Friday Fun Food Facts - December 14, 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 sixth week and 5 more folks just won $20 Target gift cards to Target! Those will be delivered today (& Monday). Congratulations to: Beth at Kellogg's; Michayla at Brasfield & Gorrie; Meredith at Schneider Electric; Jill at Electricities; and Susan at The Wooten Company. And now, the week everyone has been waiting on. Next Friday, we will conclude with our GRAND PRIZE drawing for a $250 gift card to Target! Get all the details here. 

• This past Thursday, the third edition of Tobacco Road Sports Café was completed with the opening of their Chapel Hill location in the East 54 development. As most know, they also have locations in Raleigh and Durham. I can't wait to check out the new location - I hear it is pretty spectacular. Follow them on Facebook here.  

• Just across the way from the newest Tobacco Road, we learned that Saffron in Chapel Hill is now Raaga. Not sure what prompted this, but they are in the same location, which is in the East 54 development. Here is their new website.  

• Down the road in Carrboro, Carrboro Pizza Oven is now open in Carr Mill Mall in the former Rita's space across from Elmo's Diner. CPO, which is owned by Craig Samuels (also owns Village Pizza & Pasta and recently sold his Franklin Street version to Tomato Jake's), serves pizza, pasta, calzones, and other items, Check them out here.

• Over in Raleigh, Niall Hanley continues to mix things up. Over the past few weeks he has been dropping hints on his various Facebook pages about the restaurant he has rebranded on the ground floor of Solas in the Glenwood South district. The restaurant is now Bia Restaurant and features a new chef, Dan Yeager. A grand opening date will be announced soon, but stop by and check out the new menu. Follow them on Facebook here.  

• Also in Raleigh, no one is probably ever too excited about visiting Raleigh's Wake Med campus, but if you have to be there, you might as well eat well. And that is the case now with the opening of Au Bon Pain, a café/bakery that just opened at their New Bern Avenue campus. It is located near the gift shop and pharmacy. Might as well eat well while you are there!

• Over in Durham, the Herald-Sun is reporting that Pop's Backdoor South is getting a new owner, although an owner familiar to anyone that has frequented this version of Pop's. John Vandergrift has sold the restaurant to long-time manager Jefe Lubiano. While most everything is expected to remain the same, look for some minor tweaks to the menu to reflect Jefe and some of his creations. Pop's South is located in the Hope Valley shopping center. Check them out here.

• In our "pending file" we couldn't confirm the anticipated December 16th opening of Dos Taquitos Xoco. Xoco is the creation of the owners of Dos Taquitos and Hibernian and will be located in the Glenwood South district in the space that was most recently The Diner and before that, Hard Times Cafe. Keep up with them on Facebook here. As soon as we get the word of a confirmed open date, we will let you know. 

• The folks at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, opening in Seaboard Station in downtown Raleigh, had to push back their anticipated opening and are now looking at the week between Christmas and New Year's, if all goes well. We will continue to keep an eye on it and keep you posted. Check them out here.  

• We told you last week about the opening of PDQ at the intersection of Falls of the Neuse and Spring Forest roads in Raleigh. While there, we learned that the ownership team isn't stopping there. They have 5 other locations planned in North Carolina, with three of those to be here in the Triangle. The next will be up in Wake Forest, and will be followed by locations in Cary and Durham. We'll continue to watch their growth and keep you updated.
  Keep up with them here.  

• The downtown Raleigh location of Chick-fil-A is currently closed for renovations, but they posted on their Facebook page this week that they are anticipating re-opening at the end of next week. We'll keep up with Amy and her team and keep you posted. Keep up with them here.  

• Durham is about to get a new "Asian fusion" option with the soon-to-open restaurant called Sake Bomb. The Asian bistro and bar is in the Kmart shopping center on University Drive in the former Eastern Lights Hot Pot & Grill location. Look for an opening around year's end.

• And the final item in the "pending file" is the latest concept from the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, Page Road Grill. The last we heard from them, they were looking at the third week in December, but we couldn't get a confirmation on that. Keep up with them here. We'll let you know as soon as we hear something.  

• We got the sad news this week that Draft Carolina Burgers and Beers will flip their last burger and serve their last beer on the last day of 2012. Draft is under the umbrella of Rocky Top Hospitality Group. Follow them on Facebook to see what they come up with next!  And stop by Draft during their last 12 days of the year as they donate a percentage of sales to a different charity each night. Get all the details here.  

• We also got a note this week from Martin Sreshta, owner of Martin's Curry Rice, that he closed the restaurant in Morrisville. That is the bad news as he is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. The good news is that Martin continues to share his talent and passion. He will be at the Western Wake Farmer's Market every Saturday. Stop by and pay Martin a visit. There is no doubt this is not the last we'll hear from him! Best to you!

• We got a tip from John Huismann (aka Triangle Explorer) this week that Oliver Twist up in North Raleigh had closed. We contacted another source that confirmed that it is indeed closed. And while their doors are physically closed, the "door" was left open that it may reopen, or re-brand, but we'll keep an eye on it for you. As of now, it is closed.

• John also informed us this week that Yogo World, a frozen yogurt shop in the Falls River Shopping Center off Durant Road has closed.

• And finally, we got word this week from a Yelp message board that Your House, near the intersection of Capital Blvd. and Spring Forest Road in Raleigh, has closed. Apparently there is a sign out front about a pending auction. My restaurant friends may be interested in following up on that.