Durham will get a new classic pizza & pasta restaurant from one of its most popular chefs
.jpg "Durham chef Matt Kelly, pictured here in the kitchen of the now-closed Saint James Seafood, will open Dino’s in the University Hill shopping center with chef Tom Cuomo.")
Durham will get a new pizzeria from one of its most beloved and pioneering restaurant groups.
Multiple James Beard nominee Matt Kelly has teamed up with wildly creative chef Tom Cuomo for an ode to the New York and New Jersey pizza parlors and restaurants they knew growing up.
Dino’s will open as early as this March in Durham’s University Hill shopping center, moving into the former BB’s Crispy Chicken space.
Kelly, known for his Durham restaurants Mateo, Mothers & Sons and Nanas, is quick to make it clear that Dino’s will be his most casual spot yet, a true family pizzeria and red sauce palace. You’ll find red gingham tablecloths and maybe even Tiffany’s lamps, if he can find them.
“I’d love Tiffany’s lamps, but the problem is most of the ones out there say ‘Pizza Hut’ on them,” Kelly said in a phone interview. “This is a pizza joint. It’s not wood-fired or artisanal. This is a joint where your family comes to eat, where you can hang out on the patio on Sundays.”
Durham restaurant pioneer
Since he opened Mateo more than a decade ago, Kelly has been at the center of Durham’s restaurant revival, building on a culinary foundation established by the likes of Scott Howell at the original Nana’s and Ben and Karen Barker with Magnolia Grill.
Kelly’s most recent restaurant opening was his 2023 revival of Nanas, which he bought from Howell, reimagining the Durham culinary legend by weaving comfort and luxury.
Moving to the other end of the casual spectrum, Dino’s will be Kelly’s first restaurant with TVs on the walls and his farthest yet from downtown, gaining neighbors like Target and Sam’s Club.
Dino’s menu: Introducing ‘pizza logs’
For the menu, Kelly said pizzas will be New York style, around 14 inches, with maybe some square specials. He has plans for pizza logs, an upstate New York delicacy, where pepperoni and cheese are fried inside of an eggroll wrapper and served with marinara for dipping.
Sandwiches will include chicken parm, meatball and a cheesesteak, there will be chopped salads and a Caesar. For pastas, the centerpiece will be spaghetti with meatballs, plus rigatoni, burrata and vodka sauce and likely an alfredo. Snacks will feature fried calamari and the cornerstone of western New York foods, the chicken wing.
“This is a canvas for me to slay some buffalo wings, which is very exciting to me,” Kelly said.
Chef Cuomo
While he’s been involved testing and perfecting the pizza dough and menu, Kelly said that Dino’s will largely be led by Cuomo, who boasts a remarkable culinary resume.
In the Triangle he is best known for his Raleigh restaurant Papa Shogun, which blended Asian and Italian dishes in Seaboard Station. He has previously worked in Mateo and was the last chef at the ill-fated and beloved Saint James Seafood in Durham. Before his time in the Triangle, Cuomo worked in iconic New York kitchens like WD-50, Parm and perhaps the country’s trendiest Italian-American spot, Carbone.
Dino’s is eyeing a spring opening.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Durham will get a new classic pizza & pasta restaurant from one of its most popular chefs."
