TRIANGLE FOOD BLOG

Wake County Restaurant News

•  Rise Biscuits & Donuts is on the move again according to WRAL. With full attention focused on opening franchise locations, they announced this week that another deal has been secured for north Raleigh’s Sutton Square at 6325 Falls of the Neuse Road. This will be the 4th Triangle location following the original location in Durham, the Morrisville location in Park West Village (scheduled to open any day now) and the location in Raleigh’s Cameron Village. Each location will have “pop-up” tastings (visit their Facebook pages to find out times on these). Get more information on Rise here.

• Get ready north Raleigh to loosen the old belt a few notches. The Triangle Business Journal gave us an update this week noting that the second location of Big Ed’s is a matter of days away from opening. They noted that the location in the Quail Corners shopping center is finishing up “minor details” inside the space and is targeted to open at “the end of the month or right around the first of August,” according to Sam Hobgood. They also noted that this location would also be open for dinner. Check them out here.

• Also in north Raleigh, the News & Observer reported this week that Farina opened over the weekend in the former Paparazzi space in Lafayette Village. The new restaurant, like its predecessor in the space, is Italian. They are open nightly and serve brunch on Sunday. Get all the details here.

• The News & Observer reported this week that Cary is about to get another Indian restaurant – Kababish Café. It is located at 201 W. Chatham Street in the former UnVine’d wine bar space in Olde Cary Commons. They are scheduled to open today, but check in with them first before going. Get all the details here.

• Got an update on the area’s first MOD Pizza. They are now scheduled to open the first week of August at 2071 W. Millbrook Road (corner of Millbrook and Creedmoor) in north Raleigh. Get all the details and a sneak peek here.

• In other pizza news, Marco’s Pizza in Clayton has just opened and will hold their Grand Opening celebration on Sunday, July 26th from 4-7 p.m. with free pizza trials, refreshments, pizza giveaways, a DJ, martial arts demonstrations, the fire department and more. Check them out there.

• And in this week’s “Wouldn’t That Be Great” column we made note that the folks over at Larry’s Beans put up a photo of the old Helios building on Glenwood South and wrote, “Wouldn’t this be a great spot for a coffee bar?” Not sure if they are giving us a hint there, or hoping someone will move into that spot soon. Needless to say, we will keep an eye on this one. Here was their actual post on Facebook.

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

• The News & Observer reported this week that Matt Fox, Jeremy Blankenship and Dean James (the folks behind The Wooden Nickel Pub, Hillsborough BBQ Co., and La Place) will be opening a new sandwich shop called Bona Fide Sandwich Co., which they plan to open in the fall in downtown Hillsborough at 104 N. Churton Street. You can check them out on Facebook here.

• Got great news this week that Hernan Moyano, his brother Santiago and Ricky Yofre will be opening a brick & mortar location of Makus Empanadas in the Hope Valley shopping center in Durham. Up until this point they have been doing catering around the Triangle. Look for the location to open this fall. Get more information on Makus here.

• WRAL reported this week that Northgate Mall announced the opening of Randy’s Pizza Express in their food court. Next month will mark the 20th anniversary of Randy’s Pizza, which now has eight locations throughout the Triangle. Get more information on Randy’s here.

Closings 

• Got word from David McCreary that Mt. Fuji Hibachi & Sushi restaurant at 1311 E. Broad St. in Fuquay-Varina has closed its doors.

Food Trucks 

Food Bank Corner   

• We have less than two weeks of our summer campaign to provide 3.2 million meals to children and their families during the summer. For 300,000 kids in our region, no school means no meals. Let’s #StopSummerHunger together! Get more information or donate now.

Wake County Restaurant News

•  A slight modification to the opening date for the Raleigh Beer Garden, located at 614 Glenwood Avenue. They will now open to the public on Tuesday, July 21st at 11:00 a.m. (it is never too early to start drinking). Keep up with them on their Facebook page here.

• Just a reminder that the newest version of Carolina Ale House will open their doors next Monday (July 20) in Garner at 400 Conservation Road in the White Oak shopping center. Check out their Facebook page here.

•  Speaking of White Oak, the Triangle Business Journal provided a listing of all the other dining options that are “in the works” at the center. They are: Starbucks (opened in late June), Five Guys Burgers & Fries (also opening July 20), Longhorn Steakhouse, Raleigh-based Buffalo Brothers, Red Robin, Panera Bread, and Krafty Burgers and Brews. Stay tuned on all of these.

• Over in Cary, saw on Yelp that the sign has gone up for the Triangle’s second location of The Egg & I. It will be located at 1104 Ledsome Lane, off of Walnut Street across from REI. It is being brought to us by Teresa Pace and Cole Harris, who also brought us the Chapel Hill location. According to their website, they are aiming for an August 31st opening. Get more information on them here.

• Also in Cary, the News & Observer announced that Red Hot & Blue has opened at Cary’s Waverly Place. The barbecue restaurant, which had operated at the shopping center for about 18 years before closing in 2007, is back to serving dishes such as ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chicken. Get more details here.

• We told you about it in March, but the Independent has confirmed that Tibetan Restaurant (yes, that is their name) has opened at 148-A E. Chatham Street in Cary.

• Got word from Knightdale town manager Seth Lawless that they will be getting their very own brewery come this September called Oak City Brewing. They will be located on the 700 block of First Avenue, right in front of Knightdale Station.

• Got a tweet from reader Scott Clark that Nashers Sandwich House will open in the space formerly occupied by Butcher Block American Grill at 10630 Durant Road in Raleigh. Nashers will focus on an all natural scratch-made menu featuring sandwiches, salads, soups, and sides. No word yet on an open date, but you can check them out here.

• The Downtown Raleigh Alliance announced this week that the Tutti Frutti has reopened at 222 Glenwood Avenue. Get more information on Tutti Frutti here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

• The Independent shared some news this week that is going to make a lot of people in Durham very happy. Raleigh’s Happy & Hale is making its way over to Durham’s Ninth Street with plans to open a space that is three times the size of the Raleigh location. Look for them to open in January, 2016 in what used to be a post office at 703 Ninth Street. If you are not familiar with them Durham, check them out here.

• This is big news for Brightleaf Square in Durham. The Urban Food Group (who brought us Coquette, Vivace and Chow) announced this week (somewhat vaguely) that they are bringing a new concept to Durham called Lucia. I don’t have any more details at this point, other than their Twitter handle. Stay tuned on this one. You can learn more about Urban Food Group here.

• The much-anticipated Café Symmetry over in Carrboro’s Carr Mill Mall officially opened this past week with dinner hours. They obviously plan to open for lunch, but want to get their staff comfortable and trained first. No word yet on when they will open for lunch. The initial word on the street is very favorable. Check them out!

• Gregoria’s Cuban Steakhouse has successfully completed its transition to Mesa Latin Kitchen and they open tonight! Get all the details here. You can make reservations here.

Closings 

• This Saturday will be the last day to dine at Zinda in downtown Raleigh. Owner G. Patel announced this week that the restaurant side of the concept will close while it will remain open Thursday through Saturday as a bar and nightlife destination. Their event space will also be available throughout the week.

Food Trucks 

Food Bank Corner   

• July is National Hot Dog Month, and Firewürst has begun its second annual #DollarsForDogs campaign, in which the locally-owned restaurant commits to donating $1 for every dog sold throughout the month to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC‘s Stop Summer Hunger Program. Last year, the community involvement in the campaign led to a $10,000 donation! Firewürst of course has some tricks up their sleeve for National Hot Dog Day specifically (July 23rd), so keep an eye out! Visit Firewurst this July!