Wednesday night marked the grand opening of Rockwood Filling Station, Scott Howell's new wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria in Rockwood, next to his Q-Shack and Nana's ventures.
We here at BCR had suspected an opening might be in the offing, having seen a gentleman in a Rockwood Filling Station t-shirt hurrying into a Brightleaf Square business recently (the t-shirt back reads, "Come Get Your Wood On"), and indeed, the new eatery opened up Wednesday -- to no less than a packed house.
Impressive, particularly for what appears to have been a quietly-announced or unannounced launch. Driving by at 6pm, there were a few cars in the lot -- by 8pm, the house was full.
And despite the expected first-night jitters, the pizzas are really terrific. The restaurant adds another local eatery with character to the quickly-improving Rockwood district, adding life to the intersection of University and 15-501 Business.
Inside and outside dining are available, with roll-up glass garage doors (a la Alivia's Durham Bistro) providing both the opportunity for outside exposure in good weather and a fitting tribute to the old gas station that once existed on the site. (Joe's got more history on the place at his food blog.)
Pizzas naturally predominate the menu, with Italian-themed sandwiches, appetizers and salads rounding out the options. Wine by the bottle and glass are also available, as are what looked to be a decent selection of craft beers.
Really excited about this place! You wrote, "Wine by the bottle and glass are also available, as are what looked to be a decent selection of craft beers." Last night, they still had not secured a liquor license but were permitting BYO alcoholic beverages. I'm sure they'll have that license soon, though.
Posted by: marko | July 17, 2008 at 08:38 AM
As a Kiwi, I love the BYO concept (many NZ restaurants operate this way), even if it's short term - and with Wine Authorities right across the road, what better combo!
Posted by: Kristen | July 17, 2008 at 08:47 AM
They are not open for lunch until next week. They are doing dinner each night this week though.
Posted by: Adam | July 17, 2008 at 01:22 PM
What's the price range of this place?
Posted by: Allen | July 17, 2008 at 06:43 PM
Looks like I now have my answer to the weekly Friday question I get from my wife: "What do you want to do for dinner tonight?" :)
Posted by: Gary Miller | July 17, 2008 at 09:37 PM
Cool! I'm old enough to remember the OLD Rockwood Filling Station (next door to this one.) Happy to see the name in use again...
Posted by: Evan | July 17, 2008 at 11:05 PM
This is really turning into a restaurant district. I would love to see this kind of development move up Chapel Hill Blvd, connecting Rockwood and Foster's with walkable landscaping. There's even an old movie theater sitting there waiting to be part of the entertainment package.
Posted by: Valerie | July 18, 2008 at 06:39 AM
My mom, wife, and kids hit it up last night. When my three year old needed a booster seat, they ran across the street to Nana's to get one. They went out of their way to make sure the kids were comfortable. And the food was great of course.
Posted by: Victor | July 18, 2008 at 08:22 AM
Where's the old movie theatre? Or am I blithely driving past it?
Posted by: Kristen | July 18, 2008 at 08:47 AM
The old brick building on the north side of the street used to be a dollar theater when i first moved to Durham in 93. For a while it was a church, now it's for lease.
In this shot, i believe it's the building just to the right of Midvale Rd.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=35.974581,-78.927552&spn=0.007354,0.010064&t=h&z=17
Posted by: barry | July 18, 2008 at 09:26 AM
It was called Yorktowne Theater, to the best of my knowledge. The apartment complex to the rear is still called Yorktowne Apartments.
Myers
Posted by: Myers Sugg | July 18, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Fabulous!! Hate that I missed opening night, but can't wait to check it out!!
Posted by: Johanna Kramer | July 18, 2008 at 04:00 PM
My husband and I ate there on Friday night. We really enjoyed our meal. Both of us started with the ceasar salad which had real anchovies in the dressing. My husband made his own pizza with roasted eggplant and sausage on it while I got the 4-cheese pizza (can't remember the fancy name) with added garlic and a broccoli-like-vegetable puree. We also tried the homemade ice cream- Bailey's coffee crunch and white chocolate-keylime ice cream. Both were very good. I really loved the texture and flavor of the white chocolate and keylime ice cream. We had sodas to drink and our meal was under $40 for all that. I look forward to the beer selection and sitting outside on my next visit. We've posted some photos online: http://flickr.com/photos/luxnorth/sets/72157606060064290/
Posted by: lgg baxter | July 19, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Walked in and walked out. It's a damn shame for a restaurant to have televisions (two). I wanted to converse with the person I was with, not be distracted by a giant flat screen TV. Lose the TVs.
Posted by: C | July 23, 2008 at 08:25 AM
i really enjoyed having the tv's there. if you dont want to watch them then you can go outside. and when the weather gets cooler those garage doors will come up creating a wonderful setting.
Posted by: speedy | July 24, 2008 at 09:39 AM
i really enjoyed having the tv's there. if you dont want to watch them then you can go outside. and when the weather gets cooler those garage doors will come up creating a wonderful setting.
Posted by: speedy | July 24, 2008 at 09:39 AM