TRIANGLE FOOD BLOG

Wake County Restaurant News

•  The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Diced Gourmet Salads & Wraps, a new locally owned, quick-service restaurant, is now open at 1377 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary. They are open for lunch and dinner. You can check them out here.

• My friend John Huisman (aka Triangle Explorer) tipped me off to the fact that Sardi’s Den, a rib joint out of Clemson, South Carolina, opened this week in Brennan Station shopping center on Creedmoor Road (in the former location of Oliver Twist). Check them out here.

• The News & Observer reported this week that Rocco Sammartino Jr. has reopened Tavern on the Green, a restaurant and bar at the clubhouse of the Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Garner (565 Competition Road to be exact). They are open breakfast, lunch and dinner. Check them out on Facebook here.

• Got word this week that Level Up Kitchen and Barcadium is now serving lunch. They will be open Tuesday- Sunday starting at 11:30 am. They are located at 126 Salisbury Street, near the intersection with Hargett Street. Check them out here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

•  It was announced this week that The Durham Hotel at 315 East Chapel Hill Street will open their doors on July 10th. That is big news for downtown Durham, but I don’t typically report hotel openings. What is so spectacular about this hotel is that Andrea Reusing will have a restaurant, garden patio and rooftop bar here. However, we still don’t know the name. Can you feel the hype? Check out the hotel here.

• Started seeing signs up around Chapel Hill this week announcing the opening of a new pizza joint in the East 54 complex called Brenz Pizza Company. With locations in Tennessee and Ohio, this is the first North Carolina location. Check them out here.

• My friends over at Spanky’s Restaurant tipped me off to the fact that there is a Smoothie King is going in on Franklin St where Campus Calzones/Pita Pit used to be. As they pointed out, it is a chain, but at least it’s something different! Check out Smoothie King here.

Closings 

• None to report this week! Keep eating local, folks!

Food Trucks 

Food Bank Corner 

Part of a letter from Peter Werbicki, President & CEO of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina:

In just a few short weeks, school will be ending. Most kids will be headed to camp or going on family vacations. Unfortunately, over 300,000 children will not be focused on activities of fun and relaxation. These kids will be focused on one thing: an empty stomach.

When schools close for summer break, cafeterias close. Children who have relied on free and reduced-cost breakfast and lunch go without these meals during the summer. The loss of this vital resource puts an additional strain on family food budgets that are already tight.

But together, we can help.

The Food Bank’s Stop Summer Hunger Campaign aims to provide meals and groceries to children and their families over the summer months. Through July 31, we are committed to providing 3.2 million meals.

Click the link above to see how you can help!

Wake County Restaurant News

• Big news was announced last Friday (on National Donut Day nonetheless) that Rise Biscuits and Donuts will be opening a new franchise location in Raleigh’s Cameron Village in the fall of 2015! They also announced that the Morrisville location (Park West Village) is looking at a late summer opening. Check out Rise here.

• The Triangle Business Journal announced this week that MOD Pizza, a Seattle-based build-your-own-pizza concept, is opening its first Triangle restaurant at 2071 Millbrook Road, in the new Harris Teeter-anchored shopping center at the corner of Millbrook and Creedmoor roads in Raleigh. Look for them to open in July. Get a peek at them here.

• No more just movies and popcorn. Cobb Theaters announced this week that construction is underway at its newest CinéBistro location at Waverly Place in Cary. CinéBistro offers a world-class “dinner-and-a-movie” experience featuring a chef-run kitchen offering creative American bistro cuisine and full in-theatre service. You can also “wine and dine” there even if you aren’t coming to the movie. Look for them to open late summer. Get a look at them here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

• The guys over at Mateo Tapas (Matt Kelly and Josh Decarolis) announced this week their newest project – Mothers & Sons, an Italian trattoria located right next to Mateo at 107 West Chapel Hill Street – will open this fall. Follow them on Twitter here. In the meantime, you can also check out Mateo here.

• This week my friends over at Bean Trader’s in Durham provided an update on their expansion. While it has been slow to unfold, things are starting to roll and it will be well worth the wait (think made-from-scratch waffles, a large centrally located bar, an alternative brew bar, new gender neutral bathrooms (and a family room) and two new registers for quicker check out and shorter lines). All very exciting. You can get all the details on their expansion here.

• We had already told you that the folks behind the food truck Porchetta have opened a “brick and mortar” location at the food court at the Streets at Southpoint in Durham. Now, the News & Observer’s Andrea Weigl has informed me that the food truck American Meltdown will move in “a few doors down” from that location. Look for them to open in early September. Check them out here.

• A quick shout out to Allen & Son Barbecue in Chapel Hill. They were named the best barbecue joint in the South by Southern Living magazine, putting them at the top of an impressive list of 50 of the best Southern barbecue restaurants. See the full list here.

• The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Jersey Mike’s Subs has opened its third Durham location, this one at 7005 Fayetteville Road in the Renaissance Center at Southpoint. This marks the 27th Jersey Mike’s in the Triangle, according to the company’s website.

• Chowhounder Durhamois tipped me off to the fact that a new pho restaurant has opened (apparently it has been open for a number of months) at 2806 S Miami Blvd in Durham. It is called Bowl of Pho. Check them out here.

• Just a reminder that Il Palio restaurant in Chapel Hill’s Siena Hotel will close for major renovations this summer. They plan to close on June 15 and reopen on August 15th after close to $700,000 in renovations.

Closings 

• None to report this week! Keep eating local, folks!

Food Trucks 

Food Bank Corner

Part of a letter from Peter Werbicki, President & CEO of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina:

In just a few short weeks, school will be ending. Most kids will be headed to camp or going on family vacations. Unfortunately, over 300,000 children will not be focused on activities of fun and relaxation. These kids will be focused on one thing: an empty stomach.

When schools close for summer break, cafeterias close. Children who have relied on free and reduced-cost breakfast and lunch go without these meals during the summer. The loss of this vital resource puts an additional strain on family food budgets that are already tight.

But together, we can help.

The Food Bank’s Stop Summer Hunger Campaign aims to provide meals and groceries to children and their families over the summer months. Through July 31, we are committed to providing 3.2 million meals.

Click the link above to see how you can help!