http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/hard-times-cafe-closing/

Quote :

"No more free chili samplers and Frito Chili Pies. This is a bummer. Although a chain (but only restaurants in the Southern US), Hard Times Cafe has some of the best chili in town. They will be closing their only North Carolina location on Glenwood South at the end of this week. This news comes very soon after its neighbor Enoteca Vin also shut its doors and leaves two restaurant spaces (with great outdoor seating) ready to be filled. We hear the beer is cheap for the remainder of their opening. Read more: Hard Times Cafe Closing This Week | New Raleigh - http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/hard-times-cafe-closing/#ixzz0CBwNsDN2 "

4/9/2009 10:47:54 AM

LOL at the name irony

4/9/2009 10:51:20 AM

i liked enoteca vin.

wtf.

4/9/2009 10:55:11 AM

Quote :

"We hear the beer is cheap"

how long do you think they will stay open?

4/9/2009 11:00:39 AM

Booooo.... That fucking sucks. I liked stopping in there for a $5.00 bowl of chili at lunch when I worked downtown. Terlingua chili ftw.

4/9/2009 11:02:49 AM

Quote :

"how long do you think they will stay open?"

i bet til the end of the week hence the article in the OP

Quote :

"They will be closing their only North Carolina location on Glenwood South at the end of this week."

4/9/2009 11:05:33 AM

looks like i know what i'm doing tonight.

4/9/2009 11:06:23 AM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

that's one of my favorite places

4/9/2009 11:07:13 AM

Quote :

"irony"

its not really ironic, its coincidental

I'm Big Business and i approved this message.

4/9/2009 11:08:06 AM

I liked that place ever since it gave me horrendous gas one day.

4/9/2009 11:12:52 AM

4/9/2009 11:19:52 AM

Oh man, that sucks. I've been jonesing for this while I was in Iraq, and now they're closing it just days after I get back.

Will they be open through Saturday? I'm coming up this weekend, anyway.

4/9/2009 11:20:47 AM

I always got the Frito Pie


Maybe I need to go there for lunch today

4/9/2009 11:27:04 AM

Fuck no. I love their stuff.

Edit: I just called them and they said they weren't closing. So now I am confused.

[Edited on April 9, 2009 at 11:49 AM. Reason : call]

4/9/2009 11:47:14 AM

There goes the Flying Tiger.

4/9/2009 11:49:16 AM

Well damn- I was just thinking this morning how I wanted some of their chili

I remember when they had one in charlotte- got shut down cause they sold beer to all the local highschoolers

4/9/2009 11:49:52 AM

yeah i really liked this place. my office is now considering hitting it up for lunch tomorrow. is tomorrow the "end of the week" or is it sunday?

4/9/2009 11:50:00 AM

sunday is the first day of the week.

4/9/2009 11:50:52 AM

blah, ok then - is saturday the "end of the week"? it's all relative my friend. i consider monday to be the first day of the week since that's when you go back to work after the weekend.

weekEND = END of the week = saturday/sunday

[Edited on April 9, 2009 at 11:52 AM. Reason : /]

4/9/2009 11:51:28 AM

This sucks! The Texas Chili was awesome!

4/9/2009 11:53:49 AM

hey, i'm just goin by what Jesus told me.

4/9/2009 11:54:14 AM

Quote :

" Edit: I just called them and they said they weren't closing. So now I am confused."

sometimes employees are hte last to know that a place is closing....management doesn't want everybody to walk @ once

4/9/2009 11:55:34 AM

Man that would suck to show up for work tomorrow and find out it's your last day.

Definitely going under:

http://www.loopnet.com/property/16080440/414-Glenwood-Avenue/

[Edited on April 9, 2009 at 12:01 PM. Reason : .]

4/9/2009 11:59:46 AM

damn

i loved that place, but haven't been in years. jus10 never wants to go b/c of his love for mitch's chili

4/9/2009 12:07:36 PM

I'm sad that Enoteca Vin went out of business. That was one of the best places in Raleigh for wine.

4/9/2009 12:08:07 PM

I've heard about the guy that owns that place wanting to get out of the restaurant business for a couple of years now.

Just because it's for sale doesn't mean it is "going under" and from what i have seen when i have been in the area, the place is doing pretty well. By that i mean that early in the evening and early in the week, i have seen the restaurant mostly full a number of times.

4/9/2009 12:10:22 PM

That place was awesome for sitting outside and watching the people on Glenwood South try to act like Eurotrash. But, and this is a big but for me...The inside fucking stunk the last two times I went (which were several weeks apart.) It smelled like they had some nasty old mop water that they saved to wipe down the floors and tables. The whole place wreaked. What kind of manager/owner lets his restaurant smell like that?

[Edited on April 9, 2009 at 12:14 PM. Reason : l]

4/9/2009 12:14:16 PM

Damn, that was a good lunch spot. Though I don't think I've ever sat inside, the outside tables were awesome. I just ate there last Friday...

4/9/2009 1:50:14 PM

Tonight is the last night

4/9/2009 2:51:25 PM

Fuck.

4/9/2009 3:15:14 PM

^^Heard from my ex-gf who works there, and it's tomorrow that is the last day.

4/9/2009 4:21:08 PM

STILL SAD

4/9/2009 7:46:38 PM

Someone should go buy theduke some and keep it til the weekend for him.

Quote :

"The inside fucking stunk the last two times I went (which were several weeks apart.) It smelled like they had some nasty old mop water that they saved to wipe down the floors and tables. "

Dude, I know!
When I delivered for RTO, I HATED hard times orders because of this, and that bitchy night manager? with the godawful wedge haircut.

It stank so bad I'd breathe through my mouth.

4/9/2009 7:50:52 PM

^ That's kind of scary (about the smell)

4/9/2009 7:54:11 PM

Quote :

"its not really ironic, its coincidental I'm Big Business and i approved this message."

Seems like it could fall under "Situational Irony"

Quote :

"This is a relatively modern use of the term, and describes a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results when enlivened by 'perverse appropriateness'."

You would expect "Hard Times Cafe" to stay open during the recession, but instead it's one of the first places to close up shop.

4/9/2009 8:04:49 PM

I went to the Hard Times in Arlington VA expecting chili, but was served a bowl full of ground beef instead. I wasn't that impressed.

4/9/2009 8:37:24 PM

damn. this really sucks. hard times was damn awesome.

4/9/2009 9:13:16 PM

if only this place was on my "learn about it before it closes" list

4/9/2009 9:21:47 PM

I'm definitely going for lunch tomorrow.

4/9/2009 10:07:28 PM

Quote :

"Heard from my ex-gf who works there, and it's tomorrow that is the last day."

I hope you're right, because I'll go for lunch if so, but someone in that New Raleigh thread said they don't have enough food or drinks left so tonight was it.

4/9/2009 10:52:24 PM

The Hard Times Cafe at the Stonecrest shopping center in Charlotte went out of business with the quickness back in the day.

4/9/2009 10:58:23 PM

!!!

4/10/2009 5:22:17 PM

I really didnt like the place. I thought their chili was freaking horrible.

That said, i really hate to see any restaurant close, especially one that clearly had a loyal following.

I wonder what's going to happen to the soon to be vacant space...

4/10/2009 6:17:05 PM

^^^^Yep, they ran out of food yesterday. Goddammit.

4/10/2009 9:57:37 PM

Hopefully something good will go in that space. It's one of the best spaces on Glenwood really; right in the center of Glenwood South with a large covered patio.

4/10/2009 10:31:18 PM

it was an oasis in a glenwood sea of meatheads, hoes, yuppies and hipsterdom

4/10/2009 10:44:39 PM

Good thing I gave my gift certificate to there to someone else.

4/10/2009 11:52:07 PM

I want frito pie

Where else can I get a frito pie in the Raleigh/Cary area?

6/30/2009 10:55:30 AM

i think sonic used to have them. not sure if they still do.

6/30/2009 10:56:02 AM

I think Jax used to have one.

6/30/2009 10:56:15 AM