Restaurant closures just keep coming. These spots in Raleigh and Durham won’t be back.
At this point, we’re missing restaurants, and we’re missing dining. The candlelight twinkle in a wine glass, a tray of oysters on a bed of crushed ice, the fiery orange pile of napkins from a plate of buffalo wings.
These things will return one day, but we’re not there yet.
Nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Triangle restaurants continue the week-to-week struggle of balancing business and safety. Dining room restrictions remain at 50%, bars are limited to outdoor seating and many diners haven’t returned to restaurants, relying instead on takeout or home cooking.
Through the summer and fall, the list of Triangle restaurants permanently closed by the pandemic continued to grow. Closed since March, when COVID restrictions first began, beloved diner Elmo’s announced it wouldn’t come back.
Fine dining restaurant Royale in downtown Raleigh won’t see the other side of the pandemic, along with inventive Papa Shogun.
As restaurants brace for a difficult winter, where the option of outdoor dining will largely disappear, restaurant owners and leaders are hopeful for a second stimulus package. North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association director Lynn Minges said that without one, many restaurants won’t make it to the spring.
“Without another round of (Paycheck Protection Program) or some other relief, many just aren’t going to make it,” Minges said earlier this month. “The truth is many restaurants are living month to month.”
Here is a running list of restaurants in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and elsewhere in the Triangle that have announced their permanent closings, with a brief appreciation of where they fit in our lives:
▪ B. Good: This national chain has pulled out of North Carolina during the pandemic, closing locations in Durham, North Hills and downtown Raleigh.
▪ Cameron Bar & Grill: After Memorial Day, this longtime Cameron Village restaurant announced it had closed permanently after a decade of business. Cameron Bar & Grill was one of the last remaining concepts of Eschelon Experiences, which owns The Haymaker and Edwards Mill Bar & Grill.
▪ Chronic Tacos: California-based taco chain that’s been in the Triangle since 2016, closing three locations in Wake Forest, Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
▪ Chuck’s Burgers: Downtown Raleigh burger joint by chef Ashley Christensen. Some menu items will move onto the menu of Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, which will expand into the space.
▪ City Kitchen: This Giorgios Bakatsias spot in Chapel Hill spent most of the pandemic closed. In September, it announced on Facebook that the closure would be permanent after unsuccessful lease negotiations. Combined with City Market’s predecessor Spice Street, the closing concludes two decades in the University Place shopping center for Bakatsias.
▪ DeeLuxe Chicken: The chicken sandwich spot from Rick Robinson and Scott Howell has closed after two years on Durham’s Broad Street.
▪ East Durham Bake Shop: This pie and pastry shop in Durham closed for good in September after two and half years on Driver Street.
▪ Elmo’s Diner: The Carrboro location of one of the Triangle’s most beloved diners announced in mid-September that it would not reopen. Elmo’s Carrboro spent nearly three decades as a breakfast staple, but closed in March as COVID restrictions were first put in place. Eventually, its owners wrote on Facebook, creating a safe plan for a small, crowded kitchen proved impossible.
▪ Gateway Restaurant: After three decades, the beloved Gateway Restaurant announced it had closed for good in mid-May. Owned by the Rohweder family since the 1980s, Gateway had survived for years as one of the few businesses in Gateway Plaza in Raleigh. But just as the shopping center was finishing up a major renovation and adding new tenants, the coronavirus pandemic hit.
▪ Govt. Cheeseburger: This Cary burger joint became the patron saint of the pandemic pivot. In the early days of the coronavirus, the kitchen crew of Postmaster shut down its fine dining menu and reopened with new burgers, pickles and a prayer. After months of serving up melty burger bombs, Gov’t Cheeseburger closed in November.
▪ HieuBowl Vietnamese Kitchen: Located near Meredith College, this space served some of the best bowls of pho in Raleigh.
▪ High Horse: The Raleigh restaurant from “Top Chef” alum Katsuji Tanabe closed after less than a year. Its opening last November was one of the highest profile events of the Raleigh dining scene in 2019, as the celebrity chef moved his family from Los Angeles to the Triangle. Tanabe said he intends to stay in the area, and the Triangle Business Journal reports he already has signed on to run the kitchen Vidrio on Glenwood Avenue.
▪ James Pharmacy: This seafood-centric neighborhood restaurant in the middle of Hillsborough announced its temporary closing had become a permanent one. James Pharmacy took over the former La Place space and was known for raw North Carolina oysters and fried seafood.
▪ Jose & Sons: This popular spot for Mexican food and drinks has closed. But the restaurant’s website suggests some future plans are in the works in a new location. “This is not a goodbye, just a farewell for now,” the website says.
▪ K&W Cafeterias: The cafeteria and buffet-style restaurant has found it hard to navigate the pandemic. In August, the Triangle lost two of its three K&W Cafeteria locations, including the iconic Cameron Village restaurant. Only one K&W remains in Raleigh, leaving a long legacy of affordable comfort food and generations of memories.
▪ Lady Luck: The glitzy and ambitious Glenwood Avenue restaurant in Raleigh opened and closed in the pandemic.
▪ Linus & Pepper’s: A South Salisbury Street sandwich shop from Local Icon Hospitality known for homemade chips and a pork belly banh mi. It was next door to sister restaurant Virgil’s Original Taqueria, which also closed.
▪ Liquid State: Located on Hillsborough Street near NC State’s campus, this coffee shop and nighttime bar announced on Facebook it would close after five years.
▪ Lotsa Stone Fired Pizza: Located on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill for the past three years.
▪ Lula’s: This Franklin Street restaurant in Chapel Hill opened in 2018 in the former Spanky’s space, serving cast iron fried chicken and biscuits.
▪ Northern Spy: This Durham cider house served a fun menu of pub food and helped initiate the Triangle to Denver-based Stem Ciders. The restaurant closed in July, just over a year after opening in the former Black Twig Cider House spot.
▪ Oak City Meatball: This downtown Raleigh spot was a fixture for the lunch crowd of downtown workers, serving a wide variety of meatballs on Davie Street. The restaurant has been closed since the fall, but is aiming to return in early December.
▪ Oakwood Cafe: For more than 20 years, this Cuban and Argentine restaurant fed loyal fans in downtown Raleigh.
▪ Papa Shogun: When this Seaboard Station restaurant opened in 2018, it was one of the most inventive restaurants to hit the Triangle in years. With dishes like chicken parm ramen and kombu gnocchi, Papa Shogun combined Japanese and Italian dishes in endlessly creative ways. As the restaurant entered its second year, the COVID pandemic set in before Papa Shogun could find its footing.
▪ Pharaoh’s: Owned by George McNeill, the North Hills Pharaoh’s has been sold after more than 20 years of serving classic hot dogs and hamburgers.
▪ Pharmacy Cafe: This Person Street spot had a loyal following with the Raleigh lunch crowd.
▪ Royale: This dreamy downtown Raleigh French restaurant made the classics feel modern, served up in a dining room of distressed walls and glass. After a couple months of take-home menus, including pizza and burgers, Royale closed following protests in downtown Raleigh. It was never able to reopen.
▪ Sub Conscious Subs: As Hillsborough Street restaurants have turned over and over in the past 30 years, Sub Conscious stood among the few survivors. This fall, this beloved sandwich shop announced it will not reopen.
▪ Soul Cocina: Serving all-vegan Latin American cuisine, Soul Cocina closed its location inside the Blue Dogwood Public Market in Chapel Hill, but still operates at local farmers markets, selling tamales, juice and salsa.
▪ Special Treats: After three years in business, this non-profit chocolate shop in Chapel Hill’s Timberlyne shopping center closed. The chocolate shop was started by Dan Friedman, whose son is on the autism spectrum, and hired workers with disabilities to sell and make its sweet treats. The shop closed on July 31.
▪ Tobacco Road Sports Cafe: The Chapel Hill location of this popular Triangle sports bar won’t reopen, owners announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Locations in Durham and Raleigh will remain open. In a statement, Tobacco Road owed the closing of the Chapel Hill location largely to the cancellation of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which it said is the busiest month of the year.
▪ Town Hall Grill: After a decade, this Chapel Hill restaurant in Southern Village closed to make way for a rebranding. It plans to reopen as a new Italian concept with an emphasis on fresh pastas.
▪ Trali Irish Pub: The Morrisville location of this Triangle Irish pub has closed, but owners vow to keep the Brier Creek location open.
▪ Travinia Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar: The Triangle location of this South Carolina-based wine bar has closed its spot in Morrisville.
▪ Trophy Tap & Table: This two-story South Wilmington Street restaurant is part of the Trophy Brewing family. (Some may remember when it was the Busy Bee Cafe.) Famous for its tater tots, the owners said they intend to put a new concept in the space.
▪ True Flavors: This enormously popular RTP restaurant expanded to Durham’s Lakewood neighborhood in 2018, adding a new biscuit concept called Debbie Lou’s along the way. The restaurant closed in August, consolidating both concepts within its RTP location, but keeping its brunch dreams alive.
▪ Tyler’s Taproom: The closing of the Carrboro location of Tyler’s Taproom ends a run of one of the largest beer menus in the Triangle.
▪ Urban Turban: After a decade of business in Cary, this Mediterranean restaurant closed in July. The owners said that gift certificates will be honored at sister restaurant Falafel 54 in Durham, near the Research Triangle Park.
▪ Virgil’s Original Taqueria: A taco shop and tequila bar from Local Icon Hospitality, located in downtown Raleigh on South Salisbury Street and known for nearly a dozen taco options.
▪ Zoe’s Kitchen: The four Triangle locations of the popular Mediterranean fast-casual chain have closed, according to the company’s website.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 11:27 AM.
