Beloved restaurant Palace International will close this week. It’s seeking a new site
In the span of 30 years, Durham restaurant Palace International has known three homes. It is now in search of its fourth.
Last week, Palace International owners Caren Ochola and her children Moses and Susanna Ochola announced that the restaurant will close after 14 years on Broad Street at the end of February, unable to agree on a new lease. The restaurant may close, they said, but that they intend to search for a new location.
“The neighborhood has been incredible in supporting us,” Moses Ochola said. “It’s hard to move away from that neighborhood, because we saw ourselves as a neighborhood restaurant. ... Durham as a community has been incredibly good to us.”
Palace International opened in Durham in 1989 by husband and wife Maurice and Caren Ochola. The couple met in Durham in the 1980s, having moved separately from Kenya to attend classes at Duke and N.C. Central universities.
Showcasing African culture
Moses Ochola said his parents set out to create a community in Durham around African cuisine and culture.
“They wanted to create a space for international music and community, which was an obscure thing to do in Durham, North Carolina in the ‘80s,” Ochola said.
“We’ve really tried to showcase West Kenyan cuisine, while making sure it’s easily accessible. We’ve taken an authentic menu and popularized it in a way that showcases African culture at large, regularly highlighting different cuisines throughout the continent.”
The Palace’s first short-lived location is now part of the Durham Bulls stadium and its second on Parrish Street suffered a devastating fire in 2001. Six years later, the Ocholas revived the restaurant on Broad Street, where it’s thrived for a decade and a half.
Leaving Durham’s Watts-Hillandale neighborhood is the hardest aspect of closing, Moses Ochola said. The Palace’s block on Broad Street has known a number of notable Durham restaurants, including Watts Grocery, Oval Park Grille, Deeluxe Chicken and the venerable pool hall the Green Room. It’s still home to a Joe Van Gogh coffee shop and a recently opened location of The Loop restaurant.
“Since moving there in 2007, I think Durham has been changing drastically,” Ochola said. “I think that neighborhood in particular really spoke to my mom.”
‘A new chapter’
When the Palace was broken into last October, a neighbor called 911 and others helped clean up the damage. At the beginning of COVID, Moses said neighbors made sure the restaurant applied for relief and regulars spent the last months ordering takeout.
“They’ve just been incredible in supporting us,” Ochola said. “There are just so many stories.”
Since the Palace lease expired in September, the restaurant had been renting the space month-to-month while negotiating an extension. Unable to agree on terms, the property owner found a new tenant. The last day for the Palace on Broad Street is Feb. 28.
Ochola said fans can continue to support the restaurant with takeout orders, gift cards and suggestions for new potential spaces.
“We’re choosing to look at this as a new chapter,” Ochola said. “While we’re moving out, we’re choosing to be hopeful. This new space will put us in a better situation.”
For more information on the Palace International, visit thepalaceinternational.com.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Beloved restaurant Palace International will close this week. It’s seeking a new site."
