A Look Inside Freeman Center

Cary, NC — We’ve driven by the Freeman Center, a small strip mall near the corner of SE Maynard Road and E Chatham Street, many times. Today, we stopped to see what’s inside.

Your Guide to Cary Shopping Centers

Curious about other places in Cary? Maybe they’re in our series of Cary Shopping Centers.

Freeman Center

Freeman Center is located at 1375 SE Maynard Road, right before you get to the E Chatham Street intersection with Patel Brothers on the right. It’s near Chatham Square.

The Freeman Center is one of those strips you drive past all the time. It looks familiar – a view you’re used to seeing out your driver’s side window – but what businesses are actually inside?

DMV

A NC-DMV, for one, that administers driver licenses in addition to other services. Don’t get this DMV mixed up with the one nearby in the South Hills plaza on Buck Jones Road – though that location offers license plate services, you can’t get your license there.

Restaurants

El Cuscatleco, located next door to the DMV, serves Salvadoran and Mexican food. The menu boasts an authentic Latin dining experience with dishes like Sopa de Rez (beef tip soup), Sopa de Modongo (beef tripe soup) and Platanos Fritos (fried ripe plantain served with sour cream and fried beans). There are classic Mexican dishes, too, like enchiladas and taco salad.

There’s also a location in Durham.

A Domino’s Pizza is in Freeman Center for easy take-out or delivery.

Bakery

Next door to El Cuscatleco is Panaderia Guadalajara, a Mexican bakery. A Yelp reviewer recommends their Tres Leches cake, which is a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk – evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream. They sell specialty decorated cakes, too.

Supermarket

At the Casablanca Halal Market, you’ll find Middle Eastern, North African, Persian and Turkish groceries. The store’s specialty is fresh, zero-hormone Zabiha Halal meat, which includes beef, chicken, goat, lamb, sausage, oxtail and more. The market also has rice, couscous, bulgur, Turkish coffee and tea, falafel, olive oil, imported cheeses, sweets and breads like Iraqi bread, Moroccan bread, Turkish bagel and flatbread.

Beauty

There are four beauty salons in Freeman Center.

The Chris Kapello Salon is a Hispanic American hair salon that offers hair care and skin care services like straightening, up-dos, coloring, facial massages and more.

The Dorcas Dominican Beauty Salon is on the opposite end of the shopping center from the DMV. This salon focuses primarily on hair care, from anti-frizz treatments to basic cuts.

There’s also a Avon Trims Unlimited Salon and Cary Nails.

More

• Logo Joe’s Design World
• Institute of Islamic & Turkish Studies
• Cary Florist

Have you been to any of these businesses? If you have, let us know!

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Story and photos by Jessica Patrick.