Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Build
Friday, July 1, 2016
The H-Street Kitchen on Hillsborough and a Capital Grille at North Hills that will be Raleigh’s first are both set to open within the next few weeks.
The ABC Inspection Permit for H-Street, which we’ve written about previously, was dated June 23. I reached out to proprietor Gary Bryant, who told me they plan to start training staff July 11 and hope to open their doors around the week of July 26, although nothing has been set it stone yet.
James Borden
H-Street Kitchen should be opening near the end of the month
Bryant was tight-lipped on the details of the staff training set to begin later this month, but a leaked memo we obtained indicates he plans to ship them off to the city of Krasnogourbinsk in the former Soviet Union for three weeks of chopping firewood, lifting bags of rocks, and scaling various snow-peaked mountains.
Meanwhile, the future staff of the Capital Grille, set to open July 11 at North Hills, are probably off in some brightly-lit, spotless gym running on treadmills with a 90 percent incline and practicing on all kinds of miscellaneous, vaguely-futuristic training equipment.
Capital Grille’s North Hills location will be its second in North Carolina, the first of which was regrettably opened in Charlotte. The chain is now seeking to right that wrong, by bringing their signature Porcini Rubbed Bone-In Ribeye With 15-Year Aged Balsamic to Tower II at North Hills. North Hills is also home to another high-end steak chain, Ruth’s Chris.
There were three other “inspection” permits issued last week, and since there weren’t many interesting renovation permits, we’ll take a quick look at those as well.
First up is the oddly named “Aryans” quick-mart that’s apparently set to open at a gas station on New Bern Avenue. I kind of hope I misread the permit for this and it’s going to remain a Quality Mart (which I believe is the present iteration) and that Aryans LLC was just the name of the company formed by its new owner. Time will tell.
Next we’ve got the Lowe’s over at 9600 Strickland Road in North Raleigh. This was a bit odd, as this is certainly not a new store. In fact, this Lowe’s has been around for a while and received its first set of ABC Permits in 2000 for “Malt Beverage Off Premise, Fortified Wine Off Premise and Unfortified Wine Off Premise” which we assume means they were able to sell those things so long as people drank it off-premises, i.e., the parking lot.
Google Maps
A Lowes store
In 2003, it received a permit allowing people to drink on-premises, so long as it was part of a wine-tasting. In 2009, this was expanded to include “Malt beverage” tastings. I don’t know what that entails, but I do like the idea of someone pouring out sample cups of Colt 45. Fun fact: in the 1990s, the makers of Colt 45 tried to produce a mint-flavored version “Cool Colt” that was marketed with the slogan “Tate the Cool.”
The final inspection permit wasn’t booze-related; rather, it was for “Rose’s Home Care LLC,” which looks like it will be operating out of a private residence in Northeast Raleigh.
Neither of the two most interesting renovation permits were necessarily booze-related either, although we imagine Mama Joe’s Thai Kitchen, set to open at the Friendly Apartments on 105 Friendly Drive, will be serving libations alongside offerings of Ka Nom Jeep and Pad Thai.
The $300,000 renovation for the new restaurant will be done by Brookwood Builders. The Friendly Apartments themselves, which will occupy the top four floors of the structure, will begin leasing units in August.
The site of the future apartment complex
The next eatery to receive permits *sounds* booze-related, but Brewerks, which will be located at 701 East Lane St., the former home of Quality Grocery right in the heart of historic Oakwood.
According to its website, Brewerks Cafe & Bakery will offer the following delectable delights:
- Fresh in-house baked artisan bread & pastries
- Fresh in-house roasted coffee beans Espresso coffee
- Brewed teas; Fresh juices
- Smoothies
- Freshly prepared breakfast & lunch dishes
- Prepared to-go meals
- Fresh produce
- Grocery staples
Sounds great. Apparently, The Belgian-Filippo’s, which currently occupies the space, has a lease that expires at the end of the month.
The final new restaurant to receive fit-out permits last week was none other than Crawford & Son, a tavern-style restaurant at 618 N. Person Street in the former home of PieBird and first reported on back in May by @NewRaleigh.
Scott Crawford
The restaurant will be located next to the new home of Pelagic Beer & Wine, which is relocating from around the corner to 620 N. Person, and Speakeasy, a basement-level bar.
Crawford & Son will be run by none other than Scott Crawford, the chef who helped co-found Standard Foods. Crawford told The Indy earlier this year that he planned to open the Louis-Cherry designed restaurant by fall 2016. Looking forward to the result of this team-up!
