Food & Drink

Acclaimed Durham restaurant set for major move to downtown space

Little Bull will move to 301 E. Chapel Hill
Little Bull will move to 301 E. Chapel Hill Drew Jackson
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways

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  • Little Bull will move this summer to a renovated space at 301 Chapel Hill St.
  • Little Bull will reopen in the new space on Monday, Aug. 3, per a press release.
  • Chef Oscar Diaz opened Little Bull in 2023 and earned Michelin recommendation.

After a three-year run, one of the Triangle’s most celebrated new restaurants will move to a larger space in the middle of Downtown Durham.

This summer, the acclaimed restaurant Little Bull will move to a freshly renovated space at 301 Chapel Hill St. The modern Mexican restaurant from James Beard semifinalist chef Oscar Diaz debuted in 2023 on Mangum Street in Durham. Little Bull quickly earned wide praise and was recently named a Michelin-recommended restaurant. Earlier this year, Little Bull was included in The News & Observer’s Top 50 Restaurants in the Triangle.

“We decided we had to move it,” Diaz said in a phone interview earlier this year. “We’re so proud of what we’ve been able to do there.”

Little Bull will reopen in its new space Monday, Aug. 3, the Mezcalito Group said in a press release.

That means that Little Bull will vacate its current location on Mangum Street sometime this summer, though the restaurant group hasn’t given an end date.

Since partnering with the owners of Mezcalito in 2023, Diaz has been on a restaurant spree, adding two locations of Aaktun, the year-old Tataco in Durham and the recently opened drinks spot Barbaro.

The group has been renovating the 301 Chapel Hill St. space since 2024, with initial plans to open a new steakhouse. Diaz said those plans shifted in recent months.

“Live fire cooking was originally part of the plan (on Mangum Street),” Diaz said. “We’ll be able to do that in the new (Little Bull) space.”

Little Bull is moving from its original space on Mangum Street to a new larger building on E. Chapel Hill Street in Durham.
Little Bull is moving from its original space on Mangum Street to a new larger building on E. Chapel Hill Street in Durham. jdjackson@newsobserver.com Drew Jackson

In it, Little Bull’s ambitions seem poised to grow. In November, it was one of 19 restaurants in the Triangle to earn Michelin recognition. Diaz believes Little Bull will continue to soar in the new space.

“We can work towards a star,” Diaz said.

Recently, Diaz competed as one of 15 chef competitors on “Top Chef: Carolinas.” The Little Bull chef became a fan favorite, but was eliminated in the May 4 episode.

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This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 11:57 AM.

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Drew Jackson
The News & Observer
Drew Jackson writes about restaurants and dining for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun, covering the food scene in the Triangle and North Carolina.
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