Prolific restaurant owner will open a tiny pizza shop in downtown Raleigh
.jpg "Look for Veloce Italian Market, a new tiny pizza shop in downtown Raleigh this fall.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Veloce Italian Market to open in downtown Raleigh in former Happy & Hale cube.
- Owner Anthony Rapillo plans quick-service pizzas and Italian grocery items.
- New spot targets lunch crowds and take-home meals amid downtown revival.
One of Triangle’s most prolific new restaurateurs is working on a tiny new restaurant in downtown Raleigh.
Veloce Italian Market is moving into the City Plaza restaurant cube formerly occupied by Happy & Hale.
Owned by Anthony Rapillo of Flour + Barrel on Glenwood Avenue and La Taqueria in Boxyard RTP, Veloce will be a cozy Italian restaurant and specialty market.
“It will be a one-stop shop for fresh pizza, a couple sandwiches and cooked and cooled meals ready to take home,” Rapillo said in a phone interview.
Rapillo’s first Triangle restaurant is V Pizza in Cary, which he took over a few years ago. Since then he’s launched projects with business partner and former Top Chef favorite Katsuji Tanabe, opening Flour + Barrel and La Taqueria. It was the taco shop that helped Rapillo see a vision for Veloce.
“It works like a food truck, and it is just really busy,” Rapillo said. “That gave us a little taste.”
New lunch spot in Downtown Raleigh
As downtown workers gradually return, Rapillo hopes Veloce, which means “fast” in Italian, can be an easy option for lunch or grabbing dinner on the way home.
“We’re starting to see the street change,” Rapillo said. “We thought, ‘Maybe there is something there.’”
Veloce will specialize in quickly cooked pizzas, popped out of the oven in 90 seconds. The gourmet goods will include dried pastas, sauces, imported flour and take home meals. A small bar will also be built, banking on Raleigh’s open container Sip and Stroll district.
Renovations are currently underway, and Rapillo hopes to see Veloce open by this fall.
To follow the progress, visit instagram.com/veloce_italian_market.
This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Prolific restaurant owner will open a tiny pizza shop in downtown Raleigh."
