Here are the 18 biggest restaurant openings in the Triangle for 2026
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Triangle restaurant scene in 2026 favors familiar brands, expansions and returns.
- Big openings include Fullsteam relocation, Lewis Barbecue and Whataburger expansion.
- Local chefs and indie concepts will open new flagship venues across Raleigh and Durham.
Much like the movies these days, the big theme for Triangle restaurants in 2026 is familiarity and nostalgia. Call it IP, call it proven winners, many of the restaurant projects we’re eager for this year are building on successful brands, either returning with new locations, or expanding into the Triangle for the first time.
This means the arrival of a burger giant, the reopening of a Raleigh icon and the expansions of some of the Triangle’s very favorite restaurants into new communities.
There’s a lot to be hungry for in 2026, these are the projects we can’t wait to see.
Fullsteam’s New Location
We’ll start with the one we’ve waited for the longest. Durham’s Fullsteam Brewery helped create the city’s busiest nightlife district and grew into an influential brewery in the south, famous for celebrating and experimenting with local ingredients in their beers. This year Fullsteam will launch a new era, relocating to a new facility on the American Tobacco Campus. Progress has been slow, with the original target set for last summer. But owner Sean Lilly Wilson said Fullsteam will open its new flagship taproom in 2026.
Rosebud Cocktail Lounge
When Watts & Ward co-founder Patrick Shanahan unveiled his latest bar, Capulet Cocktail Club just a few weeks ago, the result was stunning. Ornate and bursting with floral wallpaper, Capulet remains the Triangle’s buzziest bar. So excitement is mounting for Shanahan’s next project, Rosebud, an underground listening lounge and drinks den taking over the former Fox Liquor Bar space. There’s no menu planned, just bartenders serving up drinks based on a few preferences of the guests. Like Capulet and Peregrine, beverage genius Zack Thomas will be Rosebud’s beverage director.
Rosebud will open in February.
Prime STQ
Barbecue can’t be rushed. No one knows that better than pitmaster Christopher Prieto, who spent years preparing for and building his first restaurant Prime BBQ in Knightdale. Clearly the wait paid off, with Prime now ascended into the sphere of the best Texas-style barbecue joints in the country and a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. Prime STQ is Prieto’s smoky encore, a blend of barbecue methods and steakhouse expectations. With Prime STQ, Prieto aims to continue elevating smoked meats, creating a kind of special occasion restaurant experience using barbecue traditions.
Look for Prime STQ to open in Horseshoe at HUB RTP this summer.
Botiwalla
The Chai Pani restaurant group out of Asheville is one of North Carolina’s biggest and most successful hospitality companies. So finally, this year, there will be a restaurant from the storied collection of Indian restaurants. Botiwalla is the more casual, counter service spin-off of Chai Pani, the group’s James Beard-winning flagship restaurant. Look for a lively restaurant of snacks, kebabs and boozy slushies.
Botiwalla will open this spring in Raleigh Iron Works, which continues to embrace its role as a foodie destination in the Triangle.
High Horse
Opened as a promising restaurant from a celebrity chef, High Horse in Downtown Raleigh was the first high profile closings of the pandemic in 2020. Now, Top Chef favorite Katsuji Tanabe will revive the restaurant concept he moved to Raleigh to create.
High Horse will reopen in Horseshoe at HUB RTP this summer, with Tanabe once again partnering with restaurateur Anthony Rapillo. The new High Horse will bring the same blend of Mexican and Japanese flavors as the original, plus the always extra vibes.
Fans of the frozen shot glass get ready, the bell will ring this summer.
Raleigh Pizzeria Toro
Now more than a decade old, Pizzeria Toro is one of Durham’s signature restaurants and a pioneering the Triangle’s red hot Neapolitan-style pizza scene. This year, owner Gray Brooks will expand Toro out of the Bull City with a new location in Raleigh’s Seaboard Station.
Construction on the new Toro is set to begin soon, with an opening in Fall 2026.
EO’s Athletic Club
This latest project from Kingfisher and Queeny’s owners Michelle Vanderwalker and Sean Umstead leans into sports fandom and team sports nostalgia. More than two dozen TVs have been packed into the former Beyu Caffe space in downtown Durham, as EO’s promises to show sports of all kinds and will focus on women’s sports. The owners put a callout for youth sports photos from everyone’s glory days, with those photos being epoxyed into the EO’s bartop.
The action kicks off in February.
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Lloyd’s Full Service
The hospitality team behind The Durham Hotel and The Mayton have turned one of downtown Cary’s most recognizable buildings into a new neighborhood restaurant. Lloyd’s revives a former 1950s service station at the corner of Chatham and Academy in the heart of a booming downtown Cary. The restaurant looks to add to that vibe, with nearly 100 outdoor seats on its patio, plus another 100 in the dining room.
Look for a summer opening.
Lutra Cafe & Bakery
These buns mean business. After months and months of pop-ups around Durham, this popular bakeshop will launch its brick and mortar location on the American Tobacco Campus. Owner Chris McLaurin first launched Lutra with sweet and savory buns, from the flagship orange to cookies and cream and blueberry lemon. The new cafe expands the menu well beyond that, venturing into breakfast and lunch, with sandwiches, biscuits and gravy and pave-style “100-layer hash browns.”
Construction just started, but look for a late spring opening.
Standard Beer North Hills
When the latest iteration of Standard opened in Raleigh in 2020, it promised basic beers and smashburgers. It delivered on both of those things and a whole lot more. Standard quickly became a Raleigh favorite, serving idealized bar food, frozen drinks and basic-ish beers that are crisp and flavorful. An absolutely gigantic 15,000 square foot second Standard will open in North Hills.
The opening is looking like early summer.
Benchwarmers North Hills
Another Raleigh favorite is also expanding to North Hills will a stand-alone bagel shop. Benchwarmers needs no introduction to its particular style of Southern bagel and classic and creative bagel sandwiches. Now North Hills will get a Benchwarmers, with plans for eventual dinner service and (hopefully) the return of nighttime pizza.
The North Hills Benchwarmers is looking like a spring opening.
Mami Nora’s
This beloved Peruvian chicken restaurant will return from a years-long hiatus this year, moving into Raleigh Iron Works with a new permanent location. The same charcoal-roasted chicken will now have a glitzy new home among some of the Triangle’s most ambitious dining projects.
The last we heard, Mami Nora’s was slated to open in late 2025, so look for an opening early this year.
Big Cat
We can’t crown 2026’s best new restaurant in January (especially before it opens), but we can crown the best new restaurant name. Big Cat is the collaboration project from owners Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler of Ajja, Angela Salamanca and Marshall Davis of Mala Pata and Locals Seafood partner Justin Pasfield. This restaurant dream team took over the former Brookside Bodega in Raleigh and have plans for an all-day multi-faceted concept, with Kumar leading the menu and teasing dishes like slow-roasted chicken, grilled lamb and vegetables and a promising soft serve machine.
The opening should be late March or early April.
42nd Street Oyster Bar
You might feel like you’re seeing a restaurant ghost of Raleigh’s past. This iconic downtown restaurant is slated for a comeback, despite a dramatic exit less than a year ago. Led by longtime general manager Hunter Correll, 42nd Street should come back to life in 2026.
Lewis Barbecue
Not to overstate it, but Lewis Barbecue opening a location in Raleigh might be the biggest out-of-town restaurant to move into the Triangle. Lewis has roots in modern Texas barbecue and is the expansion of a Michelin-rated spot in Charleston, SC. The restaurant seriously ups the Texas barbecue cred in the Triangle, which is already pretty good. Lewis brings famous brisket and beef ribs, sausage and plenty of Texas swagger to the Raleigh Iron Works.
As for the opening, all we know now is sometime in 2026.
Whataburger
Tex-pats will rejoice and the burger-curious will finally get a taste of what all the fuss is about. It’s really happening. After moving into North Carolina last year, the beloved Texas burger brand could open as many as three locations in the Triangle in 2026.
The Triangle (OK, the Greater Triangle) already caught a glimpse of what to expect with Whataburger, with an opening in Mebane late last year. The company says the first opening should be in Wake Forest this March, with two others also underway in Raleigh. Whataburger is popular for its roadside style burger, retro branding and 24-hour restaurants.
Stanbury’s new project
The owners of Stanbury — the funky, vibey, possibly best restaurant in Raleigh — have something new up their sleeves. We’ve heard rumors about what it could be, but don’t yet have anything confirmed.
What we do know is the owners of Stanbury will open a new restaurant in the former Escazu space next door, after the chocolate shop moved to Gateway Plaza last year. For now, co-owner Joseph Jeffers said the new project is quite a ways off as the group works through permits.
Longleaf Swine
With the original downtown Raleigh location, Longleaf Swine has been among the leaders in the Triangle’s new school barbecue revival, serving serious smoked meats alongside cheeky specials, like an idealized McRib they call the Ribbler. Now sole owner Adam Cunningham will expand Longleaf to the Raleigh suburbs, moving into the former Sawmill Taproom space off of Lead Mine Road.
Permitting is expected in the spring, with construction to follow. Hopefully we get to see Longleaf’s second act in 2026.
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Here are the 18 biggest restaurant openings in the Triangle for 2026."
