Chef Matt Kelly to Open Pizza and Italian Restaurant in University Hill in Durham

CBRE has announced that two local chefs, Matt Kelly, four-time James Beard award semifinalist, and Tom Cuomo, the former chef of Saint James and alum of Carbone and Parm restaurants in New York City, will be opening a new restaurant at the University Hill development in Durham, North Carolina.

The new restaurant, Dino’s, will be a pizza shop featuring Italian American favorites like, wings, salads, pizza and pasta cooked to order. Dino’s will offer delivery, table service, a full bar and a fabulous patio with outdoor seating. Expected to open in the Spring of 2025, the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Located at 3109 Shannon Road, the new concept will occupy the former BB’s Crispy Chicken in building three of University Hill and consist of approximately 2,500 sq. ft. This will be Matt Kelly’s sixth restaurant in the Durham, NC.

"Tom and I are very excited about Dino’s at University Hill, we are surrounded by great neighborhoods, down the street from Nana’s and it is part of a terrific growing shopping center, said Kelly, Chef and Owner of Dino’s. “We think a casual pizza concept that serves fresh salads, delicious appetizers, pasta cooked to order and of course hot, crispy, chewy pizza will be a perfect addition to the many great casual eateries in the area.”

Kelly also added, “Tom is from New Jersey, and I am from Western New York, making and serving food that we grew up on is going to be fun. I’m particularly stoked that I have a place where I can share one of my favorite things to make, Buffalo wings.”

University Hill is a 300,000 sq. ft. mixed-use development featuring retail space, restaurants, and Class A luxury apartments. The property, developed in 2020, is situated in a vertically integrated main street setting and is strategically located to serve the entire Durham market and surrounding area. In addition, the development features multiple art installations consisting of more than 40,000 square feet of mural art from local, regional, national and international street artists. Additional tenants in the project include O2 Fitness, Happy + Hale, Wanderlux Salon Suites, Bowerbird Flowers and Apothecary, Apertif: Dessert Wine Bar, Curry Up Now, Bul Box, Truss Vet, Triangle Coffee House, Gizmo Brew Works, and Midtown Yoga.

Matt Larson of CBRE represented the landlord, Hawthorne Retail Partners, in the lease transaction.