Time-Out Restaurant to open new location near N.C. State

In Chapel Hill, biscuits and fried chicken under heat lamps can only mean one thing.

But in about a month, N.C. State University students will also be greeted by photos of famous hands forming the familiar “T” when a new Time-Out Restaurant opens in Raleigh.

The 24/7 restaurant, known for its long lines of students hunting for comfort food to soak up the night’s adventures, has been a fixture on Franklin Street for 32 years.

If all goes well, owner Eddie Williams will expand to other college towns.

“My concept is college students in big universities,” he said.

Williams said people had been asking him to expand due to the restaurant’s success. He said the new location will be right in front of Granville Towers’ sister dormitory, University Towers, at N.C. State.

“We feel right at home,” he said.

Despite the universities’ rivalry, Williams said Chapel Hill will always be the restaurant’s flagship and hopes UNC students will be excited to have a Time-Out in the towns they visit.

“I grew up in Chapel Hill; me and my wife are Carolina graduates,” Williams said. “We’ve never left.”

The new restaurant has been in development since Jan. 1 and will open at 3001 Hillsborough St. It will serve the same menu and be about the same size as the one in Chapel Hill.

UNC junior Caitlin Styres said she started to go to Time-Out as a student at Chapel Hill High School.

“Many of the friends I went with are now at State, so I think it’ll be pretty successful,” she said.

Styres said she usually goes to the restaurant for biscuits and ice cream sandwiches after late-night parties.

“When it’s all closed and it’s 4 a.m., that’s when you go to Time -Out,” she said.

Williams said the restaurant’s consistency and longevity has made it known to the community.

He thanked Chapel Hill for part of his success, for its hometown feel yet vibrant energy.

“I love serving college students,” he said. “They keep me young.”

Leo Verceles-Zara, a sophomore at N.C. State, said he was excited about having a Time-Out near the campus.

“Whenever I’ve been there it’s usually full,” he said. “The food is really good.”

What does he usually get at the restaurant?

“Chicken biscuit, hands down, and a large, large Coke,” he said.

The cafeteria-style restaurant is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“If you’re inhibited verbally, you can just point at what you want,” said Devin O’Malley, a junior at UNC.

The N.C. State restaurant will be decked out in red, to rival the Franklin Street location’s blue. But as far as whose food will taste sweeter, O’Malley is not worried.

“Opening a new restaurant at State won’t affect the one at UNC,” he said. “Our Time-Out will always be better.”



Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.