Reasons to Love the Triangle

Because The Legendary Can Opener Bridge Begat a Food Truck Park

Durham’s low-riding Norfolk Southern–Gregson bridge, which has claimed the tops of many a tall truck, has a Wikipedia page and YouTube compilation; soon, it will also have a nearby food truck park—the Can Opener, a permanent station for five food trucks, plus a bar located inside the old American Postal Workers Union building—named after it. 

Because Carlos Miguel Prieto Is Ushering In a New Era of World-Class Music

Because More of the Eno River Is Preserved and Accessible to Wander 

Nature lovers, rejoice: In early April, the Eno River Association opened the Panther Branch Natural Area to the public. Located in Efland, as the INDY reported, the park includes “over two miles of walking trails through 56 acres of forest, with opportunities for hiking, fishing, and picnicking. The park is open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week, and has on-site gravel parking.” Lace up your hiking boots and get to it. 

Because Now You Can Access Academic-Level Classes without a Degree—and with a Twist of Lime

Like the enduring green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock in The Great Gatsby, a colorful neon sign on a Mangum Street storefront has been drawing in passersby. But if that fictional light symbolized the allure of wealth and excess, Durham’s Night School Bar’s signage represents something very different: equity in education and the chance to learn about all the, er, poisonous pitfalls of the American dream.

Founded by Arcana’s Lindsey Andrews and opened this past fall, Night School Bar is a collective of instructors “offering evening classes in the arts and humanities to curious adults” on a sliding scale. Initially started during the pandemic as an online school, the school’s brick-and-mortar at 719 Mangum is now a friendly neighborhood bar with space for classes (a selection from this winter’s offerings: Writing for the Revolution, Black Feminist Paths to Freedom, and Mutual Aid as Social Transformation). This access to thoughtful pedagogy—alongside thoughtful cocktails, should you just want to drop by for a Night School nightcap—feels like the very best that the Triangle has to offer. 

Because Hopscotch Is Back, and So Are the Small Clubs 

Festivals haven’t had it easy the past few years, and Hopscotch has taken some hits. But this year—the three-day festival’s 13th—Hopscotch was back in full swing with a slate of ticketed small-club shows, “programming eight indoor rooms a night to compliment its two outdoor main stages.” Pavement (the festival’s “biggest get ever,” director Nathan Price told us) headlined, the introduction of comedy sets kept things interesting, there was a dash of rain, there was dancing amid a downtown sea of Blundstones and crop tops—and we feel more thankful than ever that Hopscotch has weathered the hard times. Next year, the festival returns September 5-7. Early bird tickets are already on sale. 

Because the Rialto Is Back, Too

I screen, you screen, we all screen: in one of the most heartwarming local arcs of the year, downtown Raleigh’s 90-year-old Rialto Theater—the oldest in the city—reopened to the public. “The theater survived the pandemic, somehow, but closed in August 2022 when longtime manager Bill Peebles retired,” reporter Jasmine Gallup wrote in October. “The theater’s future was uncertain until it was bought by SportsChannel8 reporter Hayes Permar and a group of Raleigh investors earlier this year.” As streaming services slowly drain theaters of business—in Durham, two AMC theaters have closed in just the past few months—the endurance of a cozy local theater is something to celebrate. Here’s to more movies and popcorn in 2024. 

… and Because Full Frame Is Also Back 

This one comes with a caveat, because—as reported in depth by our partners at The Assembly—Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies has had an institutionally dubious few years, with its staff and programming shrinking dramatically and the in-person film festival put on indefinite hiatus. But as we ride the optimistic coattails of other resurrections (see: the Rialto, Nanas), we are thrilled that the beloved documentary festival will be back in action, this April 4-7, and hope that it has many years of movie magic to come. “I am proud of the documentaries Full Frame has screened online in recent years,” longtime director Sadie Tillery told the INDY, “but nothing compares to seeing a film illuminate the darkness of a crowded movie theater.” We agree. 

Because Restaurants Persist and Continue to Reinvent

We don’t want to sugarcoat things: as it has been the last few years, the restaurant industry is a difficult one, perennially functioning on the margins, and several beloved Triangle mainstays have had to close their doors. But in a list of reasons to love our region, we also celebrate the new beginnings around us.

In Raleigh, Humble Pie has closed, but pasta restaurant Figulina will open in the space soon in a way that feels all in the family (the restaurant is helmed by David Ellis, who has worked with Ashley Christensen, who got her start at Humble Pie), just as it feels appropriate that Cheetie Kumar gets to slow down with the closure of downtown Raleigh’s Garland as she embarks on a new chapter with the sweet, scaled-down Five Points spot Ajja. And in Durham, though we were very sad to see downtown diner Jack Tar close, we are happy that the corner is staying lively with the second location of Preeti Waas’s Cheeni, which opened this fall. For more in this vein, you might revisit Lena Geller’s feature from early last year on the opening of the Isaac’s Bagels brick-and-mortar—a venture with more than one kind of full circle. 

And Because Nana’s Is Reborn as Nanas 

Opened in 1992 by Scott Howell and closed in 2018 (and then reopened in 2019 and closed again in 2020), chef Matt Kelly (Mothers & Sons, Mateo) has reopened the beloved Rockwood restaurant, dropping the apostrophe but retaining the matriarchal tribute as moniker, alongside its identity as a classy neighborhood joint. The plaid carpets! The jewel tones! The risotto! As 2022 drew to a close, last year, Lena Geller previewed the reopening, describing Nana(’)s as “a lavish eatery with the soul of a dive bar.” This year, that vision came to life when the restaurant opened back up on December 12. 

Because the ArtsCenter Finally Has a Beautiful New Home 

At the end of this summer, the ArtsCenter in Carrboro broke ground on its spacious, sunny new home, just one block off the intersection of Main and Weaver Streets. The $4 million, 17,000-square-foot digs will play host to the ArtsCenter’s more than 260 arts camps and 294 courses. “We serve as an economic force for change and transformation,” director Jenny Schultz-Thomas says, “and our number one goal is that arts are accessible to everyone.”

Because Cicely Mitchell Is Elevating the Jazz Scene

It’s not easy sustaining a jazz venue these days—an INDY feature from earlier this year reflected on the difficult years that jazz dynamo Carol Sloane spent in the Triangle, as clubs waned—and 2022 saw the closure of Raleigh’s beloved C. Grace. But we’re thrilled about the possibilities that the impressive Missy Lane’s Assembly Room, located off Main Street in downtown Durham and opened last month, can bring to the Triangle scene. “I think one thing that was missing [up until now] was a place that truly carries Black American music and Black culture in an authentic way,” says founder Cicely Mitchell (formerly of the Art of Cool). “The top venues in the area have been known to champion punk or indie rock. This is a space where jazz, funk, and R&B music is going to be booked regularly.”

Comment on this story at [email protected].

Support independent local journalism. 

Join the INDY Press Club to help us keep fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle.