Beloved Triangle bakery & restaurant will open new locations soon at NC State
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- La Farm Bakery will open its third Raleigh location this fall at the NC State campus.
- Chapel Hill's Mediterranean Deli will open a NC State location and offer catering.
- The expansions mark continued growth for popular Triangle food institutions.
A European-style bakery and Mediterranean restaurant, both founded in the Triangle, are expanding to Raleigh’s NC State University.
Owned by married couple Lionel and Missy Vatinet, La Farm Bakery is expected to begin serving students, faculty and staff this fall at Park Shops, moving into the Port City Java space, according to NC State.
Mediterranean Deli, Bakery and Catering is also expanding to the campus and will be at the Atrium Food Court.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the big city, you know, it’s a big market,” Med Deli owner Jamil Kadoura told The N&O in a phone interview.
The NC State outpost is expected to open in fall 2025.
“These additions reflect our continued commitment to providing diverse, high-quality food options that reflect both the tastes and values of our campus community,” Shawn Hoch, the senior director of hospitality services, said in the NC State article. “We’re excited to welcome La Farm Bakery and Mediterranean Deli — two North Carolina staples — to NC State.”
La Farm Bakery expands in Raleigh
The NC State location will be La Farm Bakery’s third Raleigh outpost, joining a “popup” on Glenwood South, which opened in 2024, and a permanent brick-and-mortar in the Midtown area, near Six Forks and Wake Forest roads. The Creekside Crossing shopping center location was La Farm’s first pizzeria.
Since it first opened in Cary in 1999, La Farm has expanded to several new locations in Cary, Fuquay-Varina and Raleigh, along with a space at RDU Airport, and La Farm has taken steps to open a new store in Apex, The News & Observer previously reported. The bakery’s breads and other items are also available at local Whole Foods Market stores.
The NC State bakery will serve breakfast sandwiches, creme brulee French toast, quiche, avocado toast, salads, coffee and croque madame.
Chapel Hill’s Med Deli expands into Raleigh
Mediterranean Deli, Bakery and Catering will replace Delirious and Union 51 at NC State. The university is renovating the Atrium’s serving area to accommodate the new concept.
This will be Med Deli’s first location in Raleigh, but not its first time serving a college crowd. The restaurant’s flagship Chapel Hill location, which burned in 2023 but is being rebuilt, is located at 410 W. Franklin St., walking distance from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
Med Deli also has a location in Elon, North Carolina.
At the NC State location, customers can expect an experience similar to Med Deli’s Chapel Hill spot. The restaurant is known for its variety of Mediterranean food choices, including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
“We have something for everyone, and we are such an institution here in Chapel Hill,” Kadoura said. “We’ve been here for a long time, and we’ve been thinking of going to Raleigh and expanding.”
Med Deli is also hoping to open a freestanding location in Raleigh, Kadoura said.
In addition to operating out of the Atrium, Med Deli will offer grab-and-go sandwiches at about dozen locations across campus, and it will offer catering services for the university, an opportunity that drew the restaurant to campus, Kadoura said.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Beloved Triangle bakery & restaurant will open new locations soon at NC State."
