Triangle Foodie News: Gonza opens on Hillsborough Street

RALEIGH, N.C. —

Featured News

Well this didn’t take long. Seems like just yesterday we were telling you about Big Boom coming to Raleigh’s Glenwood South. Well, they closed in early September, and now, just over a month later, Bobby Glass and Schaefer O’Neill have converted the space and opened 510 Tavern. That’s impressive.

It is official. Gonza Tacos y Tequila has opened their newest location in the Aloft Hotel on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. They opened this past Wednesday. They have additional locations in North Raleigh, Wake Forest and Durham.

Heard from David Harris, owner of Remington Grill in Cary and Raleigh’s Amedeo’s, that the Apex location of Amedeo’s, Amedeo’s Pizza, officially opened this past Tuesday in the Beaver Creek Crossings shopping center.

Wake Forest’s Back Alley Coffee Roasters, located at 314 S. Brooks St., will have their grand opening celebration this Saturday, Oct. 31 - literally all day beginning at 7 a.m. and running hard until 8 p.m. Thanks to John Huisman (aka Triangle Explorer) for the info.

We have an open date for more. kitchen and bar thanks to a tip from WRAL. Looks like Nov.13 will be the day we get to see the latest from the folks that already brought us The Oak and Taste. Their newest concept will open at 116 N. West St. in the old Mantra location and will be a unique European inspired small plate concept.

The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that a new beer and wine shop, Pelagic Beer & Wine, is coming to the Mordecai district in downtown Raleigh at 300 Pace St. (corner of Pace and Person streets). The shop is targeting an opening in late November or early December.

And finally, we have a restaurant that needs your help. Back in August, The Belgian-Filippo’s opened in the former Quality Grocery space at 701 E. Lane St. in downtown Raleigh. On Oct. 18, they were told they could no longer operate in that space as a restaurant (they are still doing take-out and catering). Now they are asking for help to fulfill their dream of opening a restaurant here, something they successfully did in Belgium. Read their plea here.

We first told you about this in June, but the News & Observer reported this week that the owners of Durham’s Pulcinella’s Italian Restaurant (in the Woodcroft Shopping Center) have opened their sister location, Magone Italian Grill and Pizza in Chapel Hill’s Timberlyne shopping center in the space formerly occupied by PizzaVito.

The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Bottle 501, a new beer and wine shop that describes itself as "upscale," has opened at Durham's Gateway Terrace shopping center on U.S. 15-501 between Durham and Chapel Hill. A grand opening event will be held from noon to 10 p.m. on Nov. 7 and will feature local breweries and vendors, appetizers, a raffle and prizes.

In addition to an extra hour over this weekend, Sunday, Nov. 1st will have the last 2015 Durham Central Park food truck rodeo. The rodeo will have 50 food trucks and Caique Vidal & Batuque performing. The rodeo is noon to 4 p.m. Thanks to Art Sheppard for the reminder!

John Huisman (aka Triangle Explorer) informed me about the fact that every Thursday from September through November, the Town of Knightdale is hosting "Food Truck Thursdays" with a new food truck scheduled each week. The weekly truck will be parked at Knightdale Station Park near the amphitheater each Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For a listing of ALL food truck events, head over to Art Sheppard's page, The Wandering Sheppard on all things food truck related here.

The folks over at Triangle Foodie Adventures have announced their next two dinners. The first is on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at The Rockford on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. The Rockford has put together a 6 course menu (including a glass of wine) that will delight your tastebuds. They will do it again on Nov.14 , this time at The Refectory Cafe in Durham.

There is definitely a chill in the air now and that means one thing - it is time to find out who has the best chili in the Triangle! That’s right, the folks over in Cary are hosting their annual Triangle Chili Challenge on Sunday, Nov. 8 from noon to 4 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Town of Cary with partners Heart of Cary, and Downtown Cary Food & Flea. Join them for chili tasting, live music, craft beer & wine, a raffle and a chance to meet some of the best chefs in the Triangle!

The Chef Dinner Series (The Fork Less Traveled) continues over at SEEDS where they pair Durham chefs with local farms and beverage purveyors to tantalize your taste buds for a dinner that supports Durham garden-based programming. Next up is a dinner at 5:30 p.m. on November 8th featuring Will & Pop’s Will Pettis. Get all the details and tickets ($60) here.

This event isn’t until November, but I’m here to tell you if you wait much longer you won’t be able to get a ticket. Acme Restaurant in downtown Carrboro will host its 3rd Annual Salt and Smoke event on Sunday, Nov. 8. They describe it as “oysters and barbecue, music and friends."

Also on Nov. 8, another pop-up dinner is being held by the folks over at The Familiar Supper Club over in Durham. The dinner is at 6:30 p.m. The theme is Pumpk(hen) and will feature all that is bountiful in North Carolina in the fall. Join chefs John Childers, Evan Sheridan and Greg Gettles. Cost is $80. Thanks to Felicia Perry-Trujillo for the tip on this event.

And thanks to a tip from Felicia Perry-Trujillo, we learned that The Wine Feed is partnering with Stop Hunger Now and Green Button Farm to bring you Pork & Vine - a pork and wine festival. On Nov. 8, from 12-4 p.m. our 5 restaurant partners will be preparing their pork-inspired dishes in small plates for you to enjoy - all of the pork is provided by Green Button Farm, a humane, certified organic, non-GMO farm. Each small plate will have a sample of wine to match that will be specifically chosen by The Wine Feed. The cost ranges from $40-$50.

Expressions V. A Celebration of Food and Art will bring together philanthropists, food and wine enthusiasts and lovers of the arts. The annual event will be held on Friday, Nov. 20 at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C., and will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lucy Daniels Center. The featured artist for this year’s event is Beverly McIver.

Looking for something your company can do this holiday season to help those in the community that are hungry? Host a Food Drive! The Food Bank relies on support from the community to help collect food to support our mission. And they have everything you need to get one set up at your company. Click here for all the details!