A Few More North Hills Updates

By Ashton on August 5, 2005

I have some North Hills updates as well.  First of all, Charlotte’s Jewelry and Gifts is now officially confirmed for North Hills.  Originally looking to go into the Alexan space, they have now opted to take a space on the mall side across from Vermillion and Kerry Catherine… in the corner space next to the walkway leading to the front parking lot.  It’s a good space, I think, even though that side of the street is less populated now and therefore has a little less traffic.  Charlotte’s is a destination shop so it should surely be the jolt that side of the street needs.  They are pushing hard to open before the Christmas rush, but I personally think that’s going to be a bit difficult at this point.  We’ll see.

Also, this Saturday night is the last night for Capper’s Restaurant.  The new owners are shutting it down for renovations and will reopen with a new name, new menu, and a new chef, Scott Cole who is coming over from his position as a chef at Maximillian’s in Cary.  Rumor has it they were toying with the name Midtown Grill, capitalizing on Kane’s push for North Hills to become Raleigh’s "Midtown," but a restaurant in Charlotte already has the rights to that name in North Carolina.  So, I think they are still on a "name search" so if you have any good ideas, reply here and I’ll be sure they see them.  The new theme for the restaurant will be best described as fusion as Scott likes to have the freedom to design meals without having to conform to any specific "rules."  All of you who have eaten at Maximillian’s know that Scott is definitely among the best in the area.  Definitely excited about this one.

The progress on both the REI space and the Mura space is moving along very well.  I was happy to see the use of red brick on the front of the REI building.  While I think the new North Hills is very nice, I have been disappointed with the near monotone appearance of the exteriors.  It is not until you get up close that you realize they have used all sorts of different materials… but the effect is lost since their is very little color variation.  Unfortunately from afar it has a little bit of a strip mall look to me… but hopefully that will continue to change as the stores put up their varied storefronts.

I keep looking over the edge of the parking deck, looking for a sign that they have begun on the Renaissance Hotel, but nothing yet.  I think the whole center is going to have a much better feel when that tall building is in place.  It will act as a sort of anchor and backdrop to the whole place.  Plus, it will help to hide the fact that they did a terrible job cleaning up the old parking deck that is still in use.  I sure hope they eventually replace the lighting, repaint all surfaces, and repaint the railings….

Ok, enough for now.  Will post my comments on JK’s and Bonefish soon! 

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August North Hills Update

By Rhonda on August 4, 2005

Cameron Clothing will open on Monday, Aug 8.

The restaurant space adjacent to Firebird’s (toward Six Forks Rd) will be called Restaurant Savannah. (?This is Chris Bender’s – the Five Star guy’s – new restaurant?)

Mama Fu’s has gone to full service seating at night. This is a terrible move. MF’s was the perfect fit between decent food in a decent atmosphere where you could eat quickly.

Andy’s has finally opened next to Fox & Hound. Andy’s is the venture we all know and loved in the mall featuring pizza and other quick Italian bites like manicotti and spaghetti. They, too, are (unnecessarily) full service in a fast food setting.

JK’s is now open. There menu is heavy on steak selections. Entrees are in the $20-$30 range. Their final menus are incomplete, so they didn’t have one to share with me.

Bonefish Grill is now open in the former Blockbuster Video space. The crab and corn chowder is fantastic. Word from a reliable source is that the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer is incredible.

First Citizens has moved into the former "BTI" Building (which is the former Cameron Brown building).

Lassiter Mill (Wakestone) Gardens’ building has been razed. Grading is underway to develop single family houses on the property (which nestles up to the Beltline).

The projected date for shops under the Alexan has been September (next month). Progress is obviously behind on those, however. One somewhat recent addition to the  planned retail over there is a restaurant by the same people who brought us Frazier’s and Porter’s on Hillsborough Street. This little tidbit has us excited.

In the not-so excited category, we hear rumors that Dean & DeLuca is not in the mix for North Hills after all. The News & Observer floated that one earlier this Summer, however we hear that D&D is interested in bigger markets. Not that D&D is the only good foodie-to-go option, though. The Brinker arm named Eatzi’s is outstanding. I personally would be happy with something like the Southern Market at Myrtle Beach. Nevertheless, a chic, prepared-foods store would set North Hills on fire. (are you listening Kane Realty?)

(8/5 addition)
Mura will open later this month (Aug) across from Gold’s gym. It will feature sushi, teppan, and hibachi Japanese food.

(8/8 addition)
Vanity will go into the space to the left of the Cingular store, facing Six Forks Rd. I’m guessing this will not be a reincarnation of the Dollar Tree.

North Hills’ website is at http://www.northhillsraleigh.com/
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Ben & Jerry’s is Thawing

By Rhonda on August 2, 2005

All Summer long Ben & Jerry’s at North Hills has been fighting, fighting, fighting the heat. While their air conditioning should be adequate for the approximate 400 square feet of space, the architects didn’t account for intense afternoon sun and three exterior doors in such a small space.

A friend of mine who works for Kane Realty said that Ben & Jerry’s had 3700 sales in one day (about 4.5 sales per minute). I started working some numbers and realized that each of those sales resulted in probably 2-ish door openings per sale. So a door opened 6000 times during that 14 hour day. Therefore a door opened about every 7 seconds. If the door took 2 seconds to open and close, the we deduce that doors were open about 25% of the day. On a 100 degree day, there is just no way to keep the heat out.

Upon reflection, I cannot think of a store space that has one door per 100 feet of retail space, much less one that demands such climate contol. Such a design error is tough to overcome, but Kane is trying to add more compressors to handle the load.

Note: Ben & Jerry’s will remain open during the upgrades.

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Restaurant Review: Los Cuates

By Rhonda on July 31, 2005

I have finally found a Mexican restaurant in Raleigh that stands up to the incredible Fiesta Grill (5mi west of Carrboro on hwy 54). Raleigh’s Los Cuates is located three doors down from the Kanki at North Market Square (Old Wake Forest Rd and North Market Drive). It’s the site of many a failed restaurant. Hopefully Los Cuates can break the spell.

The restaurant is minimal service and minimal decoration. Patrons place their order at the front counter and the food is brought to you. The menu items include typical tex-mex items along with fish tacos, chimichangas, breakfast served all day, and fajitas.
While the prices are dirt cheap, the food is fantastic.

The Chimichanga plate ($6.89) includes rice, beans, and guacamole. The 5 rolled tacos w/ guacamole are $3.49. My wife got a delicious shredded beef burrito that earned her "best burrito I’ve ever had" award. The word on the street is that their 2 Fish Taco Plate (with rice and beans, $6.49) is "killer", and that’s a good thing.

Menu_loscuatesThere is a salsa bar with at least 5 different salsas which range
from snappy-peppy to blow-your-guts-out hot. The clientele the three
times we’ve gone was mostly Mexican men, another tell-tale sign of
great Mexican food. Need more evidence? We saw Rick, the owner of the
Seaboard Cafe at Logan’s in there. Wow!

One word of advice: they have tortilla chips, but you have to
request them. The restaurant is owned by a single, Mexican woman, if I
recall correctly. She is a little disorganized, so I hope she can
handle the onslaught of business this positive review drums up. :)

Hours are 8am to 10pm 7 days/week.

Los Cuates

4524 Old Wake Forest Rd.
Raleigh, NC  27609

Phone (919) 872-6012

Fax (919) 872-6074
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Raleigh Growth Update 7/05

By Rhonda on July 31, 2005

The News and Observer today reported that Raleigh’s population has grown 61% since 1990 and now stands at 342,000. They also claim in the first paragraph that no city east of the Mississippi (other than NYC) has added more people.

This is all a bit misleading, however, because it only figures the city proper. How much has Raleigh annexed compared to other cities during that period? We know that the land area for Raleigh expanded 51%.

It also excludes the impact of high growth areas such as Cary, Holly Springs, Wake Forest, and Johnston Co. (That IS Johnston with a T for all of you transplants) Cary has surpassed the 100,000 person mark, incidentally.

The article goes continues with a slant toward infill development as opposed to the every-icky sprawl. While I’m sure most readers read with an empathetic "yes, N&O you are right", too many won’t put up with infill in their own neighborhoods. All-too-often it is those very anti-sprawlers who fight infill projects like the new North Hills, Neil Coker’s ill-fated Wade Ave. development, Dorothea Dix property, and dense development near Five Points.

They want people dining and being entertained inside the beltline, yet run off businesses because they are too noisy and create too much traffic. Mayor Charles Meeker is just as guilty as the rest. Any proposal that is taller than 10 stories is met with kneejerk "it’s too tall" argument before considering the consequences to denying the projects.

Unfortunately when a city is labled as "anti redevelopment", developers quit coming to the table with anything more than just big box-lined arteries. So what’s it going to be, Raleigh? Are we going to correct the density mistakes of the past or create our own for the future?

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2643640p-9080526c.html

Dana

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