Cafe Royale opens at The Exchange in Midtown Raleigh

Café Royale, a Paris-style café and bar from the owners of Capulet Cocktail Club, opened Monday, October 5, 2026, at The Exchange in Midtown Raleigh, according to The News & Observer. The café is at 1000 Social St., in the ground-floor space that WRK by The Optimist coffee shop used to fill, according to WhatNow and Axios Raleigh.

The Exchange is a $1 billion mixed-use development on St. Albans Drive, east of North Hills, Axios Raleigh reported in November 2024. The address is in the 27609 ZIP code. Triangle Food Blog listed Café Royale on October 9, 2026, among the week’s openings and described it as an all-day restaurant built around pastries, lattes, salads, wine, evening cocktails and charcuterie.

Who owns Café Royale

Patrick Shanahan and Robby Opperman own the café, according to The News & Observer. The two also run Capulet Cocktail Club next door and the Rosebud cocktail lounge in downtown Raleigh. Frederique Leonard is the general manager. Saif Rahman, the chef at Peregrine, helped guide the menu, the paper reported.

Axios describes Shanahan as an artist-turned-entrepreneur. He designed Peregrine, which he opened with Rahman as The Exchange’s flagship restaurant, and he runs Watts & Ward, a cocktail bar in downtown Raleigh, according to Axios. Rosebud opened in the downtown space that once held Fox Liquor Bar. With Café Royale, Shanahan has three businesses at The Exchange.

Shanahan told Raleigh Magazine in August that Peregrine, Capulet and Café Royale “work so well in tandem together.” Capulet is in Suite 110 at 1000 Social St. It opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, closes at midnight Tuesday through Thursday and at 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and is closed Sunday and Monday, according to the bar’s website. Capulet does not take reservations.

What is on the menu

The menu moves from coffee and pastries in the morning to Champagne and caviar at night, according to The News & Observer. Food items the paper listed include:

• A full espresso bar, plus hot chocolate served in its own mug.
• Croissants and macarons.
• Skewers of melon and cured duck.
• Onion soup and salads.
• A Croque Monsieur made with Comté and Gruyère cheeses and béchamel, then broiled and toasted, with an egg added to make it a Croque Madame.
• Caviar service, including blinis and caviar to share for $48.

Shanahan called the croques the star of the show, the paper reported. The drink list centers on Champagne, Cognac and gin. Drinks on the opening menu include:

• A Kir Royale made with crème de cassis, lemon and Champagne.
• An espresso martini.
• Champagne cocktails, gin cocktails and classic cocktails with French names.

Coffee and afternoon tea come from Illy, Raleigh Magazine reported in August. The magazine said the daytime menu would include quiches and that later in the day the focus would shift to gin, Champagne and low-alcohol wine.

Hours and the room

Café Royale is open from 7 a.m. to midnight, according to The News & Observer. When the café was announced in August, Axios reported it was designed to run from 8 a.m. to midnight.

Shanahan told the paper the look had to be “like Versailles, but like a modern punk Versailles.” The room has rosy pink walls, chinoiserie wallpaper, velvet and glossy red statuettes, one of them a Statue of Liberty, according to The News & Observer. Raleigh Magazine described Gucci pink-heron wallpaper, marble-topped bistro tables, rattan chairs and teal couches, with bright red umbrellas and awnings on the patio. A bright arch at The Exchange marks the spot, and the café shares an outdoor patio with Capulet.

From announcement to opening

The café was first announced for September:

• On August 14, 2026, Axios Raleigh and Raleigh Magazine reported the plans, with an opening set for as early as September.
• On September 11, 2026, WRAL listed Café Royale as opening that month.
• On October 5, 2026, the café opened its doors, according to The News & Observer.