Downtown Raleigh adds five new restaurants along Fayetteville Street
One block from the state capitol building, a struggling stretch of Fayetteville Street is experiencing a newfound revival.
A slew of new restaurants will open this year in long-vacant spaces along one of Downtown Raleigh’s most iconic corridors. Here’s a roundup of what’s coming.
Diced brings healthy options
A new location of the Raleigh-born salad and wrap shop Diced will open later this year, moving into the former Tasty 8’s, a popular gourmet hot dog spot that closed in 2018. This will mark the fourth Diced location in nine years, following two restaurants in Cary and one in Raleigh near Wade Avenue.
Started by owner Michelle Woodward in 2015, Diced is a fast casual healthy eating brand, serving a menu of salads, grain bowls and wraps. Diced announced on Instagram that it would move into downtown Raleigh with a new restaurant at 121 Fayetteville Street, suite 108.
Though prominent, the former Tasty 8’s space never found a new tenant. At one point the popular Calavera Empanadas & Tequila had plans to take over the space, but ultimately never materialized.
On its website, Diced projects a Fall 2024 opening.
A second Primo Hoagies
A second Raleigh location of the sandwich shop Primo Hoagies will also open at 121 Fayetteville Street, suite 112. The first Primo location opened in 2021 in North Hills as the brand’s first North Carolina restaurant.
Founded in Philadelphia, Primo has more than 100 locations nationwide, mostly along the East Coast, but as far west as Denver.
The Triangle pair of Primos are owned by franchisees Allison and Matthew Engle and Amanda Wolsky.
Primo specializes in Italian-style and deli sandwiches, plus a line of spicy “Diablo” sandwiches, meatball subs and Philly-style roast pork.
The downtown spot will open later this year.
Three empty restaurant spaces filled
Fayetteville Street has suffered heavy losses since the pandemic, seeing multiple restaurant and bar closings, like Plaza Cafe, Coglin’s, Paddy O’Beers, Isaac Hunter’s Tavern and Union Special cafe.
Three new restaurants, each serving the kind of lunch options targeting office and downtown workers, continues a string of openings planned for Fayetteville Street.
▪ Earlier this year, Southern and Cajun restaurant The Flavor Hills opened in the former Wahlburgers and Flying Mayan space at 319 Fayetteville Street. The incredibly popular (10,000 Instagram followers) restaurant expanded from its original site in Jacksonville, near the coast. The menu includes burgers and po boys, chicken and waffles and a Cajun fettuccine dish called “Rattlesnake pasta.”
▪ The former downtown cafe Union Special was recently replaced by Bistro 401, a breakfast and lunch spot serving sandwiches and crepes.
▪ The all-day restaurant Birdie’s, an ambitious new project from Carolina Ale House owner LM restaurants, plans to open this year on Fayetteville Street, meant to be a place where diners can grab coffee in the morning and a cocktail at night.
And of course amid all the changes in its neighborhood, Benny Capitale’s, home of gargantuan slices of pizza, continues to endure.
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