Raleigh eatery The Mecca has been closed but opened for one day. Is reopening coming?
Raleigh’s oldest restaurant is opening its doors again to serve its famous comfort food — but for one day only.
The Mecca has been closed since the early part of the pandemic, but the Downtown Raleigh restaurant will reopen on Wednesday, Dec. 15, for breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. No reservations are required.
The special occasion is a fundraising effort for a local project by the Eagle Scouts in downtown Raleigh, the restaurant said in a Facebook post. All tips to servers will be donated to raise funds.
The restaurant’s owner Greg Hatem, a Raleigh developer who has eaten at The Mecca for around 30 years, told The News & Observer that the reopening is both to give back to the community and give the diner’s fans a much-needed return to their beloved restaurant.
Hatem’s son George is raising money for the local Salvation Army as part of an Eagle Scout project, he said.
“So many people asked when (The Mecca) would come back,” said Hatem in an interview on the day of the opening. “We decided to do a pop-up and shake the dust off and make some really great food for the community today.”
The restaurant’s regulars came out for the occasion, he said.
The staff working on Wednesday included the management of Empire Eats, the restaurant group owned by Hatem, which includes Raleigh spots like Sitti and The Pit.
The official reopening of the restaurant — with its old-timey diner atmosphere — may not be far off.
“I love that place, it’s not going anywhere,” said Hatem. “We can have (The Mecca) open in a week, if we just find the staff.”
In a Facebook comment on the post announcing the news, the restaurant said it hopes “to open for regular hours and daily double cheeseburgers very soon!”
The diner’s struggled to find the necessary staff to reopen full-time as restaurants locally and nationally face staffing shortages in the pandemic. Hatem hopes to reopen in early 2022, he said.
The Mecca attempted to go through the takeout-only route in 2020 before closing its doors. Hatem had planned to reopen in July this year as downtown Raleigh’s economy sprung back, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
But the Mecca ultimately did not reopen, saying on social media that it was affected by staffing shortage issues that have affected the U.S. food service industry.
The restaurant at 13 E. Martin St., a time capsule of Raleigh dining history, was owned and operated by the Dombalis family for 88 years. They sold the restaurant in 2018 to the restaurant group Empire Eats, owned by Hatem.
Former News & Observer dining critic Greg Cox named The Mecca one of Raleigh’s “essential” restaurants in March 2020, one of the places that defines the city’s dining scene.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 3:20 PM.
