TRIANGLE FOOD BLOG

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

Featured Restaurant News

• In the heart of downtown Raleigh at Moore Square park, the folks over at ITB Insider shared that the $12 million renovation of the park is nearing completion and  is set to reopen late this summer, following nearly two years of construction. The bulk of the remaining work is now focusing on the cafe, the trellis, and the play and fountain areas of the project. Empire Eats, the group behind The Pit (Raleigh & Durham), Raleigh Times, Morning Times, Gravy, Sitti,  and The Mecca, will be leasing the cafe on the property. No word yet on what kind of fare they will be bringing to the park. Will we watching this one closely. Visit Empire Eats here.

Wake County Restaurant News

• Got word from the folks over at NC Triangle Dining that the upcoming Calavera Empanadas and Tequila restaurant will not be opening in the former Tasty 8’s hot dog restaurant space on Fayetteville Street, but will instead take over the old Moonlight Pizza location on Morgan Street, according to owner Ken Yowell. Visit Calavera on Facebook here.

• And speaking of Ken Yowell, not sure if we officially shared this, but his Acorn at Oak City is now open next to his Oak City Meatball Shoppe on East Davie Street. It replaced Kaiju, a ramen and bao bar, which he closed Feb. 8. They serve breakfast and brunch daily and then switch to small plates accompanied by wine and spirits  in the evenings. Thanks to Drew Jackson and the News & Observer for the update. Visit them on Instagram here.

• Got word from Michael DePersia of National Restaurant Properties that he sold the Five Bro’s Pizza (former Toppers Pizza) off Wake Forest Rd on Ronald Dr. (just behind Hooters) to John Molite who plans on opening up his second Triangle location of Manhattan Pizza in the next few weeks. Their original location is  in the former Greek Fiesta spot in the Falls Point shopping center at Durant and Falls of Neuse. Visit Manhattan Pizza here.

• In Morrisville, got word from reader Joe McGarry a while ago, and just confirmed, that Hickory Tavern is bringing a location to Park West Village in the former BlackFinn Ameripub space. Actual address is 3201 Village Market Place. No word on a timeline. They already have Triangle-area locations in Cary and Carrboro. Check them out here.

• In Apex got word from Jennifer Willis that the Chick-fil-A at Beaver Creek is closed for renovations. Their Facebook page notes they will be closed through April 15th. So, every day is a Sunday from now until Tax Day for those in Apex. Sorry! Keep up with their progress on their Facebook page here.

• Over in the Brier Creek area, got word from from reader Jennifer Buchholz that the Mellow Mushroom is targeting March 25 for their opening. It is located at 9600 Brier Creek Parkway. Follow their social media to confirm their opening. Visit them on their website here and on Facebook here.

• Well, not exactly Triangle-area restaurant news, but certainly something that impacts anyone in the Triangle that has planned their trips to the coast around a stop at Goldsboro’s Wilber’s Barbecue. Got word from Mike DePersia that the N.C. Dept. of Revenue has shut it down. Will keep an eye on it in the event the situation is rectified.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

• In Durham near the intersection of Mt. Moriah Road and 15/501, the Shiki Sushi Facebook page indicated that they are very close to opening another location of their sister restaurant, Tasu Asian Bistro (was referred to as Tasu Express). They currently have Tasu locations in Raleigh’s Brier Creek and Cary’s Waverly Place. No word on a timeline. Keep up with them here.

• On a recent visit out to RTP, I noticed a sign for Daily Taco at the corner of Hwy. 54/Chapel Hill Road and Carrington Mill Blvd. That is at the same intersection as Daily Grind Coffeehouse. Hmmm. Not sure if there is a relationship there, but one has to speculate. Stay tuned.

• A quick update in Chapel Hill. A few weeks ago we shared that a Japan Express was going into the former Pizza Hut location on Estes Drive. Well, reader Davene Mainwaring shared the news that they actually leveled the old Pizza Hut location. Kinda sad, but looking forward to the new development for Japan Express.

• Over in Carrboro we have solved the “musical chairs” surrounding a couple of restaurants thanks to readers Tom Viemont and Ari Bowers. We now know that Esperanza Empanadas & Tequila has permanently closed. With that closure, One Fish Two Fish Poke has closed their current location BUT will move into and reopen in the Esperanza space. No word on a timeline for the reopening of One Fish Two Fish. Also, no word as of yet what will go into their (now) former space. Keep up with their progress on their Facebook page.

• And down in Chatham County, saw on the Town of Pittsboro Facebook page that Cafe Diem coffee shop (I think it is officially Davenport’s Cafe Diem)  has opened at 439 Hillsboro Street. Filtered brewed coffee, Café au lait, Café & cocoa, Espresso, Cappuccino, Macchiato, Café Latte, Café Mocha, Café Americano and frozen drinks are on the menu. Check their website out here and their Facebook page here.

Closings

• Gluten-free restaurant Primal Food & Spirits in Durham posted on their Facebook page this past weekend that they were closed effective immediately. Thanks to reader Sammi Van Hoy for alerting us to this.

• And got word from several readers that the Fiesta Mexicana at the corner of High House and Cary Parkway has closed.

• And in Chapel Hill, The Daily Tar Heel reported that Roots Bistro & Bar closed last month. They still have their location in Durham.

Food Trucks 

• Go ahead and mark down the dates for 2019 for the Durham Food Truck rodeos – they are: March 24, June 16, September 1 and November 3! Get all the dates here.

• And the dates for the 2019 edition of the Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo have been released – they are Sunday May 5th – 12-6pm (Cinco de mayo ); Sunday June 9th – 12-6pm; Sunday August 4th – 3pm-9pm ( Evening Rodeo ); and Sunday Oct 6th – 12-6pm. All are held along Fayetteville Street. Get all the details here.

• On March 31st food trucks will gather in Chapel Hill for the Food Truck Rodeo on Rosemary from 1-4 p.m. More than a dozen trucks will be on hand. Get all the details on their Facebook page here.

• Thanks to a note from Mark Ginsberg, I learned that the Knightdale Food Truck Thursdays is getting ready to kick back up for the season. The event is held the third Thursday of the month from April through October at Knightdale Station Park for lunch AND dinner. Get all the details, truck schedule and more here.

Events

• On Sunday, March 24th Tyler’s Restaurant & Taproom and Sam’s Quik Shop present the 7th annual Bull City Food & Beer Experience where 30 of Durham’s finest restaurants are paired with 30 refreshing beers. Unlimited food and beer samplings will be spread throughout all three DPAC floors, plus the On Stage Experience will showcase local food and live music on the DPAC stage. This event is a fundraising event to benefit the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. Get all the details here.

• Also on Sunday, March 24, Postal Fish Company, Sanctuary Vineyards, and Vino Wine Shop are joining forces to bring you a truly local seafood and wine dinner, Sanctuary Vineyards Wine Dinner, that will change your mind about North Carolina wines. Tickets are $65. All the details and ticket information can be found on their Facebook event page here.

• Shop Local Raleigh’s annual craft beer festival, Brewgaloo, will take place April 26-27, 2019 Brewgaloo features craft breweries from North Carolina and partners with local food trucks, local vendors and local bands. Get tickets now and all the details on their website here.

• Recently Brewgaloo was nominated as one of the top beer festivals in the country! That’s right, in the country! Right now we sit atop the leaderboard, but we need your vote to stay there. Please click through here and keep us there! Thanks to Jennifer Martin for bringing this to my attention.

• Cary’s 4th annual Fest in the West festival returns on Saturday, May 4th from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The event features old-fashioned contests (like pie eating!), artists, beer, food trucks (10) and live bands on multiple stages. (Rain date is May 5). Get all the details here.

• Tickets are on sale now for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s Thrive NC, scheduled for May 9 -10 at City Market in downtown Raleigh. The inaugural event attracted thousands of members of the community to celebrate North Carolina’s culinary roots, while also initiating critical conversations about food insecurity in our state. The highlight of the two-day event is the festival which will feature more than 60 of the area’s best restaurants serving food and drink samples as well as live entertainment, including chef demonstrations and music. Get all the details here. Get all the details here.

Food Bank Corner

• Our first Fork + Bottle Dinner of 2019 is Thursday, March 21. Join award-winning chef Thomas Card as he welcomes local favorites The Kast Brothers to Counting House and 21c Museum Hotel Durham. Alex Kast is the director of Chapel Hill Creamery and brother Max Kast of Broadbent Selections, Inc. is the only Master Sommelier in North Carolina. The night will start with a tour of our current exhibition, Portraying Power and Identity: A Global Perspective, followed by cocktail hour and dinner. Chef Card has designed a menu to pair with Chapel Hill Creamery selections and wine will be poured to accompany the meal. Tickets are $75 a person and a portion of every ticket sold will benefit the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Visit their Facebook event page here for all the details.

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

Featured Restaurant News

• This could be the best news to come out of RTP ever (if you are a foodie). Boxyard RTP, a 15,000-square-foot cargotecture development (i.e. shipping containers) with space for up to nine food and beverage vendors, will be coming to the Frontier RTP campus (Highway 54 near T.W. Alexander Drive) in 2020. The outdoor venue/food court/retail spaces will feature covered spaces for seating, special events and performances. Check them out here or follow them on Instagram here.

Wake County Restaurant News

• Saw on Ashton Mae Smith’s Twitter feed that Longleaf Swine BBQ, a very popular BBQ truck around the Triangle, is opening a permanent location in the Transfer Co. Food Hall. The venture brings Adam Cunningham’s Eastern North Carolina background and Marc Russell’s Puerto Rican background blended together in a unique, whole-hog, wood fire experience. Check out their announcement here.

• Just outside of downtown Raleigh, renovations are nearing completion of the Gateway Plaza shopping center. One of my favorite Raleigh institutions has remained open through the entire renovation – Gateway Restaurant – and will soon be joined by Union Special, a new bakery run by the baker behind the bread at all of chef Ashley Christensen’s restaurants; Brew Coffee, a Raleigh-based coffee shop that has a shop at Seaboard Station; and Mordecai Beverage Co., a small brew pub. Visit Gateway Restaurant on Facebook here.

• Think you can’t impact the food scene in the Triangle? Check this out. Reader Kristin Stewart shared with me that she is a big fan of Denver-based breakfast spot Snooze, an A.M. eatery. On a recent visit after inquiring about opening a location in the Triangle, she was told they were coming to Charlotte. She expressed her disappointment and encouraged them to consider the Triangle. On her most recent visit to Denver, she was given the news that they had decided to come to the Triangle instead of Charlotte (perhaps they will do that further down the road). How about that! Well done Kristin! Now, get familiar with the concept Kristin is such a big fan of here.

• Up in Wake Forest, we got word that local owner David Morris opened a location of Firehouse Subs at 11704 Retail Drive, near the intersection of Highway 98 and US 1. Check out Firehouse Subs here.

• For the folks down in Garner, get ready. WRAL reported this week that there is a “Now Hiring” sign outside the Big Ed’s location in Garner’s Timber Crossings shopping center (231 Timber Drive) where it took over the former Just Cookin’ space. This will be their third location. Visit Big Ed’s here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

• Big news out of Durham. Getting word that we are just days away from the opening of the new Durham location of Dame’s Chicken and Waffles. Located in the Liberty Warehouse Apartment building at the corner of Foster Street and W. Corporation Street replaces their former location over on Main Street that closed for the move many, many months ago. This follows on the footsteps of the news last week that Dame’s is also bringing their concept to Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street. The Chapel Hill location will be their fourth location (Greensboro and Cary). Check them out here for any announcements about their opening before trying to go.

• The other big news out of Durham is we got multiple reports of seeing the sign going up on the building outside the much-anticipated Durham Food Hall also in the Liberty Warehouse building (530 Foster Street) with Dame’s. Get all the details and a list of the vendors here.

• And got word from the News & Observer that Mattie Beason recently sold his Black Twig Cider House to Denver-based Stem Ciders, and the bar will be renamed The Northern Spy. This sale marks Beason’s exit from the Triangle food scene – last year he sold Mattie B’s Public House and was originally part of the group behind the now shuttered County Fare food truck venue. The new owners plan to reopen this spring with a new menu and more beer options mixed in with cider. The new Northern Spy also will dedicate about half its space to its bottle shop. Get familiar with them here.

Closings

• Got word from reader Kent Del Castillo that Sawasdee up on Capital Blvd. has closed, ending all locations now in the Triangle.

Food Trucks 

• Go ahead and mark down the dates for 2019 for the Durham Food Truck rodeos – they are: March 24, June 16, September 1 and November 3! Get all the dates here.

• And the dates for the 2019 edition of the Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo have been released – they are Sunday May 5th – 12-6pm (Cinco de mayo ); Sunday June 9th – 12-6pm; Sunday August 4th – 3pm-9pm ( Evening Rodeo ); and Sunday Oct 6th – 12-6pm. All are held along Fayetteville Street. Get all the details here.

• On March 31st food trucks will gather in Chapel Hill for the Food Truck Rodeo on Rosemary from 1-4 p.m. More than a dozen trucks will be on hand. Get all the details on their Facebook page here.

• Thanks to a note from Mark Ginsberg, I learned that the Knightdale Food Truck Thursdays is getting ready to kick back up for the season. The event is held the third Thursday of the month from April through October at Knightdale Station Park for lunch AND dinner. Get all the details, truck schedule and more here.

Events

•  Cooking for a Classic 2019 Finale is March 11at 1705 East in Raleigh! The chase for the prize (a restored 1982 JEEP Scrambler) is down to the final TWO. Tickets are $125 for the Finale. You can get all the details here and tickets here. The evening features six plated courses. All proceeds benefit the Lucy Daniels Center’s mental-health programs for children in the Triangle. Get all the details here. And tickets here.

• Tomorrow, March 9th, is the day of Jimbo’s Annual Backyard BBQ Competition up in Youngsville. Basically it is a 36 team BBQ competition run under a KCBS backyard style. For $20 attendees get to sample all entries and award a “People’s Choice” award to the best cue. In addition to the competition BBQ, they will have a couple food trucks, beer, wine, sodas, water and a raffle to win a $1700 Myron Mixon BarQ-1700 Pellet Cooker. All proceeds this year will go to The Carolina Cavalry, a civilian disaster response organization. Find out more about Carolina Cavalry here. Get all the event details here, including registering your BBQ team.

• Toast to the Triangle is this Sunday, March 10 from 6-9pm at the McKimmon Center on NC State’s campus. The event brings together 30 of the Triangle area’s best restaurants and beverage providers competing to be the favorite flavor of the night by providing samples of their fare. In between bites, guests can bid on over 100 silent auction items and packages, purchase a mystery bottle of wine, snap a photo in the green screen photo booth and more! All of the money raised is to support the Tammy Lynn Memorial Foundation for the Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities. Tickets are $100 each for the event and can be purchased here.

• On Sunday, March 24, Postal Fish Company, Sanctuary Vineyards, and Vino Wine Shop are joining forces to bring you a truly local seafood and wine dinner, Sanctuary Vineyards Wine Dinner, that will change your mind about North Carolina wines. Tickets are $65. All the details and ticket information can be found on their Facebook event page here.

• Shop Local Raleigh’s annual craft beer festival, Brewgaloo, will take place April 26-27, 2019 Brewgaloo features craft breweries from North Carolina and partners with local food trucks, local vendors and local bands. Get tickets now and all the details on their website here.

• Also this past week, Brewgaloo was nominated as one of the top beer festivals in the country! That’s right, in the country! Right now we sit atop the leaderboard, but we need your vote to stay there. Please click through here and keep us there! Thanks to Jennifer Martin for bringing this to my attention.

• Cary’s 4th annual Fest in the West festival returns on Saturday, May 4th from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The event features old-fashioned contests (like pie eating!), artists, beer, food trucks (10) and live bands on multiple stages. (Rain date is May 5). Get all the details here.

• Tickets are on sale now for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s Thrive NC, scheduled for May 9 -10 at City Market in downtown Raleigh. The inaugural event attracted thousands of members of the community to celebrate North Carolina’s culinary roots, while also initiating critical conversations about food insecurity in our state. The highlight of the two-day event is the festival which will feature more than 60 of the area’s best restaurants serving food and drink samples as well as live entertainment, including chef demonstrations and music. Get all the details here. Get all the details here.

Food Bank Corner

• Our first Fork + Bottle Dinner of 2019 is Thursday, March 21. Join award-winning chef Thomas Card as he welcomes local favorites The Kast Brothers to Counting House and 21c Museum Hotel Durham. Alex Kast is the director of Chapel Hill Creamery and brother Max Kast of Broadbent Selections, Inc. is the only Master Sommelier in the Southeast. The night will start with a tour of our current exhibition, Portraying Power and Identity: A Global Perspective, followed by cocktail hour and dinner. Chef Card has designed a menu to pair with Chapel Hill Creamery selections and wine will be poured to accompany the meal. Tickets are $75 a person and a portion of every ticket sold will benefit the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Visit their Facebook event page here for all the details.