Prime STQ Coming to Hub RTP

Local pitmaster bowing new steak restaurant

Chris Prieto has indeed got the meats at his renowned Knightdale-based Prime Barbecue, which was recently named No. 2 in Texas Monthly’s “Top Texas-Style BBQ Joints Outside the Lone Star State.” And, now, he’s adding another meat to his lineup: steak. 

Enter Prime STQ, opening spring 2025 in the Horseshoe development at Hub RTP. The author, TV personality, champion pitmaster, BBQ preacher and teacher’s second restaurant blends Prieto’s award-winning barbecue with a high-end steakhouse experience that nods to his Puerto Rican heritage, Texas roots and NC home. 

By day, the eatery will serve those beloved chopped-to-order smoked meats and scratch sides, and by night, transition into tableside service with an elevated menu of grilled meatcentric entrees prepared on a custom wood-fired grill from Mesquite, Texas-based J&R Manufacturing. 

The shining star of that dinnertime menu will, of course, be an aged-in-house custom cut of steak from Creekstone Farms, smoked with a blend of oak, pecan and fast-burning mesquite wood, then served with chimichurri. It’s a masterful meat Prieto honed via hours spent at  steakhouses with other chefs and participating in professional steak cooks.

“I learned a lot about how to push flavor into a steak,” recalls Prieto, who also led a winning professional barbecue team at the Kansas City Barbecue Society competitions and appeared on Food Network’s BBQ Brawl and BBQ Pitmasters. “I started seeing this other side of the world of how people consume steaks, which I found fascinating.” 

In addition to steak, the burger also promises to be a hit—and the beer, bourbon and wine list will offer a curated selection of ops to pair. The atmosphere will likewise blend old and new, replicating that longtime tradition of barbecue while introducing fresh and bright elements to ensure a welcoming vibe for all, with ample outdoor seating and a separate room dedicated to to-go orders to boot.

The takeout portion will cater to the professionals frequenting the RTP area, which Prieto has a fondness for and familiarity of, thanks to a nine-year tenure at Quintiles (now IQVIA). During his time there, he was writing cookbooks, doing TV shows and hosting his popular BBQ Club before opening his first restaurant.

And the rest, as they say, is history. … “If you think Prime’s good, just wait—[STQ will] literally knock people’s socks off,” Prieto maintains. “We’re going to drive the best experience that side of the city has ever seen.”

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