Cooper’s Hawk, Sam Jones BBQ and more set Triangle opening dates

Sam Jones BBQ plans to open a new location, Sam Jones BBQ Pit Stop, inside Morgan Street Food Hall at 411 W. Morgan St. in downtown Raleigh on November 1, 2026, according to the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association’s September 22, 2026 Restaurant Activity Report. The association’s September 29, 2026 report lists November 9, 2026 for Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant at Parkside Town Commons in Cary.

The two NCRLA reports put dates on restaurant, bar and bottle shop projects in Raleigh, Cary, Garner, Morrisville and the Holly Springs area, running from October 20, 2026 to February 15, 2027. None of the businesses has opened.

Six downtown Raleigh openings with dates

The Pit Stop will serve “traditional North Carolina-style whole-hog barbecue cooked over wood,” according to the September 22 report, which lists Sam Jones as co-owner and pitmaster. The report’s text describes a late 2026 opening, while its date field reads November 1, 2026. WRAL reported on September 11, 2026 that the Pit Stop is aiming to open by the end of the year and will be less than a mile from the original Raleigh restaurant.

According to the company’s website, Sam Jones BBQ has two restaurants now, at 502 W. Lenoir St. in Raleigh and at 715 W. Fire Tower Road in Winterville.

The September 22 report also lists these downtown projects:

• Low Bar Lounge is set for November 15, 2026 in the downstairs space beneath Whiskey Kitchen at 201 W. Martin St., and the report lists Michael Thor as owner.
• Pizzeria di Territorio is set for February 15, 2027 at 301 W. Cabarrus St., Suite 200, with Neapolitan pizza from a 900-degree Italian brick oven, fresh pasta and house-made desserts.
• Stoccaggio, an Italian-inspired speakeasy inside the same development, carries the same date and will seat about 25 to 30 guests, according to the report.

The report says the Whiskey Kitchen team is bringing back the space under the restaurant. WRAL’s September 11 column said Low Bar Lounge would open soon.

Brian Wojick owns both Cabarrus Street concepts, according to the report, whose text gives the timing as the first quarter of 2027. WRAL reported on September 4, 2026 that the speakeasy entrance runs down the restaurant’s hallway and through a storage closet. WRAL gave no opening date.

Two more downtown openings are in the September 29 report:

• Pikasso Swig Craft Bar is set for November 1, 2026 at 400 Fayetteville St., with more than 50 self-guided craft projects plus appetizers, wine, craft beer and local desserts, according to the report.
• The Common Market is set for December 15, 2026 at 807 Halifax St. in the Seaboard Station development, in a 4,700-square-foot space with a large outdoor patio.

Pikasso Swig’s website places the Raleigh bar in The Sir Walter Hotel and says it is coming in fall 2026. The company’s existing craft bar is in Charlottesville, Va., according to its website.

The report calls the Raleigh shop a “neighborhood market, deli, bar, and bottle shop” with prepared food, sandwiches and retail goods, and says it will be the company’s second Triangle store after Durham. The Common Market’s website lists stores in Charlotte and Durham and shows the Halifax Street address as opening in 2026.

Cooper’s Hawk in Cary

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant lists 1131 Parkside Main St. in Cary as coming soon with a November 9 opening, according to the company’s website, which also says the restaurant is hiring. The September 29 report places the 11,100-square-foot restaurant in Parkside Town Commons and says it will have a full-service dining room, a bar, a Napa-style tasting room, a retail wine shop and private-event space.

The company’s website lists one other North Carolina restaurant, at Friendly Center in Greensboro, which is open. No other Triangle location appears on the list, so the Cary restaurant would be the chain’s first in the Triangle.

Elsewhere in Wake County: Hillsborough Street, Garner, Morrisville and Holly Springs

Cup A Joe, the coffee shop on Hillsborough Street near N.C. State, is moving its shop and roasting operation from 3100 Hillsborough St. to a 4,942-square-foot former restaurant at 3625 Hillsborough St. on November 1, 2026, according to the NCRLA report. The company’s website does not mention the move. It lists the current shop at 3100 Hillsborough St. and a second Cup A Joe at Mission Valley Shopping Center that reopened on August 11, 2025.

Three more openings are dated outside Raleigh:

• Zona Sport Bar and Grill is set for November 15, 2026 at 1514 U.S. Highway 70 West in Garner, in a 5,369-square-foot space formerly operated by Ragazzi’s Italian Restaurant, according to the NCRLA report, which names Alvaro Torres as owner.
• Abbey Road Tavern & Grill is set for December 1, 2026 at 1101 Market Center Drive in Park West Village in Morrisville, in the former Ruckus Pizza, Pasta & Spirits space, according to the September 29 report.
• Libations Bottle & Bev Co. is set for October 20, 2026 at 3101 McChesney Hill Loop in Peterson Station, near the Holly Springs and Apex line, according to the September 22 report.

The Morrisville restaurant will be the third Abbey Road Tavern & Grill, joining locations in Cary and Apex, Triangle Food Blog reported on September 25, 2026. The same post said Sunday, September 27 would be the last day at the Ruckus location there. The report names Mike Montgomery as owner.

Libations will have 19 rotating craft beer taps, one line for Prosecco, a 10-seat bar and an outdoor patio, according to its website, which says it is coming in October and gives an Apex mailing address. The NCRLA report and WRAL’s September 11 column place it in Holly Springs.