Gael Chatelain, owner of Napoli Cafe & Neapolitan Pizza, has a new recipe for business.
Napoli food truck was located in downtown Carrboro across from Harris Teeter for three years, but he always wanted to open a brick-and-mortar storefront.
The truck is now parked next to Napoli’s new café at 105 East Main Street in Carrboro, where Chatelain has been serving house-made gelato, coffee, tea and local craft beer and wine since early September.
Senior Caitlin Grubbs was a fan of the food truck and visited the new location soon after it opened.
“The atmosphere of [the new café] is very chill and it really feels like you are in New York City,” Grubbs said.
Chatelain has owned the café space for a while, but was not sure what to do with it.
“Initially, it was supposed to be the kitchen for our trucks and that didn’t quite work out, so we got the idea of doing the café and gelato—essentially, offering what we couldn’t offer on the truck,” Chatelain said.
Napoli’s popular wood-fired pizza is still made in the truck but can be enjoyed at the café’s indoor or outdoor tables.
In its previous location, lights and tables were set up nightly next to the truck. Chatelain explained that some customers were confused by the new set-up.
“Our regulars came by the truck to order, and we would tell them, ‘No, all the ordering happens in the café [now],’” Chatelain said.
Chatelain is pleased with business so far and is looking forward to seeing the morning crowd grow in the café.
“People are still discovering our coffee,” Chatelain said. “It’s all made with an Italian espresso machine, and we use Counter Culture beans, which are locally roasted in Durham.”
Liège-style waffles, made with yeasted dough and Belgian pearl sugar, are also available before noon every day.
After adding a new truck in 2017, Napoli runs a catering business with its older truck, catering more than 20 weddings a year and attending food truck rodeos.
Now, with the second truck on the lot next to the café in the new location, Chatelain is excited at his expanding business.
“Having a real brick-and-mortar spot, we feel like a part of the community in a different way, and the reception has been so lovely from all the other businesses around and the local community,” Chatelain said.
