looks to be an Asian-inspired tea house, influenced by the tastes and traditions of Taiwan along with desserts. Get to know them on Facebook here.

Closings

• Another loss on Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street. The News & Observer reported that the R&R Grill is closing this Sunday, May 13 on Mother’s Day. The restaurant is tucked in the back of CVS Plaza.

• Amy Woodring brought it to our attention that Cantina 225 in Apex has closed.

• And fans of Mr. Sticky Buns food truck up on Capital Blvd. in North Raleigh will be sad to learn that they have closed up shop. Apparently you can still order buns to be shipped. Thanks to Rebecca Calhoun for bringing this to our attention.

Food Trucks

• The Knightdale Food Truck Thursdays went back into full swing this month. Trucks will be on hand for lunch and dinner each Thursday at the Knightdale Station Park. Get a full schedule and truck listing on their website here. Thanks to Mark Ginsberg for the heads up.

• The RDU Mobile Food Association announced that the Carrboro Food Fest is set for Sunday, May 20^th at the Carrboro’s Farmer’s Market and will feature at least 10 food trucks, music and family fun from 12-4 p.m. Get all the details on their Facebook event page here.

• The dates have been set for the Durham Central Park Food Truck Rodeo and Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeos. Check out Durham here and Raleigh here.

• Two great sites to keep up with your favorite food trucks. Street Food Finder is one – find it here. And another, aptly named, is Roaming Hunger – find it here.

Events

• This Saturday, May 12 from 12 noon until 6 p.m., you can show your NC pride by going to the Triangle Craft Beer Fest – highlighting over 30+ of your favorite local breweries in one spot. Each brewery will be pouring a special one-off beer you won’t be able to get anywhere else! Perfect for craft beer lovers in North Carolina! Enjoy live music, chow down with food trucks and shop local vendors! Get tickets and all the details here.

• The weekend of May 18-20^th will welcome the 2018 version of the Got To Be NC Festival at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. The annual event is sort of a mini N.C. State Fair with rides, animals, N.C. food and beverages, demonstrations, games and more. But here’s the great part about it: It’s free! There is no fee for either parking or admission. Get all the details here. 

• Beer and Bacon Fest. May 19^th. Cary. Not much else needs to be said. Check it out here.

• Also on May 19^th is the Durham Blues & Brews Festival. What started as a rockin’ good time has become a Durham tradition, filled with music, food, and outstanding craft beer! This isn’t a Beer Fest with music, or a Blues Fest with beer. It’s a new type of event offering great Blues music and only North Carolina craft beers. The brewers will be on site to tell you about their breweries and beers. Serving full 12 oz. pours for you to enjoy while learning about their beers, and listening to great blues bands. Proceeds from the festival benefit local Durham charities and programs, including the Exchange Family Center, a Durham-based non-profit agency dedicated to preventing child abuse. Get all the details and tickets here. Use code “TFB5” to get $5 off!

• And the 2018 version of Farm to Fork expanded to three events over several seasons and tickets to all three just went on sale. The fun begins with the first event on June 3, the perennial favorite Farm to Fork Picnic, where the area’s best farmers and chefs are paired. Then on September 16 they’ll host a pop-up dinner featuring Jacob Boehm of Snap Pea Underground & Catering. And the series will conclude on December 6th with John T. Edge and a celebration of Southern food on Chapel Hill’s Lavender Oak Farm. You can buy ticket to each individual event, or all three. Get tickets and all the details on their site here.

• The 2018 version of Chefs for Change, a fundraising dinner series that pairs the burgeoning Durham food scene with the needs of families experiencing homelessness, is well underway. The first two events (featuring Charlie Deal on March 12 and Scott Howell on May 14) have sold out. And if last year is any indication, the next two dinners will sell out quickly. The July 9th event features Phoebe Lawless (The Lakewood and Scratch) and the September 10^th event features Gocciolina’s Aaron Benjamin. Each night the chef will serve three or more courses at a ticketed dinner with the proceeds benefiting Families Moving Forward. The dinners are held at the Rickhouse and limited to 125 people. Get all the details and tickets here.

• And finally, listen up chefs! The NCRLA Chef Showdown is an annual statewide culinary competition sponsored by the NC Department of Ag. It’s a culinary competition open to chefs (savory and pastry) across the state. There are three regional semi-finalist rounds (New Bern May 22, Hickory June 4 and Raleigh, June 25) that will result in a final competition on Monday, Aug 27 in Charlotte. The final event is in conjunction with the first night of the industry’s Restaurant & Hotel Expo. Chefs can apply to compete now – May 9. Get all the information you need here.

Food Bank Corner

• THIS Saturday, May 12th, is “Stamp Out Hunger” where you can place nonperishable food donations in a bag by your mailbox and your letter carrier will take care of the rest. Get all the details here. Don’t want to leave food out? You can still help the cause by donating via our Virtual Food Drive. Get details on that here.

Triangle Restaurant News

Triangle restaurant news…that not everyone knows. Impress your co-workers at the water cooler.

Featured Restaurant News

• Such great news! Al and Melody Bowers of Al’s Burger Shack and Mel’s Commissary & Catering announced this week that they are opening a neighborhood pub in Chatham County’s Governors Village this summer. Al’s Pub Shack will feature its own spin on traditional pub fare with beer, wine and a full bar in a comfortable, family-friendly space. Al’s Pub Shack will open this summer at 50050 Governors Village in Chapel Hill. Keep up with their progress on Facebook here.

Wake County Restaurant News

• In downtown Raleigh, it appears as if the Wahlburger’s, located in the former Oxford space, is finally open. According to the N&O they were holding a soft opening for a better part of this past week, with plans for a full opening by week’s end (i.e. now). Now that they are finally open, you can get familiar with them here.

• We now have a date for the opening of Hi-Poke in Morrisville thanks to a note we received from Yuling Wang. It will be the first Poke restaurant in Morrisville and they are committed to serving healthy, fresh, comfort foods. Hi-Poke will offer both poke-bowls and salads, along with fruit smoothies and milk tea. The restaurant is located in Park Place Shopping Center in Morrisville. Get to know them here.

• Also in Morrisville, this Saturday, May 5th is the grand opening of the second location of ZenFish (original location is in Durham). They are located at 9924 Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville near the intersection with Weston Parkway. Get the details on their Facebook events page here.

• The latest Buffalo Brothers Pizza & Wing Co., located in Cary’s Salt Box Village, is opening soon. But it is a moving target. It looks like (on their Facebook page) May 9^th is the date. But could be a soft opening over the weekend. Best bet is to check into their Facebook page. Do so here.

• Also in Cary, thanks to the keen eyes of reader Chris Creighton, we learned that Cary Towne Kitchen and Bar on Kildaire Farm Rd. and Tryon Rd. has opened. They are located where TGI Fridays once was. See their menu and get all the details on their website here.

• Down in Fuquay-Varina, got word from David McCreary that a new BBQ restaurant is coming soon to 1526 Broad Street called Daddy D’s BBQ. It will serve slow-cooked beef, pork and chicken. They are looking at an opening sometime in June. For more information, visit them on Facebook here.

• And if that is not enough yummy goodness coming to Fuquay-Varina, how about a place that serves ice cream and beer? Yep, looks like someone else has been reading my diary. David McCreary was the first to mention Pints Ice Cream & Beer, and we confirmed it via their Facebook page. It is 100% true! They are located in the former Blanchard’s Plumbing building. Dreams do come true. Keep up with their progress here.

• In Garner, reader Sam Ruby notified us that the Grill 57 that closed now has a sign saying that it will be the new home of Steak ‘n Shake. Get familiar with them here.

• And over in Knightdale, this coming Monday (May 7^th) ground will be broken in a ceremony beginning at 10:30 a.m. for Prime Barbecue at 403 Knightdale Station Run. Champion pitmaster Christopher Prieto will be on hand. You can get all the details and start getting familiar with them on their website here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

• Saw on the Chapelboro website that we now know what is replacing Franklin Street’s legendary Spanky’s – Lula’s. It’s going to be a Southern restaurant – really good fried chicken and porkchops and short ribs and farm-to-table vegetables, freshly squeezed lemonade, homemade biscuits and mint juleps according to Greg Overbeck, one of the owners of Chapel Hill Restaurant Group. No word yet on a timeline. Check out the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group here.

• Don’t forget – this weekend is the grand opening of Vecino Brewing Company in Carrboro. Today is $4 Vecino pints and $1 off guest taps all day. Saturday brings us half-priced selected appetizers and small plates. And Sunday enjoy $5 sandwich specials. Get all the details on their Facebook event page here.

 

Closings

• None to report. Keep eating local, folks!

Food Trucks

• The Knightdale Food Truck Thursdays went back into full swing this month. Trucks will be on hand for lunch and dinner each Thursday at the Knightdale Station Park. Get a full schedule and truck listing on their website here. Thanks to Mark Ginsberg for the heads up.

• The dates have been set for the Durham Central Park Food Truck Rodeo and Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeos. Check out Durham here and Raleigh here. The first Raleigh rodeo is THIS weekend on Sunday, May 6th from 12-6 p.m.

• Two great sites to keep up with your favorite food trucks. Street Food Finder is one – find it here. And another, aptly named, is Roaming Hunger – find it here.

Events

• May 5^th is the date for West Cary’s very own Fest in the West, a festival featuring food, beer, crafts, music and a kids’ zone. It will take place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the USA Baseball Training Complex at 7445 Green Hope School Road. Get all the details here.

• Get your tickets now for Thrive NC, set to take place at downtown Raleigh’s City Market on May 10-11. All ticket sale proceeds will be donated to North Carolina nonprofits that address issues related to food insecurity. Attendees will help determine which nonprofits receive funding from ticket sales. The two-day event will highlight the fact that 1.5 million people in the state struggle to buy affordable and fresh foods. A highlight of the event will be a two-day food festival featuring top chefs from 50 North Carolina restaurants serving food and drink samples against a backdrop of live music each night. Keep up with the details as they unfold here.

• Beer and Bacon Fest. May 19^th. Cary. Not much else needs to be said. Check it out here.

• Also on May 19^th is the Durham Blues & Brews Festival. What started as a rockin’ good time has become a Durham tradition, filled with music, food, and outstanding craft beer! This isn’t a Beer Fest with music, or a Blues Fest with beer. It’s a new type of event offering great Blues music and only North Carolina craft beers. The brewers will be on site to tell you about their breweries and beers. Serving full 12 oz. pours for you to enjoy while learning about their beers, and listening to great blues bands. Proceeds from the festival benefit local Durham charities and programs, including the Exchange Family Center, a Durham-based non-profit agency dedicated to preventing child abuse. Get all the details and tickets here. Use code “TFB5” to get $5 off!

• And the 2018 version of Farm to Fork expanded to three events over several seasons and tickets to all three just went on sale. The fun begins with the first event on June 3, the perennial favorite Farm to Fork Picnic, where the area’s best farmers and chefs are paired. Then on September 16 they’ll host a pop-up dinner featuring Jacob Boehm of Snap Pea Underground & Catering. And the series will conclude on December 6th with John T. Edge and a celebration of Southern food on Chapel Hill’s Lavender Oak Farm. You can buy ticket to each individual event, or all three. Get tickets and all the details on their site here.

• The 2018 version of Chefs for Change, a fundraising dinner series that pairs the burgeoning Durham food scene with the needs of families experiencing homelessness, is well underway. The first two events (featuring Charlie Deal on March 12 and Scott Howell on May 14) have sold out. And if last year is any indication, the next two dinners will sell out quickly. The July 9th event features Phoebe Lawless (The Lakewood and Scratch) and the September 10^th event features Gocciolina’s Aaron Benjamin. Each night the chef will serve three or more courses at a ticketed dinner with the proceeds benefiting Families Moving Forward. The dinners are held at the Rickhouse and limited to 125 people. Get all the details and tickets here.

• And finally, listen up chefs! The NCRLA Chef Showdown is an annual statewide culinary competition sponsored by the NC Department of Ag. It’s a culinary competition open to chefs (savory and pastry) across the state. There are three regional semi-finalist rounds (New Bern May 22, Hickory June 4 and Raleigh, June 25) that will result in a final competition on Monday, Aug 27 in Charlotte. The final event is in conjunction with the first night of the industry’s Restaurant & Hotel Expo. Chefs can apply to compete now – May 9. Get all the information you need here.

Food Bank Corner

• Next Saturday, May 12th, is “Stamp Out Hunger” where you can place nonperishable food donations in a bag by your mailbox and your letter carrier will take care of the rest. Get all the details here. Don’t want to leave food out? You can still help the cause by donating via our Virtual Food Drive. Get details on that here.