Friday Fun Food Facts – November 14, 2014

• Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday – one of my favorites. A time to be thankful for all that we have in this great country of ours. Unless you are the one stuck in the kitchen at 4 a.m. Ok, I’m just kidding, but don’t feel bad about not wanting to cook all day. You should enjoy it too! And Greg Cox from the News & Observer is your hero again this year with his compilation of restaurants open on Thanksgiving day. Check it out here.

Wake County Restaurant News

• And if you still want to celebrate Thanksgiving in your home, but don’t want to cook the turkey (or the sides), you’ll be glad to know that the Q Shack is firing up their annual tradition of providing you with turkeys, sides and desserts for your Thanksgiving Day feast. Folks, I don’t endorse many things, but I can speak from personal experience that this is a fantastic (and delicious) way to feed your guests. Seriously, who (besides Tom and his team) want to be in the kitchen cooking up a turkey? Get your orders in before November 22nd and get all the details here.

•  Saw on their Facebook page that Night Kitchen Bakehouse and Café is holding a series of soft openings today and tomorrow prior to their full opening next week. They feature breads, pastries and savory foods and are located in the Seaboard Station complex in downtown Raleigh. Check out their Facebook page for all the details.

• The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Sardi’s Den Restaurant & Lounge, a rib house staple for the past 20 years in Clemson, SC, will be opening its first franchise location in the former Oliver Twist location in the Brennan Station shopping center on Creedmoor Road in north Raleigh. No word yet on an open date. In the meantime, check them out here.

• A quick update. As we told you months ago, the Posta Tuscan Grille is transitioning into a Southern eatery & gastropub called Rye Bar and Southern Kitchen in the Raleigh Marriott City Center. We just got word that they are on schedule to open the middle of next month. Check them out here.

• Back in October, we told you that both WRAL and Raleigh Public Record were reporting that the former Lucky 32 spot in Raleigh had been sold to a restaurant group called Kamado Grille and would open a concept called Bistro 832. Turns out it will in fact open as Kamado Grille in January. Keep up with them on their Facebook page here.

• And not far from there in Falls Village we learned from Rebecca Calhoun that the former spot of Fork & Barrel is poised to become El Cerro Mexican Grill & Restaurant. They already have a location on Avent Ferry Road in Raleigh. Check them out here.

• The News & Observer is reporting that Greek Garden has opened in the former Yummy Yogurt space in downtown Apex at 124 N. Salem Street. While the website is not live yet, it should go live any day now. They are open Tuesday through Saturday.

• Last week WRAL reported that the folks over at Tropical Picken Chicken have plans to open a new concept devoted to empanadas called El Guapo Empanadas Y Mas. We learned on their Facebook this week that they have secured a space in Raleigh at the corner of Six Forks and Wake Forest Road where Pronto Pasta used to be. No word yet on an open date. In the meantime, keep up with updates on their Facebook page here.

• The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that the Triangle is on the verge of getting their 2nd and 3rd Steak ‘n Shake locations. One will be in Fuquay-Varina at 8012 Fayetteville Road (U.S. 401) near the Kings Grant Common shopping center and the other at 5900 Duraleigh Road in Raleigh.

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

• Wake up Chapel Hill! Have I got good news for you. Al’s Burger Shack on West Franklin Street announced this week that they will begin breakfast service next Monday, November 17th! Breakfast will be available from 7-11 a.m., Monday through Saturday. Get all the details here.

• Saw in the Triangle Business Journal that Counter Culture Coffee is hosting a regional coffee competition in Durham that will feature top barista and brewer talent from the Southeast and Northeast. The three-day event will be at the Durham Convention Center on Nov. 21 and 22 from 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Nov. 23 from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. The competition is part of the U.S. Coffee Championships that culminate with a final contest in February 2015. Get all the details here.

• Ohio-based City Barbecue, which recently opened a location in Cary, is apparently eyeing a second Triangle-area location in Durham at 208 W. Highway 54, according to the Herald-Sun. The articles did note, however, that it may not be open for another year or two. Check out City Barbecue here.

• According to the Herald-Sun, Dewey’s Bakery will open up a shop in Northgate starting Nov. 15 and will last until Dec. 31. The bakery offers Moravian cookies, Moravian sugar cake, cheese straws and gift baskets. Founded in 1930 in Winston-Salem, learn more about Dewey’s here.

Closings 

• Drove through downtown Chapel Hill earlier this week and saw that Qdoba has closed at the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets. The Herald-Sun reported that their lease was up and the owners opted not to renew.

Food Trucks 

Food Bank Corner   

• The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina just launched their Holiday Meals Drive and they need your help to reach their goal of raising $435,000 online before December 31, which would be enough to provide 2.17 million meals! Folks can donate, sexe24 make a gift in honor of a friend or family member or host a holiday fundraiser. Perhaps your company can join in on this extremely worthy cause. Get all the details here.