Friday Fun Food Facts - November 30, 2012

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• Triangle Food Guy’s Holiday Promotion just completed its third & fourth weeks and 10 (actually 9) more folks just won $20 Target gift cards to Target! Those will be delivered today (& Monday). Congratulations to: Stacy at Highwoods; Linda Aikin at URS; Mary (pharma rep); Kristen at Smith Debnam; Jason at Kilpatrick Townsend; Margaret Ann at Cherry, Bekaert & Holland; Analiza at Teleflex; Kadi at Dixon Hughes Goodman; and Debbie at Black & Veatch. But don’t fret, we’re doing the same thing every week until December 21st and all you have to do is order. It will conclude with a drawing for a $250 gift card to Target on December 21st! Get all the details here.  

• Depending on what time you read this, Rise, a biscuit and doughnut joint over in Durham, just opened their doors (it happened at 7 a.m. this morning). Tom Ferguson, who also owns Durham Catering Company and was a pioneer in the food truck craze here in the Triangle, is the owner. Rise is located in the Renaissance Village near the Super Target at the Streets at Southpoint. Check them out on Facebook here and their regular website here.  

• So back in March of this year, we told you that Kemp’s Seafood House on Highway 70 between Raleigh and Durham was looking to sell it’s current location in favor of downsizing. Well, thanks to the keen eyes of John Huisman, aka Triangle Explorer, we learned this week that the owners of Kemp’s have reopened that location as a new concept called Louie & Charlie’s Grill & Tavern. Check them out here. 

• Over in Chapel Hill, The Daily Tar Heel is reporting this morning that a Waffle House will soon be joining the ranks of Franklin Street breakfast joints. The 24-hour breakfast stop will be located at 129 E. Franklin Street in the former YoFrutt location. According to a spokesperson for the chain, it will open early next year. Don’t know about you, but my loyalty remains with Ye Olde Waffle Shop! 

• And speaking of Chapel Hill, Lucha Tigre, a Latin Asian fusion joint featuring dumplings and empanadas, has opened in the former Flying Burrito location on MLK Blvd. Right now they are just open for dinner, but will open for lunch shortly. It is being brought to us by the same folks behind Calavera’s and Five Star Restaurant, both in downtown Raleigh. Check out their Facebook page here.  

• Thanks to a tip from my friend Dana McCall over at GoGoRaleigh, a new eatery has just opened in Crabtree Valley Mall. Well, kind of new. It is actually an extension of Kanki. Torii offers a selection of Japanese noodle and rice dishes. The restaurant is located upstairs from the Kanki, next to the Glenwood Avenue entrance to the mall. Check them out here.

• According to the N&O’s Andrea Weigl, Guasaca, a new fast-casual South American restaurant, will open on Monday (Dec. 3rd) in the Marketplace at Lake Boone Trail. The dining experience is similar to Chipotle, but you’ll get arepas (similar to pita pockets) that you’ll fill with a combination of meats, vegetables and sauces. Check them out here.  

• Over in Raleigh, I noticed recently that Top This Café has opened at the intersection of Lake Boone Trail and Blue Ridge Road in the former Atrium Garden/Blue Point Café location. The next location will be in the Jack Sprat location on Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street.

• I got an early morning email back on November 20th from my buddy Ted Barringer that the WhichWich in Durham was opening. I stopped by last week to enjoy my first ‘wich’ out of Durham, which (or is it wich?) is located at the intersection of 751 and Hwy. 54 in the same shopping center as Harris Teeter. Congrats to Ted on his newest adventure.

• And speaking of Durham, I had a chance last week to eat at one of their newest additions - Bonefish Grill. It is located in the new Westpoint at 751 development (think Aldi near the Streets at Southpoint). Best of luck to Erica Steffens and her team. Check out their website here.  

• We got a note last week that the Ocean Reef Seafood Restaurant, which is located just outside the beltline in Raleigh at 3645 New Bern Avenue, has opened. Get all the details here. 

• For all you Tobacco Road Sports Café nuts looking for an update on the opening of the Chapel Hill location, all we can tell you is we got a note from them last week (November 23rd) saying that they were hanging the TVs and were “about a week away” from opening. According to my math...but we’ll keep you posted. Follow them on Facebook here.  

• In a similar vain, we asked the same of the opening of Page Road Grill in RTP and got a reply back noting that they were looking at opening the second week in December. Soooo looking forward to the next concept to come out of the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group. Follow them on Facebook here. 

• PDQ has announced that its newest location in in Raleigh will officially open on Sunday, December 9 at 10 a.m. It is located at the intersection of Falls of the Neuse and Spring Forest roads. PDQ is a fast casual restaurant specializing in chicken tenders, salads, sandwiches, fresh cut fries and hand spun milkshakes and malts. Check them out here.  

• At last writing we told you about the closing of Mawa’s Taste of Africa in Morrisville Square on Morrisville Carpenter Road. Thanks to a tip from reader Jennifer Buchholz, we now know that space will become Taste Vietnamese. We don’t have a time frame on the opening, perhaps Jennifer will keep us posted! Thanks Jennifer.

• According to a posting on the Yelp “rumor board” and confirmed on the restaurant’s website, Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar will open in downtown Raleigh’s Seaboard Station on December 17th. Check out Bad Daddy's here.  

• Congratulations to the folks over at Neomonde on Strickland Road in Raleigh as they celebrate their one-year anniversary this Saturday, December 1st. Be sure to stop by for a day full of festivities. Check out all the details here.

• And finally, I close with one of my favorite holiday traditions - the St. Thomas More 9th Annual Christmas Holiday Shoppe Craft Show tomorrow (Dec. 1st) from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. In addition to 60 talented artisans and crafters, they have the Reindeer Cafe serving a delicious hot lunch and the Candy Cane Coffee Bar. Admission is free. St. Thomas More is located at 940 Carmichael Street in Chapel Hill. Stop by tomorrow.