I can’t tell if you’re being serious. How much WRAL do you watch? Why do you think GS is slipping at all? They keep adding new concepts, esp if you include smoky hollow.
Our market is completely void of a ping pong bar. So overdue that they will crush it from DAY ONE. If you read the article, they will have 10 tables. CAH is doing really well too, so this was a strategic decision to capitalize on the void in our market. Go to Tobacco Road instead, the sports bar no one remembers is in GS.
I enjoy GS and never go there late at night, so I’ve never understood the sentiment in this forum. There are casual bars and lots of restaurants, so it’s a destination for me during regular hours, and trashy is a weak characterization of the strip. Go to other cities, GS is far from trashy considering it’s our city’s entertainment district.
I don’t think that many people understand Ping Pong’s appeal. I just hope that they take it seriously and activate with league play, etc. during the weekdays and not just have this be a drinking game on weekends.
I agree and suspect they will have league play. I’m just hoping the pricing is reasonable. If it is, they may need more than 10 tables. Swing in Seattle is what I am envisioning for this space. I had so much fun there and wished Raleigh had the same.
Edit: SPIN, not Swing, is the Seattle ping pong bar. Went 2 years ago so forgive me.
Listen I get that every post I make triggers you. I’m not trying to troll you. I like downtown Raleigh, and it’s why I moved here. I make a point to come downtown weekly despite living outside of it, as well as downtown Durham and Cary weekly. We may just have different outlooks, and I’m fine agreeing to disagree. But I’d like to explain my general context if that helps.
I voluntarily chose to move here from MA 16 years ago because I love the area. A lot of what I post on here is a bit tongue in cheek. But like anything I love, I will defend it to outsiders, but for insiders like us on here, I’m going to be critical for areas that I see needing improvement. I’m 42 now, and I get that not everything going on downtown is going to appeal to me or be designed for me, and I have no problem with that at all. My criticisms for anything boil down to where I see things getting worse or not delivering on plans that I had been hoping would work out.
In my time here, I’ve seen Fayetteville St have ups and downs but generally is worse than 10 years ago. I’ve seen Glenwood South (and I mean the street itself, not Smoky Hollow which I very much like) go from a fun, up and coming street with restaurants and bars and stores and businesses and offices and apartments become much more focused on weekend nightlife to the exclusion of much else, and longtime places leave or close. I’ve also seen countless great projects to fill in downtown’s gaps and improve our skyline and bring density and residents all fall though or get severely downgraded. There’s multiple factors, with COVID and WFH culture being a large part, but also endless issues with financing, city council, inflation, recession, etc. It all becomes pretty frustrating. I do also see the good, and the projects that come to fruition are something I get excited about, as evidenced by the time I take to document their progress with pictures on here. I try to stay cautiously optimistic for the various improvement initiatives being done throughout downtown.
I’ve taken up enough space here trying to explain where I’m coming from overall. But if you’d like to chat privately, I’m happy to try to reassure you that I’m not someone who hates downtown, nor a scared suburbanite whose world is shaped by media clickbait narratives.
Oakwood Deli opens tomorrow. Huge win for the eastern side of downtown, adding to the list of concepts opened/planned over here and in East Raleigh overall. This is where you can afford a home close to downtown, in a diverse neighborhood, without the ITB pretentiousness, and now with more local businesses within walking/biking distance. Love to see it.
Hours are fantastic and the menu has something for everyone.
Agreed, I was surprised when I got home and actually looked at the menu. In person, it very much feels like a deli and not a diner. It actually feels sort of like Taste from VA with the coolers and grab and go items. But the menu is more like a full-service restaurant. I’m thrilled for the breakfast options though.
I got the cold cut Italian and it was solid. Fresh bread and meats. Haven’t tried the pasta salad or potato salad yet but got a couple of those to go bc they looked so good. Seemed like they were having a successful opening day!
there was not, at least not presented to me, and i agree with you. giving them some grace as it was busy and it was still tasty but i still was surprised to not see it pressed
