The Waffle House is gone, but Durham’s Ninth Street is getting a new noodle shop
It’s not every day you see a Waffle House close in the South.
But the all night diner and interstate mainstay is the latest restaurant to close on Durham’s Ninth Street. Wedged in the middle of restaurants and bars, the Durham location bet on foot traffic from college students instead of traveling smothered and covered fans. Waffle House announced the Ninth Street location had closed this week, taping signs on the doors and windows inviting fans to find them at one of their numerous locations nearby.
Once one of Durham’s nightlife centers, Ninth Street is now a busy corridor of comings and goings. Next door to the closed Waffle House, rolled ice cream shop Snow Factory closed last year. And a few doors down, the former Chubby’s Tacos at 748 Ninth Street was replaced by the short-lived Khaja’s Kurry, which is now home to the popular taqueria Mi Calvillo.
Despite all the turnover on Ninth Street, there have actually been more openings than closings. Indian restaurant Lime & Lemon, Korean fried chicken spot Chicken Bee and Alabama-based Moe’s Original BBQ have all opened nearby in the last year, joining longtime favorites like Elmo’s Diner, Dain’s Place and Banh’s Cuisine.
New pho and noodle bar
The newest addition is Secrets Pho & Noodle Bar, opening up at 810 Ninth Street, in the former Saint & Co. and Pie Hole space. Secrets is owned by Alex Ho and Kenny Wong. In a phone interview, Ho said Secrets will open in early March.
The menu at Secrets will be about 60% Vietnamese, Ho said, plus other Asian fusion dishes. Secrets will serve beef and chicken pho, banh mi sandwiches, as well as chicken teriyaki, lo mein, fried rice and orange chicken.
The Secrets space at the corner of Ninth and Green streets was first filled by the sweet shop Pie Hole, a Los Angeles-based company making its first foray into the East Coast. The Pie Hole closed after only a few months and was replaced by pastry shop and pizzeria Saint & Co., which also closed in a matter of months. The space has been empty for nearly a year.
Since the restaurant was built as a bakery, renovations included kitchen upgrades and a new hood system, Ho said. The new owners said they’re not worried about the space’s track record, believing Durham and Duke’s student population are the market they’re looking for.
“It’s the clientele we want, well-traveled and international exchange students,” Ho said. “People who are educated on our food and well traveled and looking for something fresh.”
Ho is originally from Texas, near the Louisiana line, where he said he’s opened more than a dozen restaurants in and around Houston. Last year, Ho opened his first restaurant in the Triangle, Secret Cajun Kitchen on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh, serving boiled and spiced crawfish and shrimp and fried seafood.
