New bakery, restaurant and coffee shop set to open in Raleigh

Raleigh’s food map is getting a three-way push in very different corners of Wake County: a dessert-driven bakery-cafe on Falls of Neuse Road, a larger Standard Beer + Food outpost in North Hills and a downtown coffee shop taking the leap from counter service to its own storefront on East Hargett Street.

Lina’s Bakery & Café is slated for August and is tied to Carlos Lemus Sr. and Carlos Lemus Jr., the family behind LaGana’s Cake Jefe. The new name honors family members both named Lina, and the concept is meant to broaden the dessert case beyond the cake-focused business that made the Lemus family known. That makes Lina’s more than a simple rebrand. It is a family expansion built to give the operation room for more creative offerings while keeping the signature cakes that already have a following.

The biggest footprint change is coming in North Hills, where Standard Beer + Food is preparing a second location in the North Hills Innovation District for July. Kane Realty says the restaurant will occupy one of two standalone food-and-beverage buildings in the district, with about 5,600 square feet indoors and more than 15,000 square feet outside. Kane Realty also says the outdoor area will be the largest of any North Hills space so far, a sign that the project is leaning hard into patio dining and gathering space in one of Raleigh’s most visible commercial centers.

That scale matters in North Hills, where office workers, shoppers and nearby residents already drive steady traffic through a district designed around walking and outdoor use. Standard’s menu is built for repeat visits, with handhelds, salads, oysters, a raw bar, larger plates and weekly specials. In a part of Raleigh that keeps adding housing, retail and office space, the restaurant is betting that a big patio and a broad menu can win both lunch and evening crowds.

Downtown, The Left Hook Coffee Shop is taking a different route. The business currently operates at 426 Hill St. and is planning an independent storefront at 912 E. Hargett St. The new space has been framed as a circus-themed grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 1, with local vendors, music, food, screen printing, wrestling and other activities built into the event. The move marks a step up from the original coffee counter inside Gussie’s and gives the shop a more permanent place in Raleigh’s downtown corridor.

Taken together, the openings show Raleigh operators making three distinct bets: family branding and dessert variety on Falls of Neuse Road, destination dining and outdoor volume in North Hills, and a high-energy downtown concept on East Hargett Street.