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Darryl's on Hillsborough finally being reoccupied


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IIRC, Darryls expanded into that right section around 1984. They moved the entrance to the corner and put the bar in the new section. Back then those greenhouse windows were all the rage. They put one on the front of the Glenwood Ave location during that expansion, too.

The original entrance was that little pocket in the gray section (just a bit of it shows in the photo above). The restaurant was only that width until you got to the back where it turned left. That was the circus room. Neat room, but I always preferred eating in the old-style elevator which was on the right as you went in. The bar was along that left wall of the old section (the bartender's back was to the wall shared with Weatherman's).

I only remember back to around 1973. The 10 years following, that corner space which eventually became the expaned Darryls' bar, was completely empty.

Back in those days some of Raleigh's best bars were to the left of Weatherman's: Crazy Zacks, Free Advice, Edward's Grocery... wasn't there one more? (Sorry. I was only 8 or so at the time!) They tore those bars down in... what was it? 1984 or so?? - all for a parking lot which will now become a street in this roundabout plan. Crazy Zack's moved to the old AMC car dealership location at that time (Faircloth and Hillsborough). It was a huge space for them, but was kind of too late for its own good. It lasted a few more years there before it was torn down and replaced with Applebee's.

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I have no validity of this information, but this was all heard second hand from my time at Technician regarding the area.

Hillsborough Square was popular and pretty safe when the drinking age was 18. When the Wolfpack won the 1983 basketball championship, the good times got even better. Too good. The Chancellor's residence was/is right across the street, due east of Pullen Park Arts Center. The bar crowds kept up then Chancellor Bruce Poulton past his bedtime and/or students would TP the area. Poulton had the university buy the space, tear the bars down, and put in parking to make sure nothing else returned to the space.

I don't know if this affected Hillsborough Square directly or Hillsborough Street bars in general, but another theory was that when the drinking age went from 18 to 21, fewer State students could drink legally. Soldiers from Bragg and other down east posts filled the gap. These customers were a little more agressive, causing the number of bar fights to go up dramatically. State students went elsewhere, and the neighborhood stepped up to keep ABC permits from being distributed.

There was an incarnation of Crazy Zach's for a year or so in the former ACC tavern space that was the Carribean restaurant for a while and is now a Korean restaurant? (to the east and above of Two Guys).

In one version of Darryl's, the area closest to Weatherman's was two story -- one sunk down a couple of steps and stairs went up to a row of tables in a loft. It was eventually rennovated to everything on one floor, supposedly for fire code regulations, but possibly due to the series of health code forced shutdowns.

The greenhouse glass also took over down the street at Electirc Company Mall. The space below Pi Bar (Five O), formerly the Lookout, the Big Bad Wolf, Kelly's, etc. has a tall bubble, and Sir Speedy (is that still there?) had a smaller version for its window. Of all the styles for a building to get "stuck" in, the late 70s/early 80s bubble would be one of, if not the, worst.

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Interesting point on the drinking age. It did dramatically change the complexion of bars. After the change and some ALE action, bar owners seem to have focused on serving people in their 20's instead of those around 20. Where do people want to go drinking when they are 25? It certainly isn't around a bunch of college students. They headed downtown. Hence we have 72 places to drink downtown now.

Perhaps the drinking age change was the most important influence in downtown's rebirth.

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Back in those days some of Raleigh's best bars were to the left of Weatherman's: Crazy Zacks, Free Advice, Edward's Grocery... wasn't there one more? (Sorry. I was only 8 or so at the time!) They tore those bars down in... what was it? 1984 or so?? - all for a parking lot which will now become a street in this roundabout plan. Crazy Zack's moved to the old AMC car dealership location at that time (Faircloth and Hillsborough). It was a huge space for them, but was kind of too late for its own good. It lasted a few more years there before it was torn down and replaced with Applebee's.
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Sorry Subway but I think its almost time to go Historic wit hthis info and maybe write a coffee table book, replete with lots of pictures and first person commentary. A coworker of mine also remembers Barrys very well. When I came along around 1990-1992 I want to say Barrys II was still there but my memory has been tarnished a bit by spending too much time at the mid-90's hangouts like 5-0, Stingray, Caparrals, etc.

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Sorry Subway but I think its almost time to go Historic wit hthis info and maybe write a coffee table book, replete with lots of pictures and first person commentary. A coworker of mine also remembers Barrys very well. When I came along around 1990-1992 I want to say Barrys II was still there but my memory has been tarnished a bit by spending too much time at the mid-90's hangouts like 5-0, Stingray, Caparrals, etc.
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Yea, Stingray. I was a founding bar member since the beginning. Great place when it first opened. Just a cool neighborhood bar I could stumble home from.

Still working it even though I have been bar hopping in 4 decades !!!!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

RE Est Est Est...the guy who last owned it and purportedly closed it to go into the old Darryl's space was NOT the original owner of the Est Est Est that was the ONLY thing open after 5 pm for dinner in downtown Raleigh for years and years (late 80s to early 90s) during the dark ages of DTR. The original closed for a year or two, IIRC (that may be too long), and then this guy came along and resurrected it...as a mere shadow of its former self...so really no great loss that we are getting a mediocre and overpriced chain barbecue joint instead of his restaurant...Interesting that none of the local successful restauranteurs touched that site...with the roundabout project in the works, probably too risky a venture for those folks...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update: I drove by there today. Absolutely no sign that any renovation work of any kind is going on in the building. In fact I'm positive there's nothing going on, since windblown leaves and trash are piled against the doors. About the only thing they've done is put a banner up outside. Do we know if the deal with Red, Hot, and Blue has even closed? Maybe they've gotten cold feet. I wouldn't want to be opening a restaurant knowing a major road project was going to happen right out the front door...

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Update: I drove by there today. Absolutely no sign that any renovation work of any kind is going on in the building. In fact I'm positive there's nothing going on, since windblown leaves and trash are piled against the doors. About the only thing they've done is put a banner up outside. Do we know if the deal with Red, Hot, and Blue has even closed? Maybe they've gotten cold feet. I wouldn't want to be opening a restaurant knowing a major road project was going to happen right out the front door...
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  • 1 month later...

It depends.. if they're going to do just enough to get the doors open, they could open in August.

Darryl's already had a kitchen, bar, etc. so there wouldn't need to be too much work to be done. Or that is RH&B's thinking, and they'll be suprised once they get a good look at the place.

Every time I go by, it seems player's retreat is still doing well. I hope they keep their customers even when/if the corner re-opens.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, 8 days until August, and no activity whatsoever at the site. I repeat my assertion that this won't open in August, and probably won't ever. Once RH&B got an eyeful of the work that would be needed to get this site up to minimal health department standards, they probably ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction. I'm told that Darryl's closed, even after its extensive kitchen renovations/upgrades because, even after that, they could not meet minimal sanitation standards enough to stay open without literally stripping the place down to the girders and rebuilding...the place is evidently a roach-infested filthy hell-hole.

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I think there's a little bit of an alley between the former Darry's and PR.

I knew Darry's had issues with infestations, but what have they been eating the last few years? By now they should have all starved to death or something.

The amount of work that needed to be done is probably what killed the Raisin' Ale/former "new" est est est owners (though not having money didn't help either). The lack of movement there makes me think Red Hot and Blue are getting cold feet and don't want to set up shop there.

If a restaurant won't go there, what will? It is just far enough away to not be connected to NC State or Cameron Village. But if there was something big in that area, it could serve as a connector between the two.

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The chancellor won't be up on Hillsborough for much longer. A new, bigger, fancier, more extravagant mansion is being built by Lake Raleigh on Centennial Campus. Read the article.

In the first place it sucks that the mansion is moving to a location so far from the core of the campus - this underscores the change in the Chancellor's role from "head of the university" to "head fundraiser of the university". But beyond that, I sincerely hope that what gets built isn't the ridiculous abortion of a design looking like a McMansion on steroids that I'm afraid it will be.

But then again maybe it makes finding a reuse for Darryl's a little bit easier?

And regarding infestations. Those can be fixed. Interiors can be redone. As long as the building is structurally sound, someone WILL come along and put it to use.

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I think there's a little bit of an alley between the former Darry's and PR.

I knew Darry's had issues with infestations, but what have they been eating the last few years? By now they should have all starved to death or something.

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NC State wants to move a lot of the university to Centennial, so why not the Chancellor's house? The alumni center is already over there and they've broken ground for the golf course, so this is the next logical step.

It will be interesting to see what the university does with that land. It is sandwiched between Pullen Baptist Churchand Pullen Park. It is probably too late to resurrect Hillsborough Square, but Darryl's (and the former Weatherman's Jewelers storefront) could have something that addresses the Hillsborough Street roundabouts better without having to worry about the neighbor across the street.

Kings would be cool there, since they wouldn't need any parking during weekdays, and could take advantage of the unviersity's lot behind it, parking near the bell tower, the lot east of Oberlin, etc. And it would be close to Maiden Lane, which used to house many a band member in the 90s. Having Sadlacks nearby for earlier shows and smaller acts with Kings nearby... that would almost make too much sense to work!

The only think I knew about cockroaches was they could probably survive a nuclear blast, so even nuking Darryl's wouldn't help things. If they can live on insulation and cardboard, they probably have quiet the setup there by now!

Driving around last night, West Street north of Peace could be a cool location for Kings if they could shield the noise from going west of the train tracks. I'm sure the Glenwood-Brooklyners would complain about somethign even though it wouldn't even be in their neighborhood. But that's for another thread...

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