WEB EXCLUSIVE Good vibes await at Moore Square this spring, thanks to the OG Downtown park’s recent renovations and plethora of upcoming events—from outdoor workouts to food trucks to shopping ops—serving up “moore” reasons to get outside and enjoy the warm weather. Here’s the 411 on Moore Square events.
Looking for a challenge? Work up a sweat with Camp Gladiator! Every other Saturday to kick off the weekend with full-body outdoor workouts designed to unlock your full fitness potential and get your blood pumping. The best part? Post-class you can reward yourself with lunch from one of Downtown’s fab restos! (Balance is key, OK?)
Photo courtesy of WUV Studios, Amy and Juan Benito
Breathe in, breathe out. Take a midweek yoga break or settle into the weekend with Nova Retreats’ yoga flow classes each Wednesday and Saturday morning in the Square. The classes are designed to increase strength, mobility, balance and focus while encouraging intention and purpose every week. BYO mat and melt away the stress…
We’ve got your Thursday lunch plans covered. Grab your work squad and take a break from the harsh lighting of the office to enjoy some sun and give your brain a workout. Your team will compete in three themed rounds of trivia for the chance to win some fun prizes (the game takes only 30 minutes!)—loser buys grub from Square Burger!
Not in the mood for burgers? No prob—Moore Square will feature a different local food truck every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in April and May from 11am to 2pm. Teasing your taste buds is Flattz Signature Flatbreads, which will be on-site April 21; while, on April 26, Goodness GraceUs will be serving authentic Vienna Beef Chicago and Carolina-style hot dogs, fried fish and shrimp sandwiches, to name a few.
Busker Series
Moore Square is bringing back live music, y’all (*hold for cheers and applause*). Jam out in the square to local musicians such as Alice Osborn, Sarah Bowen and Wayne Schindler during your lunch break every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 11am and 2pm.
As if we didn’t love brunch enough already, now you’re telling us we can shop during it too?! Enjoy food trucks, a picnic on the lawn, beer and other beverages, live music, and a plethora of unique local vendors from 11am to 3pm every second Sunday from May until October.
Yet another reason to shop local—but this time, at night. From the same founder as Brunch Moore Market comes a European- and Asian-inspired community-fueled energy for shopping everything from artisan treats to plants to jewelry and soaps, starting in May. Plus, there’s always some form of entertainment to set the mood.
Guess what else is returning next month? Moore Square’s uber-popular farmers market (an evolution of the Raleigh Downtown Farmers Market)! Swing by every Sunday from 11am to 3pm starting May 2 for fresh NC-grown produce from local farmers, including fruits and veggies, as well as meats, seafood, eggs, dairy and more. Your Sunday feast is about to get a major upgrade.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Lace up your roller skates for a pop-up indoor skating rink this weekend at the Raleigh Convention Center.
Let’s roll…er-skate! Whether you took up roller-skating (or -blading) during quarantine or always dreamed of being a roller girl (or boy!)—or, heck, even if you’ve never skated before— you’re gonna wanna let the good times roll at Mako Medical’s Sk8te Raleigh pop-up this weekend at the Raleigh Convention Center.
So grab your fave ’70s swag, garb up and get ready to dance—er, skate—the night away this weekend under a flashy disco ball (so retro!) across 9,900 square feet of polished concrete, with DJ Uniq spinning beats (roller-skating was a fave pastime of his).
Know How to Go
Where? Raleigh Convention Center
When? April 16—18. Two-hourlong skate sessions are available in the morning, afternoon and evening.
Why? DJ Uniq approached Shop Local Raleigh (which tapped Mako Medical as the title sponsor) about the event in order to foster community and bring business back to our once-vibrant Downtown while providing a source of safe and fun entertainment for Raleighites looking to (finally) get out of the house.
With lots of parking and plenty of room to spread out and skate, the Raleigh Convention Center serves as the perfect venue to get people movin’ and groovin’ in what is the largest indoor skating rink the City of Oaks has ever seen.
What do you need? BYO skates if you have them, or rent a pair for $13.
How do you get tickets? Online, $10 (with own skates); spectator tickets, $3. First-responders receive $2 off. Don’t forget to complete the online waiver! And RSVP to the Facebook eventfor the latest updates.
WEB EXCLUSIVEWork up a sweat; then refuel alfresco with these two new Downtown Raleigh initiatives.
Whether it’s eating, drinking, shopping or a good sweat sesh, we love any excuse to kick it Downtown. Answering that call, Downtown Raleigh Alliance recently announced two new initiatives to help you get moving around DTR—even if your interpretation of “moving” is raising a cocktail to cheers with your friends (still counts!).
Downtown Raleigh Routes
Photo courtesy of Taylor Rankin, Downtown Raleigh Alliance
OK, hear us out… while your workout may not be any easier Downtown—those DTR views promise to elevate the backdrop. Swap the stale neighborhood route (or treadmill screen) for a jog (or stroll) with a view via DRA’s Downtown Raleigh Routes. Just head over to Moore Square and follow the 1- or 3-mile outline.
Then, snap a post-run victory shot (sweaty, red-faced and all) and post it on Insta with the hashtag #DTRRoutes and tag @downtownraleighalliance for your chance to win a “My Routes are in Downtown Raleigh” T-shirt from House of Swank.
Dine Out Downtown
Photo courtesy of Taylor Rankin, Downtown Raleigh Alliance
#TreatYourself to post-run nips and sips (or post-couch veg—no judgement!) with DRA’s second annual Dine Out Downtown series. This encore edition of last fall’s hit alfresco DTR dining series relaunched in early April. Each Saturday through June from 5 to 9pm, Fayetteville Street, the Warehouse District and Glenwood South will be closed to traffic and decked out in market lights and outdoor seating aplenty for patrons to reserve a spot at their fave local bars and restos. (Takeout food is also available.) It’s all about balance, right? Cheers!
Spring? Oh, you mean patio drinking season? Yeah, we know her. Who can blame us for taking the warm weather as an excuse to day drink at a local brewery, bar or restaurant?!
Our latest spring obsession? Collabs from Triangle-area breweries. These local brewmasters are putting their genius beer know-how and skills together to create sip-worthy creations that warrant a drinking sesh in the sun. Get to know some of our fave local collaboration bevs below!
Hops heads, delight… This dry-hopped pale ale by these two popular Raleigh breweries just screams springtime—and begs to be drank alfresco with your crew. Five Points Connection is an ode to Lonerider’s recently opened Five Points location—as they joined the ranks of a bounty of breweries in that hoppy town center. Sip to find Philly sour yeast paired with fruity hops to deliver a light-bodied, aromatic brew for easy drinking (yes, please!). Find it on tap this season at all Lonerider Hideout locations, Lynnwood Brewing and in cans (come mid-April) at bottle shops in the Raleigh/Durham area.
Get ready for a doubleheader! Trophy Brewing has not one, but two collaboration beers on tap. A brew for all IPA drinkers—and we know there’s a lot of you—Oberlin Village is a refreshing and hoppy nod to the former Reconstruction-era Black settlement that thrived for years near Oberlin Road. And, fittingly, these sips will go down in history… as each glass or can—available at Trophy locations, bottle shops and select grocery stores—benefits Friends of Oberlin Village’s goal to honor and preserve local history.
With its second buzzworthy collab, Top of the Podium, Trophy joins 321 Coffee to produce some feel-good sips. (DTR-based 321 is dedicated to employing adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.) The resulting coffee stout (shocker?)) offers up notes of dark caramel and toffee—perfect for anyone who likes a heavier beer with a little kick. Inside scoop: The name was created by combining the two businesses’ names! To wit, you’re likely to accept, say, a sports trophy (a nod to Trophy Brewing) at a plural podium with a first, second and third place platforms (incidentally also the numbers in 321 Coffee). The more you know!
Bonus: A percentage of sales from Top of the Podium will be donated to 321 Coffee. You can also find this brew at Trophy locations, bottle shops and select grocery stores.
In line with the opening of Scratch Kitchen’s new Downtown Cary location, the Apex-based restaurant will be releasing a ginger kettle sour with Bond Brothers (its soon-to-be neighbor!) in May. Knowing Bond Brothers and its excellent repertoire of beers, this new brew is going to be deliciously sour and is sure to pair perfectly with the food over at Scratch (the fan-fave firecracker shrimp is amazing!). We’re counting down the days until we can get our hands on a pint, which will be available at Bond Brothers and both Scratch Kitchen locations.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Aw shucks, another Lawrence Barbecue pop-up is coming to Raleigh! The forthcoming barbecue resto from chef Jake Wood—who has been teasing taste buds with his ever-popular ’cue with pop-ups at multiple spots around town for months now—has been tapped by St. Roch for the return of the New Orleans-inspired oyster bar and restaurant’s Friends With Benefits monthly dinner series (pop-up perfection that began last January, but was cut short due to the pandemic), now in its second installment, on April 8.
Jake Wood (left) of Lawrence Barbecue and Sunny Gerhart (right) of St. Roch
St. Roch chef/owner Sunny Gerhart says the goal of the series is to celebrate all of the amazing talent in the Raleigh food scene while providing guests with unique experiences. And Wood’s barbecue is sure to be a bold complement to Gerhart’s oysters. In short, St. Roch brings in the friends, and you get all the delicious benefits. So, the world is your oyster, so to speak…
“After this past year, it feels more important than ever to celebrate each of our anniversary milestones,” adds Gerhart. “So, we’re bringing this series back to give us a chance to cook with our megatalented chef pals and create some unique experiences here at St. Roch.”
During April’s Friends With Benefits dinner, Wood will be previewing dishes from Lawrence Barbecue, including his famed bacon-cured brisket sando, Lawrence family grilled oysters, classic pulled pork platter and Mary Tilley’s tres leches milkshake. St. Roch’s full menu will also be available. Who’s pumped?
Lawrence Barbecue brisket sando
St. Roch oysters | Photo by Food Seen
Jake Wood of Lawrence Barbecue
The pop-up provides just one more reason for locals to get excited about Lawrence Barbecue’s highly anticipated opening in Boxyard RTP this summer. You may have been lucky to already get a taste during Wood’s previous pop-ups at Whiskey Kitchen, J. Lights Market & Cafe, Standard Beer + Food and Wye Hill, to name just a few. Lawrence Barbecue also recently took home the W on Discovery Channel’s new competition show, “Moonshiners: Smoke Ring.”
So, if you haven’t had a chance to try Lawrence Barbecue, you’re in for a real treat. Reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome; strochraleigh.com
