‘Bummed about it’: Raleigh loses out on a much-anticipated new barbecue restaurant
In a blow for whole hog barbecue fans, one of Raleigh’s most-anticipated new restaurant projects has been called off.
Wyatt’s Barbecue, slated to join the Gateway Plaza shopping center in Raleigh, won’t move forward as planned, owner and namesake Wyatt Dickson said.
“I’m bummed about it, but it was an idea conceived in another time, really,” Dickson said. “It doesn’t make sense from a cost perspective to do it anymore, as much as I want it to work.”
Dickson said the impact of the pandemic — of being paused for more than a year and finding a changed dining landscape — convinced him that it was time to call it quits on Wyatt’s.
During the pandemic, Dickson offered previews of Wyatt’s, delivering food to the Gateway Plaza parking lot and handing out take-home meals for customers. Those menus were popular, he said, but too much time had passed.
“People were excited, that’s the thing I hate,” Dickson said. “I’m not giving up on the idea of coming to Raleigh. The project at Gateway just wasn’t feasible from a financial standpoint.”
‘Not something I can do right now’
Dickson rose to local barbecue fame with his Durham restaurant Picnic, which he opened in 2016 with partners Ben Adams and Ryan Butler. Wyatt’s, first announced in 2019, was meant to be an expansion of that, bringing whole hog barbecue to a larger space in the Capital City.
“I wanted to build a large temple to North Carolina barbecue,” Dickson said. “That’s just not something I can do right now, with costs being what they are.”
While steady, Dickson said Picnic remains a changed restaurant. It still hasn’t reopened its dining room, instead serving diners on patios, leaving the indoor space set up to pack to-go orders, with boxes, bags and plastic containers stacked where chairs and tables used to be.
“Last year you had to make a pivot to takeout, and you can’t snap a finger and undo that,” Dickson said.
What may be on the horizon
As the pandemic pulled diners out of restaurants and largely away from friends and family, Dickson said he missed seeing the communities that barbecue often brought together. Now Dickson said he’s finding himself thinking about the role barbecue could play in this moment.
“I’ve really missed pig pickings; that’s the heart and soul of North Carolina barbecue,” Dickson said. “As much as I love people coming to the restaurant to eat, the soul is gathering in the backyard and church parking lot, community doing barbecue together in its truest form.
“I think food does matter to people,” Dickson said. “Being able to get food you want brings you joy during not such a joyful time. I’m proud we’ve been able to offer that.”
Dickson said he still wants to cook barbecue in Raleigh and has a few ideas knocking around. He said any plans would likely be smaller than Wyatt’s, but that he remains hopeful about the future.
“Through all of this, I’ve tried to look on the upside; hardships come with opportunities,” Dickson said. “As disappointed as I am that this project isn’t going to happen, I’m excited about what’s on the horizon.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 9:30 AM with the headline "‘Bummed about it’: Raleigh loses out on a much-anticipated new barbecue restaurant."
