Poole's Diner to expand dining space to former home of Poole'side Pies

Poole's Diner owner announced Ashely Christensen announced expansion plans for her downtown Raleigh restaurant.

Posted 5:25 p.m. Jan 26 — Updated 5:28 p.m. Jan 26

Mark Bergin

, WRAL senior multiplatform producer

RALEIGH, N.C. — Poole’s Diner announced Friday it planned to expand its existing dining space to the former site of Poole’side Pies next door.

Restaurant owner Ashely Christensen made the announcement Friday on Instagram.

“A few fun snippets that we can share at this time are our excitement to serve a larger number of guests, the promise that wood-fire oven cooking will be a new ingredient in some of our classic recipes, and that later in 2024 … we will welcome back Poole’s Diner Weekend Brunch!” Christensen wrote.

Poole’s is open at 426 S. McDowell St. It will expand to 428 S. McDowell St., where Poole’side Pies closed on Dec. 23, 2023.

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“I am SO proud of all that this scrappy little diner has achieved and experienced in the last 16 years,” Christensen wrote.

Poole'side Pies was Christensen's fifth establishment in downtown Raleigh. Christensen also owns Poole's, Beasley's Chicken and Honey, Fox Liquor Bar and Death and Taxes.

Christensen won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in May 2019. The awards are often referred to as the "Oscars of Food."

In 2014, Christensen won the James Beard Award for best chef in the Southeast. Two years later, her restaurant, Death and Taxes, was a finalist for best new restaurant in the country.

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