Around Town News

Al Leaves, Burger Stays Carolina graduates Charlie Farris ’04 and Jason Kesler ’04 helped out alumni Al Bowers ’88 and his wife, Melody Adams Bowers ’85, by purchasing Al’s Burger Shack after the Bowerses filed for bankruptcy for the… read more

Bake Shop Sweetens Market Lydia Ricks loves to watch customers take their first bite of her hummingbird cake. “This is carrot cake country,” she said. “People expect a dense cake, but this has totally different flavors. It sells out as fast… read more

Raising Cane’s Raises the Bar When the Mega Millions lottery prize reached $810 million in July, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers owner Todd Graves bought 50,000 $2 tickets for the employees in his restaurant chain, which has 650 stores… read more

The Carolina Coffee Shop has been a Chapel Hill staple for generations of Tar Heels and town residents, and after 100 years, the institution is looking toward the future with Carolina alumni at the helm. “Carolina Coffee Shop has been a… read more

Bluebird Flies In Chef Brandon Sharp brought his Michelin-star talent to Chapel Hill in spring of 2019 with an eclectic menu in his neighborhood restaurant Hawthorne & Wood. In July, he opened a new dining concept, Bluebird, a French bistro… read more

The pandemic cut a fickle path through the economy — some businesses withered while others flourished. A challenge for one enterprise opened an opportunity for others. Here’s a roundup of the impact on some Chapel Hill… read more

If you don’t have time to get away for a weekend at the beach, take a vacation over dinner at Buena Vibra. The new Caribbean café offers a menu that people say reminds them of home, said Enggie Reanos, assistant manager and daughter of the… read more

Years ago, pastor Anthony Knotts began cooking and selling seafood dinners out of his backyard in Greensboro to put aside money for his daughter’s college education. It worked. Destiny Knotts is now studying business at N.C. A&T State… read more

When Bob and Robin Britt owned Merritt’s Grill, customers sometimes would wait close to an hour for one of their famous BLTs. They were that good. The Toogood family bought the grill in September and endeavored to cut the wait time to less… read more