Friday Fun Food Facts - July 13, 2012

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• Big news coming out of Pittsboro this week. We start with The General Store Café. This past week, owner Greg Lewis announced that the name will be changed to Pittsboro Roadhouse and General Store. A very nice tribute to the past, as well as a look to the future with the anticipated changes and updates. He also hinted this week at a mid-August opening. We will closely watch this for you and keep you updated. 

• Also in Pittsboro, I noticed three recent openings adjacent to the highly successful Carolina Brewery. The first is New Japan, offering "fantastic" (their word, not mine, I haven't tried it yet) Japanese food. The second new opening is a location of Papa John's. And the other is...wait for it....another yogurt shop! Yes, the Triangle's latest Yopop Frozen Yogurt has opened in the same shopping center. All three new ventures are on Lowes Drive in Pittsboro.

• And not to be outdone, Durham has had some updates to several ventures in the pipeline. The first is from the team over at Vin Rouge which will be opening Mateo Tapas, at the end of this month, first of August. Check out their website here.   

• Two other eateries are in the works for the property at the corner of Morris and West Chapel Hill streets. The first is The Cupcake Bar which announced that they are shooting for an August opening. Get all the details here.

• And the other is a wood-fired pizza restaurant called Pizzeria Toro, which is slated to open in September. It is also at 101 E. Chapel Hill Street. Get more details here. 

• And finally, Cocoa Cinnamon, a chocolate and coffee shop, is slated to open later this month, or first of August at 420 W. Geer Street in downtown Durham. It is owned and operated by Areli Barrera de Grodski and her husband Leon Grodski de Barrera. Get more information here.

• Downtown Raleigh has landed a new quick Asian restaurant for the "little pod" (one of four) located on Fayetteville Street formerly occupied by Krispy Kreme (442 Fayetteville Street). Fire Wok is a Chinese food option featuring hibachi-grilled dishes, sushi and teriyaki. It is now open. The same family owns Vic's Ristorante Italiano in City Market and La Volta Italiano in the Progress Energy building - both in downtown Raleigh. Check them out here.

• We got word this week that the fourth Triangle area location of Penn Station East Coast Subs is opening next Monday or Tuesday (at the latest). The newest location is at 6301 Falls of the Neuse Road, near the intersection with Spring Forest Road. Get all the details here.

• PDQ, a casual fast-food chain with two Tampa, Fla., locations is coming to North Carolina, with the first location set to open in Raleigh in October. PDQ (which stands for both "People Dedicated to Quality" as well as "Pretty Darn Quick") serves sandwiches, salads, fries and milkshakes. The first location is slated for the former Captain Stanley's Seafood location in Sutton Square - which was demolished to make way for the new 3-story structure. They plan to open a second Triangle PDQ in December in Wake Forest next to the Carolina Ale House. Get all the details here.

• We reported this to you back in June, but we have opening dates to announce. The building that was home to the Woody's BBQ at 6176 Falls of Neuse Rd in Raleigh is being transformed into a Jersey Mikes Subs and Starbucks, complete with drive-thru. The Starbucks will open on August 3rd, with the Jersey Mike's to follow shortly after that. We will keep you posted.

• Listen up folks, I'm only going to tell you once (OK, I'll keep reminding you). You have GOT TO attend this event. If you even pretend to call yourself a "foodie" this is an event you DO NOT want to miss. Mark your calendars now. TerraVITA's Grand Tasting on the Green will be held this year on November 3rd. Stay tuned for more to follow on farm dinners, and food & beverage seminars! Tickets go on sale July 30. Check out all the details here.  

• The 2nd annual Food Truck Mash Up will take place tomorrow (July 14th) beginning at 2 p.m. If you'll recall, this event has each truck "mashing up" ingredients with the other trucks present. And this year, they will feature two sessions - 3-6 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. Tickets are $30 each.Get all the details here. 

• Also on Saturday (July 14th) is the Ray Price Harley-Davidson's annual Wings Cook-Off. Attendees will enjoy all-you-can-eat wings for a $5 donation. The cooking starts at 9 am, live music starts at 11 am, and the wings will be served and judged at noon. Proceeds will be donated to Duke Children's Miracle Network. The dealership is at 1126 S. Saunders St. For more information, call 919-832-2261 or go here.

• Don't miss out on the Carolina RailHawks Inaugural Pregame Pig Pickin' Festival on Saturday, July 21st. The event will start at 4:45 pm in Parking Lot D before the RailHawks game and will feature live music, beer and BBQ for only $10. Fans will be able to submit their vote for the best BBQ around as local chefs and fan contest winners compete against each other for the RailHawks Master Chef Crown. Click here to find out more details about the contest. 

• The Angus Barn invites you to join them in The Wine Cellar for their annual Seafood Celebration on Saturday, July 21. Executive Chef Walter Royal has an extraordinary five-course menu of signature dishes using local East Coast seafood. Wines will be paired with each course. The social starts at 6pm with dinner at 7pm. Cost is $125 per person including gratuity. For more information and reservations, call 919.787.3505 ext. 268 or email Kelly.

• Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours has added a Sunday food tour of Mexican food in Durham to its weekly line-up. The 2-5:15 p.m. tours on August 5 & 26 include stops at Los Comales, La Poblana, La Superior Carniceria, La Vaquita, and Nanataco. Registration or information can be found here or by calling 919-237-2254.

• Mark your calendars for the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival featuring over 60 beers, 40 bourbon and tons of barbecue. The event will be held August 3rd and 4th at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. Get all the details here.

• And finally we leave you with two reasons why Friday the 13th is not such a bad thing after all. Today is "Cow Appreciation" Day at all participating Chick-fil-A locations. Show up dressed like a cow, and receive a free meal. And also, today is the 75th birthday of Krispy Kreme donuts. Stop by today only and order a dozen original glazed donuts and get a second dozen for only 75 cents (I guess that is what they cost back in 1937).