Jibarra Restaurant to Open in Downtown Raleigh Depot

When it comes to upscale Mexican food in the Triangle, there are few restaurants that can compete with Jibarra in North Raleigh. Today, the owner Joel Ibarra announced that they will be packing up their suburban bags and relocating to Downtown Raleigh to occupy a space in the historic Depot building. Urbanites rejoice!

This is a great addition to the warehouse district and the Depot building in particular. The Depot has been mostly empty since November, after three bars opened and closed within months. With Ess Lounge, Humble Pie, Mosquito, White Collar Crime and The Pit all creating a vibrant night scene in the area, Jibarra will fit right in.

I have only eaten at Jibarra once and the food is excellent. The chef trained in Mexico City and brought a lot of recipes with him, including fabulous desserts (Falso Pastel de Vainilla con Sorbete!!!) and tapas. The tequila selection is one of the best in the Triangle. Options for Mexican are few in Downtown, and the only other upscale Mexican restaurant is Dos Taquitos Centro. Dos Taquitos has a bit more funky atmosphere and cuisine, while Jibarra aims to be stylish in a sleek and minimal way. Dos Taquitos Centro does have affordable lunch, let’s hope Jibarra follows suit, although it does follow a pattern of upscale restaurants opening or relocating in downtown, including The Mint,Sono and Fins.

Jibarra will employ New City Design to construct their new space. The main problem with the North Raleigh space (other than its location) was the interior. It seemed quickly constructed and money was spent on high-end materials in a few areas, rather than the creating a well organized space. Hopefully, New City will do a better job with the Depot building, a perfect canvas to work with to create an upscale environment. Two spaces will remain in the Depot, I wonder what will be the next tenant to realize the potential of this location?

With the Raleigh Convention Center opening in September, Jibarra will add another restaurant in walking distance for visitors, as well as locals. Jibarra’s last day in service at the North Raleigh location will be August 3rd and the Depot location is expected to open early Fall 2008.

Jibarra Menu

Write Your Own Review of Jibarra HERE

brian_M07/05 12:44 PM

Amazing news. NOW there’s going to be something in that building that I will go out of my way to get to.

Lisa Jeffries07/05 02:10 PM

Good! I always wanted to give it a shot, but I’m only in that part of town when we’re heading out to Falls Lake with the boat in tow. Now, we’ll have no excuse not to try this restaurant!

viridari07/05 03:28 PM

The location is a little bit off in the corner so to speak but not a long walk from everything else. As long as they continue to do a good job of getting word out about their location, I think they could do fine.

I’ve not eaten at their old location before; do they serve any dishes with goat meat? I love goat meat and for some reason the Mexican restaurants in this area seem to avoid making good use of it.

Jedidiah07/05 05:26 PM

One of their specialty dishes called Cabrito is actually “young roasted goat on the bone” and they stated that it will remain on the menu.

viridari07/05 06:27 PM

Most excellent. I’m looking forward to checking them out at the new location.

Rob07/07 01:54 PM

It’s an amazing restaurant, and the downtown location is better for me. Truly interesting food at this place.

Horatio07/08 12:40 PM

I think it is an excellent addition to the warehouse district. It’s a place where people in their 40’s and up will not feel out of place as is a tendency for some of the other places in the district that cater to the 20/30 year old crowd.

Katherine07/11 01:42 PM

I am very excited about Jibarra coming downtown. We ate dinner there in may and had a fantastic experience. My fiancee actually had the goat and he loved it. My mango mojito was one of the best mixed drinks i have ever had and we loved the ceviche. A cute note about Jibarra, we were there on Cinco de Mayo and as a special they were serving a flight of three different maragaritas (in the colors of the Mexican flag)well my brother’s girlfriend and my fiancee both ordered the flight thinking they would be small samples....OH NO....they were basically three full size drinks....woo hoo! DRINK UP!

Welcome to New Raleigh. We welcome your participation in the ongoing discussion. If you are new we invite you to register with our site. With registration you can upload a picture, message other users, and comment more easily. If you want to keep up with the site, subscribe to our RSS feed or get emailed every time we post.

Jedidiah Saturday, July 05, 2008