Retail: Mami Nora’s getting new name – but same menu

The taste of fall-off-the-bone rotisserie chicken cooked over charcoal is so good and so hard to replicate.

So if you have a product with that kind of unique flavor and customers have come to expect it, you don’t want to mess with the recipe.

And Mami Nora’s knows that.

The string of Peruvian chicken restaurants is undergoing an ownership change and rebranding that includes switching its name to Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken.

But rest assured, the way it makes its rotisserie chicken will stay the same.

“We are not going to change the menu,” said Ranbir Bakhshi, 32, one of three siblings taking over Mami Nora’s from their parents, who are retiring. “We’re keeping the same family, same menu, same recipe.”

Bakhshi’s parents opened the first Mami Nora’s in Durham in 2007. Three others have since been added: one in Cary, one on Raleigh’s Capital Boulevard, and another on Wake Forest Road in Raleigh that’s independently owned and operated and will keep its Mami Nora’s name.

Bakhshi, his sister, Ruby, 28, and brother Amrvir, 35, have been working in the family’s fast-casual restaurants since the first one opened.

“We’ve all been involved (since the beginning),” Bakhshi said. “We have opened and ran all of the stores, so it’s not like (our mother is) just handing down the keys. She’s said many times that we are the backbone of the company itself.”

Alpaca’s simple menu includes chicken that comes as a whole, half or quarter; salads with steak or chicken; Peruvian stir-fried rice with chicken and sausage; and sides such as yucca fries, two types of fried plantains, black beans and white rice.

Caramel flan, alfajores (caramel cookies) and tre leches make up the dessert offerings.

Prices range from $6.99 for a quarter dark chicken plate to about $15.50 for a whole chicken.

Mami Nora’s will become Alpaca July 25, and is having a grand opening party to celebrate. The event will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and include a live salsa band, face painting and food samples at its restaurant at 4614 Capital Blvd.

The other Alpacas are at 302 Davidson Ave. in Durham and 9575 Chapel Hill Road in Cary.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Carolina Ale House plan to open Monday at White Oak Crossing in Garner. Both are near Cabela’s.

Red Hot & Blue has opened at Cary’s Waverly Place. The barbecue restaurant, which had operated at the shopping center for about 18 years before closing in 2007, is back to serving dishes such as ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chicken.

Also at the mall, martial arts training and fitness facility TFTC Martial Arts Academy and My Salon Suite, a salon that includes independent beauty professionals such hair stylists, nail technicians, estheticians and massage therapists, have opened. CineBistro movie theater that offers food, a full bar and reclining seats and rocking chairs is set to open later this summer. Waverly Place is at the corner of Kildaire Farm and Tryon roads.

Hairizon, a Durham beauty supply shop that’s been through challenges such as having an SUV crash into its former store, is opening a temporary pop-up shop at Northgate Mall Aug. 1. The place will have its own entrance and be across from R&R Customs, near the Shoe Dept.

The store is running a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a permanent location. For more information, go to http://bit.ly/1GoJPh9.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Retail: Mami Nora’s getting new name – but same menu."