This long lost — and much loved — Raleigh restaurant could be making a return
After a two-decade hiatus, a beloved Raleigh restaurant brand could be on its way back to the Triangle.
Known for excessive decor, including a jail cell in the restaurant, Darryl’s Wood-Fired Grill is looking to make a return to Raleigh.
Owner William “Marty” Kotis is actively looking to expand the brand, tapping Raleigh, Fayetteville and Myrtle Beach, SC, as the likely landing spots for Darryl’s resurgence. Kotis’ restaurant group Kick Ass Concepts currently owns the Greensboro Darryl’s, the brand’s sole remaining location.
“Raleigh’s definitely one of the next three cities for Darryl’s,” Kotis said. “It’s most likely the next.”
In an informal News & Observer poll earlier this year, readers said Darryl’s was the now-departed Raleigh restaurant they missed the most.
Modern Darryl’s needs room
The holdup is finding a space or site large enough. Kotis said the modern Darryl’s needs a fair amount of room to stretch out. The restaurant would be 10,000 square feet and need about three acres of space, he said.
Oh, and also two-stories tall, as is tradition for the brand. The original Hillsborough Street Darryl’s in Raleigh was about 4,000 square feet, Kotis said.
“That’s about the size of our kitchen,” Kotis said. “I didn’t want to go back in halfway and not give the people what they remember and expect.”
Born on Hillsborough Street a half-century ago, Darryl’s grew into a large restaurant chain in the Southeast, with dozens of locations from North Carolina to Missouri to Virginia and Alabama.
Darryl’s was founded in 1971 by Angus Barn co-founders Thad Eure and Charles Winston, with restaurant namesake Darryl Davis. The founders left the company at separate times as Darryl’s was sold to larger restaurant groups. At its height there were 39 locations, including five in the Triangle alone.
The famous Hillsborough Street location closed in 2003.
Eating in a jail cell
Kotis bought the Darryl’s Greensboro location in 2009 and later the brand in 2010. The brand was personal, he said, as is the possible expansion.
“Some of my fondest memories were going to Darryl’s,” Kotis said. “If I had a birthday party, that’s where I wanted to go. I love the jail, the spiral staircase. ... There were just the coolest things.”
Call it kitsch or call it treasure, the walls of Darryl’s were captivating for Raleigh diners. Along with a familiar and expansive menu, Kotis said those artifacts are the soul of Darryl’s and part of what separates it from the Applebee’s and Friday’s of the world.
“There’s so much to see and absorb,” Kotis said. “In a traditional restaurant you go in and it’s plain, there’s no real decor. If there’s stuff on the wall it’s reproductions. The decor (at Darryl’s) is so interesting, they’re real antiques.”
Kotis said he has about $1 million worth of antiques currently stored in a warehouse for future Darryl’s expansions.
“There’s a chandelier from an old theater in Tennessee that I’m really excited to get to use,” Kotis said.
This generation of Darryl’s is more pub-like, Kotis said, rather than Western-themed, like the earlier restaurants once were. The Greensboro restaurant is made of brick instead of wood, and will be the model for future Darryl’s, Kotis said.
A pandemic pause
The possible expansion was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years. Now Kotis said he’s looking for real estate in Raleigh and believes he’s found locations in Fayetteville and Myrtle Beach.
“We would have expanded before, but COVID was a real blow to us,” Kotis said. “Raleigh’s been a place where I’ve wanted to go for a while. It’s the home of the original.”
As Kotis begins the process of repopulating the world with Darryl’s, he said said he’s looking to cities where the restaurant used to be, such as Raleigh and Fayetteville. Thought there was never a Darryl’s in Myrtle Beach before.
Following a difficult and transformative two years for the restaurant industry, Kotis believes the return of something once beloved and missed will be meaningful for diners.
“The newer restaurants tend to be the flavor of the day,” Kotis said. “It’s some current trend that’s out there: burgers, yogurt, chicken sandwiches. Seems to be a big wave at once. ... People are starting to take comfort in established restaurant brands where they know what they’re getting. Darryl’s is a comforting restaurant.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 10:54 AM with the headline "This long lost — and much loved — Raleigh restaurant could be making a return."
