Car crashes into Bittersweet patio in downtown Raleigh hit-and-run

Caution tape still marked the patio outside Bittersweet on Friday morning after a car crashed into the downtown Raleigh dessert and cocktail lounge overnight, turning a quiet stretch of East Martin Street into a hit-and-run scene.

Raleigh police said officers were called to a reported hit-and-run near Fayetteville Street, around the corner from the restaurant, after a driver struck the business sometime around 1:50 a.m. The driver left before police arrived. No one was injured, a relief for the owners, who said off camera they were glad nobody was sitting outside at the time.

The crash came uncomfortably close to propane tanks outside the business, a detail that underscored how much worse the outcome could have been if the patio had been occupied or the impact had landed differently. Visible damage remained in the outdoor seating area as cleanup began Friday morning.

Bittersweet is at 16 E. Martin Street in the heart of downtown Raleigh, where its website describes the spot as a dessert, coffee and cocktail lounge. The menu lists Friday hours until midnight, with guests 21 and up after 8 p.m., making the overnight timing especially relevant for a business built around late-evening traffic and a walk-up patio scene.

The damage is more than cosmetic for a place that depends on foot traffic and outdoor seating. Visit Raleigh describes Bittersweet as having a brand-new outdoor patio, part of the downtown dining mix that includes more than 150 restaurants. For a small, hospitality-driven business, a crash like this can mean repair costs, disrupted service and a fresh worry about how protected outdoor diners really are in one of Raleigh’s busiest corridors.

The incident also puts a spotlight on street safety around Fayetteville Street and East Martin Street. Visit Raleigh notes that Fayetteville Street was restored as a drivable main street in 2006, a change that helped cement the area as a central business district with heavy activity day and night. The City of Raleigh says private outdoor seating in downtown must meet design standards and guidelines, and the Raleigh Police Department says its TRACE Unit is meant to keep a visible presence downtown and respond quickly. With a hit-and-run now under investigation, those safeguards are likely to draw sharper scrutiny from nearby businesses and customers alike.