I started a Google doc to gather info and do a bit of planning in a central location, you can access it here.
My emphatic suggestion for venue, if we meet before we have a private residence available, would actually be the Morrisville Outlet Mall. It rarely has crowds and has a huge open food court area with plenty of seating, usually very empty. Food is there if anyone wants, and while the acoustics are kind of bad in such an open space, I don't think it would be much of a problem with only 6-10 people.
I endorse the outlet-mall location and the time of Wed 5/4 7pm.
This post's primary intent is to gauge interest and try to find a possible meeting place.
I will commit to showing up at whatever place we decide on, but I am usually only around during the week. (Though given enough time in advance I could plan for one on the weekend)
The RTP area has three research universities and a fairly large population when taken as a total of the three cities, so hopefully we have enough people. I can also post fliers in several departments at North Carolina State University if people think there would be benefit in that.