Friday Fun Food Facts - December 21, 2012

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• We begin with the grand finale drawing in the Triangle Food Guy's Holiday Promotion. This wraps up 6 straight weeks of $100 in gift cards a week given out to our amazing clients. And today, we are proud to announce the winner of our GRAND PRIZE drawing for a $250 gift card to Target...Drum roll please....and the winner is Sharon C. at Jacobs Engineering!!! I (along with my kids who are out of school) will be paying Sharon a visit today just in time for the holidays. A huge thanks to all of our clients/friends that have given us an amazing 2012. Here is to 2013! 

• Lots of news over at Rocky Top Hospitality restaurant group. First, their Rockwell's concept in Cary will be transformed into Dean's Seafood & Oysters after the first of the year. Second, we told you about this last week, but Draft will close on Glenwood South as of December 31st. And third, partners Dean Ogan and Jeff Schenk will divide the group's concepts - Ogan getting Dean's, Twisted Fork, The Daily Planet Café, the catering company and the space at 1705 Prime. Schenk will take the two Tribeca Tavern locations and the Mash House (in Fayetteville). Thanks to the N&O's Andrea Weigl for filling in a lot of the details here. Check out Rocky Top here. 

• I got a call yesterday from a reader and the N&O's Andrea Weigl has confirmed that Cary's Bella Mia is closing temporarily and changing ownership - reopening in a few weeks. The Guerra family is in the process of selling the restaurant. Their last day running the restaurant will be this Saturday, December 22nd. We'll keep you posted on who the new owners are and when they plan to re-open. Stay tuned.

• Got word last week from my buddy (and my attorney) James Vann that Firewurst in Cary is now open in the Shoppes of Kildaire near the intersection of Kildaire Farm Road and Cary Parkway. Firewurst serves up flame-grilled sausages and dogs and is owned by Bill and Chas Morgenstern. Get more information on their website here or their Facebook page here.  

• Up in Lafayette Village in North Raleigh Pampas at the Village Market has opened. They tout themselves as serving the finest Argentinean steaks and entrees as well as exemplary Cuban staples. Pampas is the sister restaurant of Oakwood Cafe in Downtown Raleigh. Check out their website here or their Facebook page here. 

• And speaking of Lafayette Village, a posting on the Yelp "Rumor Board" noted a new sign indicating that Sushi One Japanese Restaurant would be opening soon. We'll keep an eye on it.

• Also on the Yelp message board, we saw that a new Ethiopian restaurant called Ashee has opened at 904 NE Maynard Road in Cary in the same shopping center as Dollar General, Food Lion and Lucky 7.

• Changes are afoot in downtown Chapel Hill with Tomato Jake's. As you'll remember, earlier this year Tomato Jake's purchased, took over and converted the Franklin Street Pizza & Pasta into their second location of Tomato Jake's. Thanks to a tip from my friend Tabitha Turner, ownership has changed again, and it is being converted into a new concept. We don't have any more details at this point, but we'll keep an eye on it.

• The downtown Raleigh location of Chick-fil-A reopened on Thursday after completing its renovation. Eat more chicken...in downtown Raleigh! Congrats to Amy and her team. Keep up with them here.  

•  If you find yourself in the Roxboro area, you'll find the newest edition of Jimmy's Famous Hot Dogs (original location in Durham on Guess Road) at 1039 N. Madison Blvd. They opened their doors on December 3rd. Thanks to Chris Vernakes, son of Jimmy, for the heads up on this. Check them out on Facebook here.

• And speaking of Guess Road in Durham, the blog Carpe Durham turned us onto the fact that Pad Thai, a Thai cuisine restaurant, has taken over the spot that used to house Kim-Son Vietnamese. Check out the article here.  

• There is a new bird at Pie Bird in downtown Raleigh. They announced last week that they had brought in a new chef to the kitchen. Executive Chef Greg Buck has joined the team and has taken over management of the kitchen. Check them out here.

•  If you're looking for a fun evening event over the holidays (or just want to get out of the house and away from the in-laws), head on over to North Raleigh's Sola Coffee Café on Thursday, December 27th for the next Counter Culture Latte Art Throwdown. The friendly competition between local baristas will begin at 7 p.m. Thanks to John Huisman (aka  Triangle Explorer) for this reminder.

• In our "pending file" we are still awaiting the opening of Glenwood South's Dos Taquitos Xoco. Keep up with them on Facebook here. We are also awaiting the opening of Bad Daddy's Burger Bar located in the Seaboard Station in downtown Raleigh. Last we heard, they were shooting for the week between Christmas and New Years. Keep up with them here. 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 the target date was/is December 27th. Keep up with them here. 

• And we close with some Christmas Day help thanks to the hard work of Greg Cox over at the News & Observer. Greg has compiled a comprehensive list of restaurants that are open on Christmas Day. Check it out here. 

And this is the final post of 2012!
We'll see you on the flip side in 2013!  

(assuming the Mayans weren't correct)  

Thanks for reading!