Happy flippin’ Friday, Fuquay.
Bad news for summer people: Starbucks has declared fall starts Tuesday.
The Pumpkin Spice Latte returns August 25, nearly a full month before the season itself. The new lineup also includes pumpkin matcha, pumpkin chai and something called a Chaider, which feels like we may have finally taken this too far.
Anyway, enjoy the last four days of summer. We got you covered on what to do.
First time here? Welcome in. Every Friday, we send the best things to eat, drink, hear, and do around Fuquay-Varina. Know someone who’d be into it? Send them this: subscribe here.
— First Sip Fuquay Team
THE SHORT LIST
Start Here: Your Weekend Lineup
If you only read one thing this week, make it this. The biggest stuff happening across town this week:
Holly Springs Restaurant Week | ongoing this week: A town-wide celebration of local restaurants offering special prix fixe menus, discounts, and chef features across Holly Springs.
McWally’s 1st Anniversary Bash | Saturday, all day: Face painting, caricatures, a magician, live music, anniversary food and drinks, and free $10 play cards for the first 25 people through the door.
Reggae Night at Track Record | Friday, 6–9 PM: Three DJs spinning roots, rocksteady and dancehall downtown, with Pismarillo’s Empanadas parked outside.
A Tribute to Kishore Kumar | Saturday, 9 PM: A rare Saturday-night performance at the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center.
EAT THIS
🍽️ Holly Springs launches its first Restaurant Week
Image Credit: Town of Holly Springs
Yes, we’re technically “First Sip Fuquay,” but we don’t really care — we can talk about Holly Springs too. And if you’re willing to cross the border, Holly Springs picked a very good week to do it.
Its first-ever Downtown Restaurant Week starts Friday and runs through August 29 as part of the town’s 150th anniversary celebration. Restaurants are rolling out fixed-price menus, limited-edition sweets and specialty drinks you won’t normally find on the menu.
A few worth targeting:
Mama Mia Italian Bistro is one of four restaurants offering a fixed-price menu, and they’re also making a special 150th-anniversary pizza for the celebration. If you want an actual dinner out rather than just a drink or dessert stop, this is probably where I’d start.
Pimiento Tea Room is also doing a fixed-price menu, plus a signature 150th-themed cocktail.
JT’s Creamery is going the dessert route with a special anniversary ice cream flavor made for Holly Springs’ 150th. Eat dinner somewhere else, then finish here.
There’s plenty more: My Way Tavern and Nightingale Rooftop are doing fixed-price menus; Fable Books & Café, Asia’s Cakes and Viene Ristobar have special sweets; and Local Time Brewing, Niche Wine Lounge and Wine 100 are handling specialty drinks.
Basically, you could turn Restaurant Week into a whole evening: dinner at Mama Mia or Pimiento, drinks at Local Time or Niche, then ice cream at JT’s. Holly Springs is only asking us to betray Fuquay for a few hours. We can live with that.
SATURDAY
🎂 McWally’s first birthday party
Image Credit: McWally’s
McWally’s 1st Anniversary Bash | Saturday, August 22 | All Day
McWally’s turns one Saturday, and apparently nobody told them a first birthday is supposed to be mostly Cheerios and exhausted parents.
The day starts with face painting from noon–2 PM, followed by caricatures from 3–6, a magician from 4–7, and Girls Night Out playing live from 7–9. The first 25 guests through the door also get a free $10 play card.
Then there’s the birthday menu: Birthday Butter Cake, Churro Bites, an Anniversary Slider Trio, Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Blue Margaritas and a Churro Dirty Soda.
So yes, you could technically arrive around lunch, bowl for a while, let somebody draw an aggressively saggy version of your face, watch a magician, eat cake and stay through a live band.
That qualifies as a birthday party.
FRIDAY NIGHT
🇯🇲 Track Record turns downtown into a reggae lounge
Image Credit: Main and Broad Magazine / Track Record
Reggae Night | Track Record Vinyl Shop & Listening Lounge | Friday, August 21 | 6–9 PM
Track Record has one of the more interesting Friday-night setups this week: Vic, Logan and Marcus are taking over the turntables for three hours of roots reggae, rocksteady and dancehall.
Pismarillo’s Empanadas will be outside handling dinner, while Track Record has espresso, canned beer and the usual racks of vinyl inside.
A free reggae night inside a record shop with empanadas is exactly the sort of oddly specific event this newsletter exists to find.
SATURDAY
🤼 Mom, look! Somebody put a wrestling ring at the brewery again
Image Credit: Gouge Wrestling
GOUGE Wrestling | Mason Jar Lager Company | Saturday, August 22 | 3 PM
GOUGE Wrestling is back at Mason Jar Saturday afternoon after being rescheduled a few weeks ago.
And sometimes the entire pitch really is just: free professional wrestling at a brewery.
Mason Jar has turned unconventional events into something of a specialty, and the outdoor setup makes this an easy afternoon stop before heading somewhere else Saturday night.
LIVE TUNES
🎶 Your Weekend Music Calendar
Image Credit: Mojo Foot
Here’s this weekend’s lineup:
Friday, August 21
Rod Brady & Rusted Luck at Aviator Pizzeria & BeerShop: Americana and rock.
Mojo Foot at Aviator Hangar Bar 8:30–11:30 PM: Rock to close Friday night.
All Y’all Country All-Stars at Holly Springs Cultural Center 6–9 PM: Free outdoor country and Southern rock with food trucks plus beer and wine for sale.
Saturday, August 22
Girls Night Out at McWally’s 7–9 PM: Part of McWally’s first-anniversary celebration.
The Ridge Band at Aviator
Shane Bullis at Oaklyn Springs Brewery 6 PM: Late lineup substitution confirmed.
A Tribute to Kishore Kumar at Fuquay-Varina Arts Center 9 PM
Sunday, August 23
Kerry Long at Aviator TapHouse 2–5 PM: Acoustic pop, country and R&B.
Open Mic at Oaklyn Springs Brewery 2–5 PM: Local musicians rotate through the Sunday afternoon stage.
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THE REST
Honorable mentions for the week
All Aboard, Holly Springs! — Saturday, 8 AM–4 PM: Model trains, historic railroad photos and kids’ activities as part of the town’s 150th celebration.
Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival — Saturday–Sunday: Cary’s huge annual arts festival turns 50. More than 250 artists and free admission if you want to make the drive.
Agave August at Moonlight Lounge — all month: Four rotating agave cocktails for anyone who would rather drink their weekend plans.
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