Flavor Hills, the veteran-owned Southern restaurant that built a following in downtown Raleigh and later expanded into Durham, has shut down both brick-and-mortar locations effective immediately. The closures end a run that saw the brand grow from a single storefront in Jacksonville, North Carolina into a regional presence known for modern soul food, community events, and support for local artists.
According to ABC11, Flavor Hills announced the official closure of all its restaurant operations, thanking former employees, customers and supporters in statements posted to Facebook and Instagram. The station reports that Downtown Raleigh acknowledged the closure in its own Instagram statement, praising the restaurant's food, culture and community impact, and said it plans to continue supporting the Flavor Hills owners going forward.
Flavor Hills was co-founded by Marine Corps veterans Eric L. Johnson II, Andre Truss and Tellers Pollard III alongside Founder and Executive Chef Morgan Teianne, according to the RISE Urban Nation Podcast. Teianne directed culinary operations while Johnson served as Chief Marketing Officer, the podcast reports. Over the years, the restaurant employed hundreds of Black and brown men and women and served thousands of guests, per ABC11's reporting.
From Jacksonville Roots to a Triangle Expansion
The brand first launched as a veteran-owned Southern restaurant in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and briefly ran an oceanfront outpost in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, before its original Jacksonville storefront closed and was re-leased by May, according to Discover Durham. Customer travel from Jacksonville to Raleigh is what originally drove the brand's push into the Triangle, the outlet notes.
That expansion led to the January 4, 2024, opening of the Raleigh location at 319 Fayetteville Street, Suite 105, in a storefront previously occupied by The Flying Mayan, which had moved to Morrisville in 2021 before closing in 2022, according to Spectrum News. That same month, Spectrum News highlighted Flavor Hills as one of nearly 40 Black-owned businesses operating in downtown Raleigh, an area that also draws patronage from nearby historic HBCU Shaw University. North Carolina registered nearly 15,000 new businesses statewide that year, according to state records cited by the outlet.
Flavor Hills later expanded into downtown Durham, opening at 107 W. Main Street on December 3, 2025, in the former space of Latin restaurant COPA, which had shuttered there in August 2024, according to the Triangle Food Blog. The Durham location operated for less than nine months before closing this month. That same Main Street address has seen repeated restaurant turnover, having previously housed COPA and Old Havana Restaurant, with COPA first moving into the building in 2018, according to a Facebook post from WSP Media.
More Than a Restaurant, Owners Say
In its closure statements, Flavor Hills described itself as more than a restaurant, saying it represented hope and created a community where people could gather, celebrate and feel at home, per ABC11's report. The restaurant also said it supported employees during difficult times and mentored staff, while serving as a space to showcase Black excellence and support local artists, including artist Chris Evans of Goodtrip Gallery.
Following the closure of its physical locations, Executive Chef Morgan Teianne is pivoting the brand to what it calls The Flavor Hills Experience, a private dining and catering operation serving Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary and surrounding Triangle communities, according to the company's own website. The venture offers customized menus for weddings, corporate events and private gatherings, allowing the owners to keep operating without the overhead of a traditional storefront.
Part of a Wider Wave of Triangle Closures
Flavor Hills' shutdown lands amid a string of notable independent restaurant closures across the Triangle this summer, including Cafe Carolina in Raleigh, Tucker Street Diner in Smoky Hollow, Kokí in downtown Durham, and True Flavors Diner in South Durham. Local operators have pointed to high overhead, rising rent and shifting foot traffic as recurring pressures, according to Hoodline's own reporting.
The broader hospitality sector remains a major economic force in the state even as individual operators struggle. North Carolina's foodservice and drinking establishments employed 411,100 workers as of February and generated roughly $1.95 billion in monthly taxable sales, according to data from the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association. Meanwhile, downtown Raleigh alone recorded 23 new storefront openings alongside 13 business closings in just the first quarter of 2025, per figures compiled in Downtown Raleigh Alliance reports, underscoring how rapidly the retail and restaurant landscape turns over even in the city's busiest corridors.
