A Raleigh seafood restaurant and a Durham steakhouse breathe new life into old spaces
Two long-loved restaurant spaces will soon come out of hibernation.
The former Watts Grocery space in Durham and Cameron Bar & Grill in Raleigh will each reopen soon as new restaurants, marking new chapters for two of the Triangle’s prominent and dormant restaurant spots.
Cape Fear Seafood
In the newly named Village District in Raleigh, Cape Fear Seafood will open its latest Triangle location in the former Cameron Bar & Grill, which closed last spring near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wilmington-based Cape Fear Seafood entered the Triangle market in 2018, moving into the former Kamodo Grill location in North Raleigh. That restaurant opened in 2019 and the company quickly announced plans for two more Triangle locations. Initially plans were to open in Cary, but were canceled by the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, co-owner Eddie Elliott said.
“With COVID, that went by the wayside,” Elliott said. “We do anticipate reinvigorating the search (in Cary) next.”
Elliott and Matt Wivell are managing partners for the Triangle Cape Fear locations, with a deal to open three of the popular fried fish houses.
The Village District Cape Fear will be considerably smaller than the North Raleigh location, shrinking from 5,500 square feet to 3,500. For the past decade, the space had been Cameron Bar & Grill, one of the most popular pieces of the formerly named Cameron Village. The development recently changed its name to The Village District in a move away from its former namesake Duncan Cameron, once one of North Carolina’s richest men, with a fortune built largely on slave labor, the News & Observer reported earlier this year.
The new Cape Fear moves into an entirely gutted and renovated space, Elliott said, which peeled back the floors to unearth the original terrazzo tiles.
“We just realized the historic value of this space in North Carolina,” Elliott said of moving closer to downtown Raleigh. “When the opportunity opened up, it was a great fit for us and the brand. There are so many people here.”
Elliott expects the Village Cape Fear may find more of a lunch crowd, but said restaurants have a way of revealing their own identity.
“It’s always unknown,” he said. “It’s usually different and busier than we anticipate.”
The new Cape Fear Seafood will open to the public April 19.
Metro 8
In yet another restaurant move out of Durham’s Ninth Street district, 15-year-old steakhouse Metro 8 closed earlier this month and will move a handful of blocks into its new space at 1116 Broad Street.
That space was the longtime home of Watts Grocery, a popular neighborhood spot and pioneer of the farm-to-table movement in Durham. After 12 years in business, Watts Grocery closed in 2019 while in bankruptcy.
Metro 8 announced plans to move into the space by May of this year. In a Facebook post, the steakhouse announced its last service on Ninth Street was March 27.
“Cheers to 15 years and all the memories made here and to many more to come,” the owners wrote on Facebook.
Owned by Francisco Pirillo and Cassandra Ramos, Metro 8 stood out on Durham’s college-centric Ninth Street as the district’s upscale restaurant, serving a mix of classic cuts of steak and a few Argentine dishes like empanadas and grilled chorizo.
Ramos said rising rent and dwindling parking on Ninth Street made the decision to move an easy one.
“It’s serendipitous,” Ramos said. “We never pictured ourselves moving, but we’re ecstatic for the move. Friends thought I would be emotional about it, but it’s like moving to a better neighborhood. We had outgrown the (old) space.”
The steakhouse moves into an evolving block of Broad Street, which recently saw casual chain The Loop take over the former Deeluxe Chicken space, and the Palace International move out of its longtime home. The block also includes venerable pool hall The Green Room and a location of coffee shop Joe Van Gogh.
This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 10:00 AM with the headline "A Raleigh seafood restaurant and a Durham steakhouse breathe new life into old spaces."
