From Queeny’s to Torchy’s, these were the top Triangle restaurant openings of 2021
READ MORE
What’s the Future of Dining Out?
Nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic, diners are more accustomed to navigating menus on their phones, flashing vaccine cards and reheating takeout. Now the choice of where to go out includes a new option — whether to go out at all. We explore how COVID has reshaped dining, what it looks and feels like to go out for a meal and how the Triangle’s celebrated dining scene advances. Plus, we’ll tell you which new restaurants — and meals — are drool-worthy.
Expand All
The future of dining out: How the Triangle restaurant scene will look different in 2022
Our great NC barbecue revival, slowed by the pandemic, will heat back up in 2022
From Queeny’s to Torchy’s, these were the top Triangle restaurant openings of 2021
A restaurant boom will come to the Triangle next year. These spots are most anticipated
.JPG)
Yum! Put these eight local dishes on your 2022 dining radar
Despite the turmoil of the past two years, the Triangle’s dining scene expanded in some wonderful ways in 2021.
Here are some of the most promising restaurants that opened this year:
Queeny’s: The owners of the downtown Durham cocktail bar Kingfisher built this affordable spot to feed the city all day long. There’s a pork chop sandwich inspired by Mt. Airy’s famed Snappy Lunch, but topped with pickled veggies Banh Mi style, a birria French Dip and a diner-style burger, all around 10 bucks.
Crawford Cookshop: In the small town of Clayton, Raleigh chef Scott Crawford built his version of the great America Restaurant. Low and high brow burgers, three kinds of wings, a catfish sandwich the size of a surfboard, the Crawford Cookshop might have folks driving from Raleigh to complain about the parking in Clayton.
Gym Tacos Sportsbar: One of the top taco trucks in the Triangle opened its first brick and mortar location this year when it took over a North Raleigh sports bar adding nacho towers and cocktails to its menu.
Young Hearts: Trophy Brewing has had a spot on Wilmington Street for as long as it’s been brewing beer in Raleigh. Young Hearts is Trophy’s most ambitious restaurant so far and the city’s first downtown distillery. The space has been transformed from a place famous for tater tots to the city’s largest cocktail bar, with barrels of spirits and cocktails put up for aging. Bright and herbal gin and an ambitious amaro program are pieces of an exciting addition to North Carolina’s hot craft spirits scene.
(ish) Delicatessen: How do you answer five years of hype for a sandwich shop? Matt Fern did it with a menu of stunners, including a painstakingly perfected Reuben, a smoked fish melt that will make believers of the cheese and fish skeptics and finally breakfast sandwiches in Raleigh.
BB’s Crispy Chicken: Chef Ashley Christensen’s foray into fast casual aimed to make a mark on the country’s hottest food trend: the chicken sandwich. BB’s lives up to its billing, serving up a deep fried piece of chicken that keeps its crisp and crunch. The sleeper surprise is a hot sauce menu offering a flavor journey from tang and sweet to searing heat. The other Triangle locations will open in 2022.
Little Pizza Box: The pizza wizards at Oakwood Pizza Box in Raleigh expanded across the Triangle with a new mini pizzeria inside Durham’s Ponysaurus Brewing Company. The pies are tweaked slightly, coming a little smaller, but The Box still throws the best pizza parties.
Hank’s Downtown Dive: Downtown Cary used to be a punchline. Now it’s one of the Triangle’s hottest dining districts. The owners of Sidebar are part of the reason why, with Matthew Bettinger first opening the Cary cocktail bar in 2018 next to the celebrated Pizzeria Faulisi. Hank’s is the follow-up, a casual restaurant that’s not quite as divey as the name suggests, instead becoming the ideal neighborhood spot with a margarita on draft.
Ideal’s Sandwich & Grocery: This unassuming East Durham sandwich shop was one of the best new restaurants to open last year. Built as an ode to Philadelphia-style delis, Ideal’s makes all its own bread, a focaccia round, a seeded hoagie and an English muffin for breakfast service. Owned by Ian Bracken and Paul Chirico, who met at the Culinary Institute of America, Ideal’s will make you wonder if anything is more perfect than a roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe. Not many things are.
Osteria Georgi: This new Chapel Hill Italian restaurant from Giorgios Bakatsias started with a bang. Its chef Dan Jackson starred on and won an episode of the TV-cooking competition “Chopped” shortly after opening. This osteria focuses on freshly made pasta and antipasti, plus large shareable plates for an impromptu Italian feast.
Torchy’s Tacos: There’s a wave of fast casual heading to the Triangle, but this Texas chain has made the biggest splash so far. Beloved for its devotion to the art of queso, Torchy’s launched in Raleigh’s Midtown East development with a vast taco menu and longer lines.
Tesoro: This intimate pasta bar in Carrboro is the first restaurant from longtime Triangle chef David Peretin, who has worked in some of the area’s top kitchens. Open since August, Tesoro serves a handful of fresh pasta dishes each night, finding the sublime in simplicity.
Buena Papa Fry Bar: How beautifully audacious it is to take cheese fries and turn it into a restaurant. James and Johanna Windon believed such a thing was possible, creating Raleigh’s first fry bar this year, opening up in the Morgan Street Food Hall. The fry combinations are often Latin-focused, with the house specialty being the Colombiano, where crispy fries are topped with fried pork belly, beans, guacamole and salsa.
Park’s Food St.: From Itaewon owner Jay Park comes this mini Korean food hall in Durham. Park’s Food Street is three restaurants in one, the Korean fried chicken concept Cupdak, the noodle shop Ramyun Time and Taco Park, serving up Korean tacos in flour tortillas.
This story was originally published December 19, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
