http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2012/08/23/new-mexican-restaurant-to-open-in.html?ana=twt

Dos Taquitos to open new glenwood south location!

8/23/2012 3:59:56 PM

Wonder if Armadillo Grill is sweating that news. Yes, they're southwestern and not Mexican, but there are lots of similarities and it's practially across the street.

8/24/2012 12:01:42 AM

I ate at an Armadillo Grill for the first time last week and I thought the food was okay but definitely not the greatest food of that category around here. I'd be sweating that news if I were them.

8/24/2012 10:20:04 AM

Meh, still cheap fast food-esque versus a sit down and order restaurant.

8/24/2012 10:50:39 AM

Can't wait for this place to open up!

http://www.newraleigh.com/article/bida-manda-opening-soon-preview/

8/24/2012 12:12:51 PM

^same here

was at the burrough and heard a waitress talking to folks on the street on her way home from training. Said it should open sometime in the first 2 weeks of september.

8/24/2012 2:28:57 PM

Awesome. I heard the head bartender from Fai Thai would be making their cocktail menu. The cocktails at Fai Thai were fantastic so I'm hoping that's true.

8/24/2012 2:31:34 PM

Looks like Port City Java on F-ville street closed up. I think I remember reading that it was headed that direction a few months ago. Its an interesting space that probably deserves more than a coffee shop (especially with Wilmoore/Morning Times/Starbucks/Crema all so close)

8/30/2012 10:16:10 AM

Quote :

"Wonder if Armadillo Grill is sweating that news. Yes, they're southwestern and not Mexican, but there are lots of similarities and it's practially across the street."

I would imagine they are. Armadillo Grill is pretty bad.

8/30/2012 10:26:08 AM

^^ Port City Java made horrible coffee so I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did, especially with all the other coffee shops in the area. I'll be curious to see what gets put in there next.

8/30/2012 11:00:37 AM

my wife used to manage that PCJ back in the day.

8/30/2012 11:03:18 AM

Weird. I didn't know that PCJ was ever a topless joint.

8/30/2012 11:05:41 AM

If the new Dos Taquitos is anything like the other 2 it shouldn't harm Armadillo too much.

8/30/2012 12:13:47 PM

I really hate going out on Glenwood avenue, but when friends insist upon it, drunkenly cramming my face with the cheap-ass food at armadillo grill at the end of the night almost makes it worth it.

8/30/2012 4:16:02 PM

Welcome to the red hat amphitheater! They got it at a 30% discount from what AB was gonna pay. Hopefully this leads to some improvements, but I doubt it.

9/5/2012 7:15:16 AM

Cool building, glad to keep the architecture. Hope they do some major improvement on the top floor dining area.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/05/2319290/new-owner-plans-to-give-downtown.html#storylink=misearch

9/6/2012 4:21:41 PM

make it rotate again and I'll visit.

9/6/2012 4:24:52 PM

Circumcize it.

9/6/2012 4:32:51 PM

^^It never rotated

9/6/2012 5:57:15 PM

Quote :

"make it rotate again and I'll visit."

It never rotated.

9/6/2012 8:19:08 PM

..make it rotate anyways

Some of my earliest childhood memories include going to a start-up church at the banquet hall of that building. Its been in need of some renovations for awhile now. Luckily, everything around it has really grown up during the past 25 years and made it economically feasible.

9/9/2012 8:39:06 AM

Quote :

"Welcome to the red hat amphitheater! They got it at a 30% discount from what AB was gonna pay. Hopefully this leads to some improvements, but I doubt it."

Not sure what you mean by improvement, but hopefully it'll mean that we get free tickets

and what's up with this bullshit about the Blount St deck? It makes no sense that it would stay public once we finish moving down there. We have like 700 employees, plus [way too many] contractors, and we've promised Wake Co. to create 500 more jobs, but the deck only has 1000 spots....

9/9/2012 12:51:53 PM

So you want the city to give your company a $17 million parking deck?

9/9/2012 1:59:29 PM

^^^

Quote :

"Its been in need of some renovations for awhile now."

I feel like a friend of mine did some serious demo/renovation work on that place like 10 years ago.

9/9/2012 11:37:26 PM

Quote :

"So you want the city to give your company a $17 million parking deck?"

No, not at all. We'll lease it and give access to our employees, visitors, and contractors. I'm giggling at the thought of one of our customer's CEOs getting a parking ticket because of the stupid way the short-term and long-term spots are laid out.

9/10/2012 1:05:00 AM

I think the city had the naming rights $$$ in the overall plan, so I doubt it goes to infrastructure, but I meant improvement such as no shitty grass hill with weeds growing out of it behind the stage, more permanent bathroom, ticketing, concessions, etc.

9/10/2012 7:46:28 AM

Quote :

"and what's up with this bullshit about the Blount St deck? It makes no sense that it would stay public once we finish moving down there. We have like 700 employees, plus [way too many] contractors, and we've promised Wake Co. to create 500 more jobs, but the deck only has 1000 spots...."

Why would the county give away one of its cash revenues? If Red Hat really wants a private parking deck they can always do like the Sheraton and build one.

9/10/2012 9:25:01 AM

^

9/10/2012 9:39:41 AM

There are so many parking spaces downtown. So so so many. So many garages that have are barely occupied. Red Hat will be fine. I'm assuming part of the reason they wanted to move downtown to begin with was so that many of their employees will have the option of no longer needing to drive to work. I'm sure some already live downtown and others will find it more appealing to live there now. Progress Energy was just fine there. Moving downtown means throwing out the suburban mentality when it comes to parking cars.

9/10/2012 10:14:41 AM

^yeah, i'll surely be walking/biking/r-lining when my department moves over there. Hopefully anyone renting elsewhere will rent downtown when those new apartments are done as well.

9/10/2012 10:47:11 AM

is that 500 jobs over a set amount of time?

[Edited on September 10, 2012 at 11:21 AM. Reason : ]

9/10/2012 11:17:53 AM

Quote :

"I feel like a friend of mine did some serious demo/renovation work on that place like 10 years ago."

Yep. The article states the previous owner did a lot of mechanical/systems/structural work. However, it still needs cosmetic work and upgraded amenities.

[Edited on September 10, 2012 at 11:35 AM. Reason : w]

9/10/2012 11:34:59 AM

^yep...sounds like the "guts" are good...time for some serious cosmetic upgrades.

9/10/2012 4:28:46 PM

Quote :

"I'm giggling at the thought of one of our customer's CEOs getting a parking ticket because of the stupid way the short-term and long-term spots are laid out."

Yeah, b/c someone smart enough to be a CEO is going to have a tough time parking in the scary "big city".

9/12/2012 10:09:58 AM

Anybody know what's going in the old bail bonds/burger hut space on Morgan? It's gutted and has brown paper on the windows. Lady cutting my hair at atomic thinks its either a bar or restaurant.

9/13/2012 12:26:15 PM

i hear taz is expanding again

9/13/2012 12:27:40 PM

^^It's a bar and restaurant. I saw an article a couple months ago; I'll try to dig it up.

Here we go: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/03/2039722/david-meeker-son-of-former-raleigh.html

Quote :

"Last week, Meeker’s firm, Carpenter Real Estate Group, made its third commercial purchase, buying the Morgan Street Center just west of downtown for $555,000. The 5,080-square-foot retail center is perhaps best known as the longtime home of The Burger Hut, a greasy-spoon diner that recently closed its doors. Meeker, 28, says he has no grand plans for the center, other than to rename it Morgan West and gradually make upgrades over the next couple years – repaving the parking lot, putting a new roof and awning on the building and screening the center’s trash bins from sight. “I think now some people drive by and think the whole thing is closed,” he said. The center has three other tenants, a laundromat, a bail bondsman and a convenience store, which Meeker used to visit frequently while growing up in Boylan Heights. Meeker admits the price he paid is higher than the property’s current income would justify, but as with his other deals, he’s betting the location will only become more attractive as hundreds of new apartments get built in the downtown area. “Because the tenants have been there so long, the rents are fairly low, and I think the market’s going up,” he said. Meeker’s already lined up a tenant to replace The Burger Hut. The owners of The Busy Bee, the tenant in Meeker’s 225 S. Wilmington building, plan to open a restaurant featuring craft beer in the space."

[Edited on September 13, 2012 at 1:30 PM. Reason : .]

9/13/2012 1:28:19 PM

That place might get hoppin' with that crowd that lives across the street.

9/13/2012 2:49:32 PM

Nice, I live right there.

9/13/2012 3:06:23 PM

Yeah, I used to live there too and it would have been great to have something like that.

9/13/2012 3:15:06 PM

Great news! Thanks for the link/article. I live two blocks from the location, so its great to see some added nightlife. I think meeker may be right, the new apartments are finishing in the next few months behind Goodnights, and that area is only growing.

9/13/2012 5:00:20 PM

^^^You live in the Morgan St. area? I was wondering if anyone on TWW lives in that area and can recommend it. I've heard people saying OMG PRISON on here, but the proximity means nothing (else Boylan Heights wouldn't be the bastion of rich people it is today). I know there's a couple different apartment buildings in the area.

[Edited on September 13, 2012 at 7:11 PM. Reason : f]

9/13/2012 7:11:17 PM

I realize this question is about people who have lived in the Morgan Street area, which I have not. Hear me out.

I've known folks who lived in both Cameron Court (between Hillsborough and Morgan) and Shelton Arms (between Mayo and Morgan). Both enjoyed it. I very nearly lived in Cameron Court myself a few years ago, though it ended up being a little pricier than I had wanted. Nice places though.

9/13/2012 9:13:42 PM

Quote :

"Wonder if Armadillo Grill is sweating that news. Yes, they're southwestern and not Mexican, but there are lots of similarities and it's practially across the street."

no way....Armadillo grill is like a Moes or Quadoba. Dos Toquitos is a sit down place. And Dos Taquitos won't be open at 2:30 on a Saturday morning when I'm wasted and want a burrito

9/13/2012 9:35:51 PM

^^I should have been more ambiguous--I meant to have the question apply to any number of huge swaths of land around downtown--not just Morgan.

9/13/2012 10:38:49 PM

I live @ 150 St. Mary's and love it! Prison doesn't bother me one bit. Main issue is the Wake County support buildings for parole/homeless/etc. I don't mind them or fear them in general, but they do a ton of loitering and occasionally you will get a crazy marching down the street playing trumpet at 6 am, drunk guy asking you all sorts of whacked questions, urinating in public, etc.

9/14/2012 9:16:30 AM

I subscribe to the theory that the safest place to live in the case of a prison break is right next to the prison. They're going to want to be as far away from you as possible

9/14/2012 9:27:02 AM

wait, burger hut is gone?!?!?!?!?! fuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccckkkkkkk.

first amore, and now this.

this isn't my america....

9/14/2012 9:41:34 AM

^burger hut sucked and their hours were terrible.

9/16/2012 10:34:05 AM

Finally tried out Bida Manda.

The food was very good but man they really need to work on their price point. Prices were all over the map in relation to food quantity. We ordered two appetizers both in the $6.50 range. One was easily enough for the 4 of us, the other was barely enough for 2 people.

The entrees were even crazier. One person ordered the basil beef, which I think was $13, and I would say that was a fair price. But another person ordered the green papaya salad with duck, at a whopping $17, and it was smaller than the basil beef. Say what? I think if they stuck with the $12 range on all their entrees and reworked some of their appetizer offerings they'll do fine but at their current price structure a lot of people are going to go and say, "Wait, why did I pay 30% more here than I do at any Thai restaurant in the area for less food?" Because while it was good, I wouldn't say it was so much better than other SE Asian restaurants around here to justify the higher prices.



[Edited on September 17, 2012 at 9:33 AM. Reason : k]

9/17/2012 9:30:56 AM