A supergroup of 5 local food trucks will open an outdoor dining space in Durham

Named for an infamous accident-prone bridge, a new food truck bar will open near downtown Durham this summer.

The Can Opener combines the food truck superpowers of five popular restaurant names, adds a bar and tons of outdoor seating. Situated near Brightleaf Square, The Can Opener will include parked food trucks from Bulkogi, Chick-N-Que, Gussy’s Greek Street Food and breakfast truck Queen Eggxpress.

For dessert, Andia’s Ice Cream is opening its newest location, moving into a retired double decker bus.

The Can Opener

This new take on the food truck rodeo was first conceived by the owners of Bulkogi, Chick-N-Que and Gussy’s, veterans of the Triangle’s mobile restaurant scene.

“We’ve been friends for a long time in the food truck industry,” said Bulkogi co-owner Charlie Ji. “We’ve wanted to do something together and always wanted to be able to park our trucks permanently.”

When it opens and how it works

The Can Opener is set to open to the public this summer, possibly as early as late June.

Trucks from Bulkogi, Chick-N-Que and Gussy’s Greek will be parked permanently and Queen Eggxpress will run a breakfast service in the morning.

An indoor bar will run a specialty coffee program in the morning and drinks all day, including a wall of beer taps.

A hybrid space

Combining food trucks and a set bar makes The Can Opener the latest in the Triangle’s run of hybrid restaurant spaces.

The trend has found its most success with the area’s food halls, but was kicked off with the likes of the former food truck space County Fare in Durham and similar concepts like Craften in Knightdale.

Bulkogi has an extensive history with alternative restaurant spaces, with its flagship space Namu, a combination coffee bar, beer hall and Korean street food garden, and its space in Boxyard RTP.

“We love creating spaces where people can really enjoy themselves,” Ji said. “We are in love with that, we all have families and I think we all love having a place to hang out.”

Why that name?

The new food truck dining destination takes its name from Durham’s notorious Can Opener Bridge.

Like the Bermuda Triangle, the bridge possesses a mysterious allure that draws medium and large box trucks through its threshold, and then sheers off their tops.

“The name was very easy, we didn’t have to ponder that too much,” said Charlie Yi, a co-owner of Bulkogi. “Just from being here I’ve seen three (trucks hit the bridge) in the last month.”

A major scoop

Andia’s, the stunningly popular ice cream shop, will operate its shop on the ground floor of a double decker bus.

Scoops of ice cream will be served from a window on the side of the bus, while the top floor will be open for standing-room diners and drinkers.

Andia’s will modify the menu slightly, serving scoops of ice cream and take-home pints, but no “Monster Shakes.”

In 2022, Andia’s was named the Triangle’s favorite ice cream shop by readers of The News & Observer (and voted one of the best in the nation by readers of USA Today last year).

The double decker bus was discovered and renovated by Chick-N-Que owner Ernest Harris in Alabama.

For Andia’s, which started as a Cary scoop shop and then expanded to Raleigh Iron Works, this will be its first move into Durham.

“Durham is such a big foodie scene,” said Andia Xouris. “It was always a matter of when, not if, we’d be in Durham.”