These restaurants should open at Raleigh’s Crabtree Mall, readers say

Crabtree Valley Mall has been one of the most talked-about properties in the Triangle this year.

After being on the market for about three years, the popular Raleigh mall was purchased by the real estate investment trust Macerich for $290 million.

Months later, the new owners announced plans for a $60 million makeover, upgrading handrails, landscaping, lighting and paint.

Operators of the retail merchandising units, the portable kiosk-like shops that had lined the center of the mall walkways for decades, were told to leave. The decision was part of the “reimagining” of the mall’s common spaces, an effort to create “a more open and vibrant environment that enhances traffic flow, improves space utilization, and allows for the introduction of exciting new retail, dining, and entertainment offerings for our guests and the community,” Drew Dunzweiler, senior specialty leasing manager at Crabtree, said in an emailed statement.

And recently, the mall has lost two big restaurant tenants, Uncle Julio’s and Brio Italian Grille, which have faced financial challenges.

The News & Observer asked Macerich about its plans for the future of dining at the Raleigh mall — what kind of tenants it hoped to land and when the vacant spaces might be filled.

In response, Eric Bunyan, senior vice president for leasing at Macerich, sent an emailed statement. A portion of it said: “We’re seeing significant excitement from restaurants eager to introduce new dining concepts that will further enhance the overall dining and shopping experience for our guests and the community.

“We look forward to soon unveiling first-to-North Carolina brands and first-to-market entertainment concepts that will further position Crabtree as a premier destination for retail, dining, and entertainment.”

So we asked our readers which restaurants they’d like to see open at Crabtree.

Here’s what they said.

Restaurants that should open at Crabtree

Yard House

• Yard House is a national restaurant chain with one location in North Carolina — at Raleigh’s North Hills.
• The restaurant is known for its expansive beer selection and serves burgers and sandwiches, steaks, pizza, soups and salads, seafood and pastas.
• Handhelds range from $14-$18, and pizzas are about $16-$18. Chicken and seafood entrees, steaks and chops are $18-$43.

Goose Island Beer Co.

• This Chicago brewery offers a taproom and a pub, where customers can order items such as burgers, sandwiches, wings and salads alongside Goose Island’s beers.
• Entrees range from $15-$20, according to the pub’s online menu.

Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse

• With locations in Hilton Head and Columbia, Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse offers a salad bar with dozens of items and a “parade” of beef, lamb, chicken and pork served tableside by restaurant staff.
• Prices are per person — about $53 per adult and $26 per child, according to the Columbia location’s website.

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants

• Founded in 2005, Cooper’s Hawk is a chain of tasting rooms and restaurants with locations across the country.
• No locations are open in North Carolina, but a Greensboro tasting room and restaurant is in the works, according to the company’s website.
• The food menu offers soups and salads, pastas and risotto, chicken and seafood entrees, steaks and chops, and surf-and-turf combos, along with suggested wine pairings.
• Pastas, chicken and seafood dishes are upwards of $24, while steaks and chops start at $33. Surf-and-turf options are in the $34-$45 range.

Renee Umsted

The News & Observer

202-383-6008

Renee Umsted is The News & Observer’s Affordability Reporter. She writes about what it costs to live in the Triangle, with a consumer-focused approach. She has a degree in journalism from TCU.