Longleaf Swine is turning over a new leaf with a second Raleigh space that goes far beyond your standard ’cue joint.
Longleaf Swine has made a name for itself as one of Raleigh’s best barbecue joints. But its new outpost in the former Sawmill Tap Room isn’t just about smoking more pork and brisket—it’s about reviving one of North Raleigh’s longtime gathering spots.
Set to open by the end of the year, the restaurant marks a new chapter for the growing brand. At roughly three times the size of its DTR digs, the massive 4,700-square-foot space gives the team room to think beyond barbecue: expanding the menu, adding multiple bars, and creating an experience built for lingering. “We want to be thought of more as a neighborhood restaurant, not just a barbecue spot,” maintains chef Dave Mitchell.
To preserve that local watering-hole spirit, designer Dusty Slemp leaned into Sawmill’s existing character rather than reinventing it. The former tap room’s cabin-like bones remain, refreshed with a warm ’70s-style lodge aesthetic anchored by the original stone fireplace and layered with cozy, rustic touches.
Dusty Slemp Creative
With its more open feel, the space also features myriad distinct experiences throughout—from the main dining room and cocktail lounge, which will also host private dinners, bourbon tastings and classes, to the indoor-outdoor bar and patio. The varied layout is intentional, giving Longleaf the flexibility to become the neighborhood’s “third place,” says Beverage Director Walker Roberts.
“What we’ve heard from a lot of people is they want that watering hole—that neighborhood bar kind of feel they can latch onto as their last stop of the night or the place they can go hangout. And we want to lean into that.” —Longleaf Swine chef Dave Mitchell
Whether stopping in for a casual lunch, family dinner, an elevated date night, lounge drinks with friends or a solo cocktail at the bar, the goal is the same: create a space worth returning to several times a week. “There’s definitely a social aspect to the design,” says Slemp. “We want people to mosey through the space.”
Dusty Slemp Creative
The expanded footprint, designed-forward aesthetic and addition of a host may naturally lend itself to a more polished experience, but the team insists hospitality and approachability—not formality—remain their defining priority. “It’s not ‘pinky out’ barbecue,” jokes GM Johnny Berry. “It’s still barbecue.”
The menu reflects that philosophy. Longleaf’s signature sandwiches and sides remain the anchor, while centerplate entrees like steak frites, pork and lamb shank, catfish fry, salads, and braised meats invite guests to settle in for dinner. Think less “grab a tray and go” and more “stay awhile.” A robust whiskey program and cocktail list—all poured without pretension—further encourage sticking around for one more round.
“We’re all building a spot we want to hang out at,” notes Mitchell. “There’s a lot of value in a place you feel comfortable in and get to know the waitstaff, bartenders and host. So we want to create a place that people just get excited to be in.”
And the growing empire isn’t stopping in North Raleigh. The team is also opening another Longleaf in the former Luna Rotisserie and Taproom in Carrboro, with each taking on their own personality, says co-owner Adam Cunningham. “We’re letting the spaces and neighborhoods dictate what that vibe is going to be like,” adds Slemp.
For North Raleigh, that also means adding a small grab-and-go market (inspired by Longleaf’s successful holiday takeout meals) that further ingrains them in the neighborhood and allows patrons to take a bit of Longleaf home—stocked with merch, sauces, pimento cheese, chicken salad, and reheatable pork and brisket.
Joining Greystone Village go-to’s like Sola Coffee Cafe, Gonza, Two Roosters and KAI Sushi & Sake Bar, Longleaf’s new home is helping cultivate a neighborhood defined by local flavor and connection. “These are our people,” says Berry. “We very much want to be part of this community.”
The last missing piece of downtown Cary has clicked into place. With Lloyd’s Full Service’s August opening, the historic 1950s filling station introduced a neighborhood gathering spot locals have long craved—bringing chef-driven comfort food and vibrancy to the town’s otherwise quiet main intersection.
Anna Routh Barzin
“We felt like adding a cheerful destination to that corner would help connect all the elements of downtown Cary that are really popping right now,” says Craig Spitzer, owner of Lloyd’s operating partner Early Bird Night Owl—which also operates The Mayton, Peck & Plume, The Durham Hotel and soon-to-open The Gables—pointing to Downtown Cary Park, the area around Bond Brothers and momentum building up toward The Walk Up bar.
Despite the area’s growing restaurant scene, Lloyd’s fills a different niche: casual enough for a weeknight hot dog (an ode to the glizzies once served at the former Ashworth’s across the street), yet thoughtful enough for housemade linguine with clams. The menu mixes familiar favorites with reimagined twists, from steak and farmers market-inspired sides to salt and vinegar fish fry, fresh salads and a slew of seasonal starters. Lunch and weekend brunch will round out the approachable offerings down the line.
That balance starts in the kitchen. Executive chef Dennis Bernard spent more than two decades honing his craft in Chicago at acclaimed restaurants like The Publican, Big Star and Michelin-starred Blackbird, before bringing his craft to Cary: family-friendly, healthful, approachable food that never feels ordinary and appeals to everyone—at a reasonable price point to boot. He’s joined by GM David Clore, whose six years leading operations for M Restaurants lend equal emphasis to warm, thoughtful hospitality.
A covered three-season patio canopy, vintage-inspired interiors and thoughtful cocktails round out the experience. Altogether, Lloyd’s aims to be a beacon in downtown Cary, notes Spitzer, drawing inspiration from an early advertisement describing the station as “the cheerful-looking place on the corner”—a spirit the team hopes to revive.
“We love that downtown Cary has so many great restaurants,” adds Spitzer, “and we hope to add to that landscape and offer another reason for people to come explore.” For a downtown in the midst of reinvention, Lloyd’s is poised to become more than just a place to go out to eat—but the welcoming front porch connecting all the momentum happening just beyond its doors. @lloydsfullservice
A new concept brings French cafe culture to The Exchange.
Come in for coffee. Stay until dinnertime. That’s the missing piece Cafe Royale aims to bring to Midtown’s The Exchange.
Filling the hole left by WRK by The Optimist is the new French-inspired all-day cafe concept by local hospitality luminary Patrick Shanahan and the team behind Capulet Cocktail Club and Rosebud Cocktail Lounge, set to open as early as September. Named for the juxtaposition of a humble cafe and the opulent feel of Royale, the space is designed to carry guests from morning coffee and breakfast to evening snacks and cocktails—all under one roof.
“It just seemed like this was the right project and the right space to bring something to life that was missing—and is needed,” emphasizes Shanahan—“not only as a great amenity to the building, but also to welcome the community and all of Raleigh.”
Then comes the transportive part. Shanahan describes the interior as “a French trip down the rabbit hole”—and he’s not exaggerating. Inspired by chinoiserie and layered with ornate details and peculiar touches, the colorful, maximalist space combines Gucci pink-heron wallpaper, oversized florals, marble-topped bistro tables, rattan chairs, teal couches and glossy black-lacquered finishes into something that feels equal parts European bistro, Palm Beach lounge and Alice in Wonderland. Even the patio joins the fantasy, dotted with bright-red umbrellas and awnings that practically beg you to linger over one more glass of Champagne.
Fortunately, the menu encourages exactly that. Pulling from proper French bistro culture, the simple healthy-meets-hearty menu is designed for grazing rather than rushing—where flaky pastries and leisurely lattes stretch into quiches and crisp salads, before giving way to wine, cheese and caviar as evening settles in.
Sean Junqueira Sean Junqueira
As the room shifts from daylight to dusk, afternoon tea and coffee courtesy of iconic Italian roaster Illy will give way to a heavy focus on gins, bubbles and Champagne—carving a specific lane that will set it apart from 1000 Social’s tequila-heavy Mezcalito and Capulet’s amari emphasis. “Low-ABV is such a big thing right now, and wine lends itself so nicely to that, as well as different botanical spirits,” says Shanahan.
That slower pace is exactly the point. The result, Shanahan describes, speaks to a crossgenerational take on French opulence that feels very much ooh, la la: highly decorative, like many of his other concepts, but also playful and approachable—and different.
“The three concepts work so well in tandem together,” Shanahan says of The Exchange’s Peregrine, Capulet and now Cafe Royale. “We envision this world where someone can pop between the three and have a very different night—whether you have dinner at Peregrine, then wine at Cafe Royale and a nightcap at Capulet; or start your night at Capulet, then have a light dinner at Cafe Royale and end up with an espresso martini at Peregrine.”
In a city that often rewards grabbing coffee to go, Cafe Royale is betting people still crave something slower: a place you might stumble into on a Euro vacation, built around the simple pleasure of lingering.
Raleigh stands on business, ranking among the nation’s best metros for business longevity in a recent report released by Squarespace.
Speaking of big business, 12 NC companies landed on the 2026 Fortune 500 list, including Bank of America (No. 20), First Citizens Bank (No. 309), Advance Auto Parts (No. 461) and Martin Marietta (No. 532).
Driving to Canada just got a little easier. A new bridge over the Detroit River officially opened in July, serving as a critical route for trade, jobs and tourism between Canada and the U.S.
Digging up herstory: Scientists found 20 ancient hominins in a cave in South Africa… all of which are female.
Back to office? Highwoods Properties is betting on it. Raleigh’s largest office landlord has filed plans with the city for a 13-story office building at West Hargett Street, resulting in what could be the first new office tower built Downtown since 400H in 2021.
What social media dreams are made of? Arizona State University has launched a new Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation, a four-year degree focused on becoming a professional content creator, digital storyteller and influencer.
Watch your water. Despite recent rain improving North Carolina’s drought, changing water quality remains a concern due to sediment and other pollutants from runoff.
Not exactly a ~grape~ situation, nationwide wine sales are at their lowest in more than two decades, leading some California wineries to burn vineyards or tear out grapes.
The antisunscreen movement has taken off, with the hashtag #NoSunscreen clocking 11 million views and counting—not to mention a 2024 survey found 1 in 7 adults under the age of 35 believe daily sunscreen use is more harmful than direct sun exposure.
The bus stops here. The Wake County Public School System is set to reduce bus service at 20 schools as the school district struggles to recruit enough bus drivers.
WHAT’S NOT
In other WCPSS news, the Wake County Board of Education approved a 25-cent price increase for school breakfast and lunch for the 2026–27 school year, marking the fifth consecutive price hike.
The former Tucker Street Diner space is transforming into an all-day bakery and cafe.
Local favorite Iris Coffee Lab is brewing up something sweet. Set to take over the former Tucker Street Diner space in Smoky Hollow hopefully by October is the coffee shop’s new sister concept Madeleine, a bakery-meets-cafe bringing best-in-class coffee, cold-fermented bread and pastries to the neighborhood.
Iris co-owners Bryan and Reghan Haven are actually no strangers to the space. They came “dangerously close” to occupying it back in 2024, says Bryan, but were unable to make it happen at that time. “Something in me was saying your story with Smoky Hollow is not over,” he recalls. Two years later, that intuition proved right.
Though located only a three-minute walk away from Iris, Madeleine will boast three times the square footage, with a full kitchen that will allow them to curate a fuller all-day menu—while slowing things down and focusing in on the marriage of world-class coffee and world-class bread in an intimate, beautiful environment.
“I’m really excited for Raleigh to see three times the vision of what we think the city deserves—and to build something three times as special,” emphasizes Bryan. “As natives, we both care so much about this city. Madeleine is kind of our love letter to Raleigh.”
The name also serves as a love letter to Reghan. A storybook romance, the pair met when they were kids, and Bryan called her Madeleine after the James Bond films he used to love watching with his dad. Their feelings for each other never let up, and the childhood romance eventually blossomed into marriage.
“That Smoky Hollow space deserves a lot of life and love and could be so magical, it only made sense to do this in honor of her,” gushes Bryan. “Madeleine is the ultimate expression of my love toward her and her love toward others—and our love for Raleigh as a whole.”
While Iris will continue serving its beloved coffee, matcha and bagels, Madeleine will, naturally, be very bread and pastry heavy—with local baker Aliesha Genevieve of Genevieve Pastry at the helm. The trio have been friends for a long time, collaborating on various occasions, before the partnership was secured last year.
In preparation for her role at Madeleine, Genevieve will be staging at Brooklyn bakery L’Appartement 4F, which went viral for its croissant cereal a few years ago. “They were so excited about helping us build this and hosting Aliesha, and we’re really excited for her to bring a lot of their influence to Raleigh,” says Ryan.
In addition to a full bread and pastry program—with a core focus on Nordic-style bread and laminated pastries—the Madeleine menu will feature brunch-adjacent items, tartines, protein-heavy lunch selects, what they hope will be the “truly remarkable breakfast burrito Raleigh has a deep hunger for,” and perhaps one or two bagels carried over from Iris.
But rest assured the Madeleine experience doesn’t begin and end with ordering at the counter. The duo has designed a 40-foot-long bar that will allow guests to engage with staff throughout every step of the drink-making process, opening up the opportunity for a thoughtful education lesson.
“We really love interacting with our community,” says Reghan. “But a lot of the time it’s hard when that interaction stops at the register. We’re selfishly excited to see how we can continue good conversation past that point with this really long, linear bar.”
Other changes being made to the space include replacing all the windows with ones that will allow the aromas of fresh bread and coffee to flow through Smoky Hollow, adding outdoor seating, and just a general aesthetic facelift with soft, natural woods and lighting.
As Bryan describes it, if Iris is reminiscent of Brooklyn, Madeleine is more Uptown/Soho—both serving adjacent offerings slightly tailored to each surrounding demographic. “We dream about it like Monday through Thursday you’re at Iris, and Friday through Sunday you’re at Madeleine with your family enjoying pastries and maybe more of an encompassing food menu.”
Brewing Up Buzz Ahead of Madeleine’s opening, Bryan and Reghan will host a mini cafe residency outside the Smoky Hollow space—likely beginning in late August—where Raleighites will be able to preview the different styles of coffee and matcha they’ll be serving. Genevieve will also be popping up to showcase some of her pastries. “She’s a once-in-a-generation talent,” beams Bryan. “We’re really excited for Raleigh to see her creativity unleashed.”
