New restaurants & retail are coming to RTP this year. Here’s when they’ll open
Hub RTP, the popular “downtown” of Research Triangle Park, will see some changes this year, with several new businesses already announced.
Many of the tenants coming to Boxyard RTP and Horseshoe at Hub RTP are restaurants — including one from a well-known chef — but there’s also an experiential business from the team behind Chapel Hill’s Kidzu Children’s Museum.
Here’s a look at what to expect and when.
Kidzu Children’s Museum plans new concept for Boxyard RTP
The team behind Kidzu Children’s Museum is opening The Makery, a maker space at Boxyard RTP. Unlike the Chapel Hill establishment, The Makery will cater to kids and adults.
It will be “dedicated to maker education, innovation, design-thinking and science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) learning,” according to a news release.
Visitors can create using raw and often recycled materials or advanced technologies, such as 3D printers and robotics.
“Since 2006, Kidzu has nurtured the creativity and confidence of children across the Triangle with exhibits and programs that reflect our community’s rich academic and cultural fabric,” Kidzu CEO Jamie DeMent Holcomb said in the news release. “We are excited to expand Kidzu’s reach with the opening of The Makery.”
The Makery is expected to open in early spring at 900 Park Offices Drive. A coffee vendor will open inside the maker space, but a contract has not been finalized as of publication.
‘Top Chef’ and partner open new taqueria at RTP
The “Top Chef” star Katsuji Tanabe is once again collaborating with V Pizza co-owner Anthony Rapillo, this time on a taqueria at Boxyard RTP.
La Taqueria by Katsuji will serve Mexico City-style tacos and mezcal-based cocktails. It will open in February, according to a social media post from Boxyard RTP.
Tanabe and Rapillo have also worked together on downtown Raleigh’s Flour & Barrel.
That restaurant was Tanabe’s second in Raleigh, following High Horse, which closed months after it opened, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, The News & Observer previously reported.
Cheeni owners plan gourmet market at RTP
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Durham’s Cheeni is expanding to a new location at Horseshoe at the Hub.
But the restaurant group will also have a “boutique bodega” called Nanny Goat, where customers will find sundries, fresh flowers and bread and pastries from Chef Tie Whittaker of Buttermilk Boutique, Breadwaala and Sugar & Spice Kitchen.
Nanny Goat will span about 980 square feet in the lobby of a building at Horseshoe.
Both Nanny Goat and the new Cheeni are expected to open this year.
Award-winning Triangle pitmaster opens new spot at RTP
Chris Prieto, the owner of Knightdale’s Prime BBQ, is launching a new concept called Prime STQ at Horseshoe at Hub RTP in the spring, The N&O previously reported. It will have about 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, and room for 250 people.
“Prime STQ will be an elevated barbecue restaurant,” Prieto told The N&O in a November interview.
Expect menu items including beef ribs, steak and burgers.
Prime BBQ has been named one of the best barbecue joints in the South by Southern Living and one of the best Texas-style barbecue restaurants outside of Texas by Texas Monthly — a magazine so committed to the cuisine that it employs a full-time barbecue editor.
Coffee shop coming to RTP
Along with Prime BBQ, Cheeni and Nanny Goat, Horseshoe at Hub RTP will also host Drift Coffee & Kitchen.
The popular Wilmington-area coffee chain opened two new Triangle locations in Raleigh and Chapel Hill last year.
Drift serves coffee from Black & White Roasters and is known for its food offerings, including Nutella French toast, eggs Benedict, a burger and a chicken sandwich.
It is expected to open at RTP this year.
This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM with the headline "New restaurants & retail are coming to RTP this year. Here’s when they’ll open."
