Is Queen of Sheba Doomed? (Chapel Hill)

[klmonline]

Greenbridge Developments is building a mixed-use condo/shopping complex on the block bounded by Franklin, Rosemary, Merritt Mill, and Graham. (http://www.greenbridgedevelopments.co...).

Have any of you Chapelachians heard whether this will butt up against the back door of Queen of Sheba or consign it to the wrecking ball? I'm going to be sad if we lose this Ethiopian dining venue.

[klmonline]

Bumping this old thread for anybody who was previously subscribed. Queen of Sheba is reopening on November 1!

Here's the post with all the details: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5664...

Yay!

[Rory]

I missed that!! that's fantastic news and now I know where to celebrate my Nov. birthday. Oh joy, oh bliss divine. Ethiopian food. If the food is good it will replace my old lamented fave place Tallulah's

[LulusMom]

Used to be my favorite too, but boy, has it gone downhill. I never even think of going these days - it has probably been 5 months since we last went (and it was pretty bad that time).

[dfilpus]

Had lunch at the new Queen of Sheba today. I posted a mini-review in the other thread.

The new place is in a strip mall that doesn't have any of the atmosphere of the old place. The food is great.

[Rory]

Yeah, the food is totally wonderful. Many thanks to kimonline for the new location; you made my birthday!
I posted my review on the other thread but wanted to tell the Hounds here. LulusMom, you will love the food; they have plenty of veg & fish choices.
They just got their liquor license so they didn't have wine yet, just beer.
and the hot food is hot! I loved it, but there are plenty of mild amazingly seasoned dishes.

[LulusMom]

I'm really excited about this - and beer is just fine with good spicy food. I'm thinking I may take Lulu for lunch one day (always expanding her culinary horizens) when we get back from vacation. I'll go look for your review.

[klmonline]

Bumping this one back to the top. Did QoS ever start up again? (Man... Why am I so fixated on this?)

[peetoteeto]

Nope. She seems to be still searching for a space. I run into her name a lot in my own search for available property.

I really hope she lands somewhere soon. I'm fixated, too.

[LulusMom]

If any body out there hears that she's started up again, please post!

[Rory]

When I was in Frederick Maryland in April, I went [twice!]to an Ethiopian restaurant there, oh the food was fabulous.
I would run to one here

[klmonline]

Bump. Hey Peet or Stat... Any word on QoS getting established in one of the locations we were talking about?

[MeganKays]

Has anyone figured out where the new location of QoS is? I miss it, and need it back in my life!!!

[peetoteeto]

Get that injera while you can.

Queen of Sheba is closing at the end of the month. There's a fundraiser this Saturday to help the owner find a new place:

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/front/s...

[peetoteeto]

sorry to reply to my own post, but I wanted to correct something: Queen of Sheba's last today was today (Saturday the 26th). I spoke briefly with the owner -- she is looking into a new location and really wants to keep serving the community.

Wherever she ends up, we'll be there.

[Rory]

I just heard today from someone who spoke to her that it will be the new mall next to New Hope Common.
I'm kind of happy, Barnes & Noble for good browing & buying & then Ethiopian food to finish off a great day. Blissful.

[LulusMom]

And they *need* some good food up that way. Thanks for the info.

[bbqme]

What, you mean the Reb Robin doesn't do it for you?! ;-) Actually, I kinda like Jason's Deli for what it is.

[mikeh]

Does anyone know what's going to be in that structure going up just to the east of Red Robin? Right now the structure is all bare wood, but it looks like some chain of some sort...

[muttlover]

Wow, who'da thought QoS was all that?! Thank you for the responses - I'll make sure I hit it up for lunch sometime very soon while it's still in the Chapel Hill area. Thanks again.

[klow]

Apparently Greenbidge did make QoS a good offer, except that it would have required that she wait about 2 years for her new place to be built - not so realistic (which mean, I guess, not so good afterall). she has picked a spot on 15-501 in the Walmart/Red Robin area - I hate to see her move to the land of strip malls, but it will be convenient to both Chapel Hill and Durham. And I'm just glad to see that she's sticking around!

[statolith]

Oh god, that area is a nightmare to navigate. After once going there to ship something at that new FedEx/Kinko's, I spent 10 minutes just trying to get back to 15/501 and have sworn never to go back to that place (Indigo Corners). Hopefully her place is in a more accessible area, because I definitely want to go!

[statolith]

Ate at QoS last night, and asked when they'd be moving to Durham. She said that they had planned to move, but that the deal for the new place fell through. So now they are looking for a place again. She also said that they have only 4 weeks left at the current location, so better go there while you can! I put my email on a list she is keeping, to be notified when and where they move. She also mentioned that they will be having a party near the closing date, with bands and food and such.

[peetoteeto]

Muttlover...my two daughters swear by it. And they're 9 and 6. It's a great place: hospitable, fresh, and unique. We usually get one veggie and one seafood combo for the four of us, though as they grow up that's proving to be not quite enough.

Yep, it's a little run-down. But there's a treasure inside....at least that's what we believe!

[muttlover]

Can anyone tell me about Queen of Sheba's? I work just down the street from there, and I'm intrigued by its possibilities, but I've never seen anyone go in or out and it just looks run down and over. What are your thoughts?

[klow]

it is SOOO good - one of my favorite restaurants in this area. i eat meat, but i definitely prefer her veggie sampler. her coffee and sambussas are great too!

[klmonline]

I did a mini review of QoS and Abyssinia in this thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/340613

It will give you some small idea of my impressions.

[rossgrady]

AFAIK, she's moving toward Durham. Greenbridge is going to occupy most of that block, right up to the backs of the couple of small buildings behind Crooks. They originally made some noise about offering space to the existing businesses at favorable lease rates, but they apparently weren't favorable enough. I read somewhere (here? elsewhere on the internets?) that the owner had specifically said she was moving to somewhere along the 15/501 corridor, which might work out better for her in the long run anyway, as I've never seen QoS crammed with customers in its current location.