Restaurants: T.Mac Opens in Waverly Place

Cary, NC- Back in January, Waverly Place announced that among their soon-to-be new tenants would be a restaurant called Taco Mac. (CaryCitizen story) Now, the chain has been rebranded as T.Mac and their newest addition finally opened October 5th, 2014, upping the craft beer wars going on across Cary and the Triangle.

Named by Chance

I asked about the name, as I don’t see any tacos being served in the establishment, or any Mexican themed decor. The restaurant logo is a flying buffalo. The answer: In 1979, when the original owners were moving from Buffalo, their concept was to bring Buffalo Wings to the south. As they headed to Florida with the idea, they stopped in the Atlanta area, and really liked it. They decided to open a restaurant that was in a former taco place, called Taco Mac. They had money to either renovate the kitchen or do the sign. You can guess which won out. The Buffalo wing establishment remained Taco Mac. Twenty-nine restaurants later, the the chain is going through a re-branding, as T.Mac (they dropped the “aco”)

You can find tacos on the menu (and quesadillas, burritos and fajitas), but you the focus has always been about great wings, burgers and other pub-fare. The prices won’t break the bank, as most items hover around $10. See for yourself.

Spinning Booths and More

The interior is big and open, with a large bar that sports 100 beers on tap (40 from local NC breweries) and 75 flat screen TVs suspended from the ceiling above.

The 7,150 square-foot restaurant seats 183 guests and includes a 1,300 square-foot covered and heated outdoor patio with additional seating.

A first for the Triangle, the restaurant features two European-designed rotating booths. Each rotating booth rotates 360 degrees, allowing up to six guests (or more) to rotate and exit as needed. When we saw these, they looked like a lot of fun, and took one for a spin ourselves.

Second T Mac?

Talk of a second T Mac in Cary is just that, talk. We had heard rumors that a second T Mac was set to open at the Bradford (where Publix opens later this month). Nothing is confirmed at the time of this writing.  The company is headquartered in Atlanta with 23 locations in Georgia, one in Tennessee and four in North Carolina (the three others are in and around Charlotte).

Cary is quickly becoming known as a town that loves its beer (see recent CaryCitizen story). With T Mac’s focus on beers on tap, they will bring additional competition to the area that has recently seen Blackfinn, Bad Daddy’s World of Beer and two craft beer stores open, with a third slated for Downtown.

Nothing says economc recovery than new restaurant openings. Cheers!