Cary’s Lloyd’s Full Service set to open in restored 1950s station

Lloyd’s Full Service is set to open in August inside a restored 1951 service station at 107 E. Chatham Street in downtown Cary, bringing new life to a corner that once housed Gurken’s Downtown Auto Repair until 2021. The project, led by Early Bird Night Owl, the hospitality group behind The Durham and The Mayton, has been under renovation for nearly two years, and CEO Craig Spitzer has called it a “beacon” for downtown Cary.

Chef Dennis Bernard is building the menu around familiar, approachable dishes, including linguine with clams, an all-day breakfast plate, fried fish and a hot dog that pays tribute to the now-closed Ashworth Drugs. The space is planned for 75 seats inside and as many as 100 more on a covered patio, with a retrofitted van outside that will serve food and drinks. That mix positions Lloyd’s as more of a sit-down destination than a quick stop, aimed at the steady dinner crowd that has helped downtown Cary become one of the Triangle’s most active dining districts.

The same Wake County growth pattern showed up in Apex, where Groovy Duck Bakery opened its second location on July 9 at 101 N. Salem Street, at the corner of North Salem and East Chatham streets. Owners JP Rivera and Laura Zabala, who first opened Groovy Duck in Raleigh in 2012, drew a long line during opening week. The bakery is best known for muffins, but it also makes cakes, cookies, cupcakes, bars, pies and pastries in small batches throughout the day, giving downtown Apex a new morning and daytime option that fits the tighter scale of Main Street business.

Raleigh added a different kind of draw at City Market, where Kokoro Ramen & Izakaya opened in the former Royale space at 200 E. Martin Street, near Blount Street and Moore Square. The concept is tied to the team behind Neko Thai & Sushi in Southern Pines and focuses on ramen and izakaya dishes, extending the Japanese footprint in a part of downtown where smaller-format restaurants can still win on convenience and repeat traffic. In the Wake Forest Road corridor, Michael Longo’s Mikey’s Pizza planned a July 11 grand opening in the former Pizza & Pints space next to Chido Taco and near Mami Nora’s, with a family-friendly build-your-own-pizza model.

North Hills also stayed in the mix, with South Block preparing to open in the Main District. Taken together, the openings point to the same Wake County pattern: older buildings are being recycled, neighborhood centers are still pulling in new concepts, and Cary, Apex, City Market, Wake Forest Road and North Hills remain the places where restaurant money is most visibly moving right now.