North Carolina is getting a taste of the Lone Star State. Texas-based Buc-ee’s, already building one store in the state, is now eyeing a second location along Interstate 95.
The travel center could join Texas-inspired restaurants setting up shop in the Raleigh area. From a barbecue joint to a beloved burger chain, here are openings The News & Observer has covered this year:
- Buc-ee’s could build a second North Carolina travel center near I-95 and Halifax Road in Rocky Mount. Its first NC location is already under construction off I-85/40 in Alamance County, and there’s no official opening date.
- East of Texas, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant from owner Claire Calvin, opened at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus. The restaurant serves brisket, burnt ends, pork belly and housemade sausage. It’s an expansion of a Winston-Salem spot that opened in 2023.
- Shipley Donuts, founded in Houston in 1936, plans to open two Raleigh shops over the next two years, with the first expected in 2027. The chain is known for handcrafted doughnuts and savory kolaches stuffed with fillings like sausage and jalapeños.
- Whataburger opened its first Triangle locations: in Wake Forest at 489 Calvin Jones Highway and in Raleigh at 501 E. Six Forks Road. The Texas burger brand has about a dozen restaurants statewide.
- All four North Carolina barbecue joints that made it onto a nationwide best-of list from Yelp had ties to Texas. The top-ranking restaurants were: The Smoke Pit in Concord, Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland, Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, and Haywood Smokehouse in Dillsboro.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.
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