Upscale diner Prospects opens up in Glenwood South, promising late-night eats
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The bar at Prospects, a new upscale diner in Glenwood South. Photo: Zachery Eanes/Axios
Packed inside a shoebox-sized space in the Glenwood South neighborhood, with diners cozied up at the bar or huddled at tables for two, Raleigh's newest restaurant is serving up some of the city's most exciting dishes at the moment.
Driving the news: Prospects, which opened in the final days of 2023, has transformed the former Rainbow Luncheonette space — the rainbow floor remains — into an upscale diner, where the best seat in the house is at the bar peering into the kitchen.
- On a recent evening, with jazz and funk playing loudly over the sound system, the kitchen and bar staff kept up just as loud of an exchange between themselves and the dozen or so diners at the counter.
Details: Prospects is the brainchild of chef Alex Ricci, a Raleigh native who has cooked in Las Vegas and Miami as well as Raleigh kitchens like Cucciolo Terrazza.
- And while the menu has the feel of a classic diner, it's a monthly rotation of some of Ricci's favorite dishes and creations.
- The January menu includes: pastrami short rib, a duck-breast noodle soup, a massive pork chop and Jamaican jerk lamb.
- After dinner, at roughly 11pm, Prospects begins its late-night menu, offering classic diner foods, like hamburgers or mac-and-cheese, until 3am. That service will start at a later date, Ricci said.
The former bar next door, the Pink Boot, is also being revamped by the restaurant into a new neighborhood watering hole called Deveraux, an homage to the former downtown Raleigh baseball stadium.
What they're saying: It's a bold move opening such a late night option, when the industry as a whole has been trending toward closing earlier and more often.
- But for Ricci, and his community in the food industry, it feels like filling a hole.
- "I was tired of my friends telling me they were waiting in the Cook Out line late at night, so I decided to do something about it," he said from behind the restaurant's counter.
Location: 911 N. West St., suite 105
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 6-10pm. Late night hours coming soon