The ground-floor space beneath the AC Hotel Raleigh North Hills sits empty this month after CO, the Charleston-based pan-Asian restaurant that had operated there since 2018, quietly closed its doors. There was no farewell post, no press release — just an Instagram account updated to read “permanently closed” and a listing scrubbed from the restaurant’s own website.
The closure, which happened in June, ends nearly eight years of business for CO at 101 Park at North Hills Street, according to The News & Observer. The restaurant group made no formal statement explaining the decision, and both the CO and North Hills websites removed references to the Raleigh location. The Hoodline story announcing CO’s arrival in 2018 described a modern industrial interior and a pan-Asian menu that included gluten-free and vegan options — a far cry from the silent exit eight years later.
CO originally signed a lease for 3,680 square feet of ground-floor retail inside the AC Hotel building, according to Kane Realty Corporation, marking the company’s first restaurant in Raleigh. The name CO translates to “feast” in Vietnamese, reflecting a menu that leaned into banh mi, pho, ramen, dumplings and sushi alongside curry laksa, dumplings, fried rice and noodle bowls. Restaurant critic Greg Cox awarded CO three stars in a 2018 review and singled out the curry laksa’s spicy coconut broth, chicken and fresh herbs for praise, per the same account.
A Familiar Complex Undergoing Rapid Change
CO’s departure leaves a notable vacancy in a building that also houses Level7, a rooftop lounge overlooking North Hills, and sits next to Kings Bowl America, according to Raleigh Realty. Kane Realty Corporation, which owns North Hills, transformed the property from a failing 1960s enclosed mall into a 165-acre mixed-use district starting in the early 2000s, per Wake Forest Magazine…