**UPDATE** Hop’s Burger Bar on Franklin Street has also decided to close its doors.
The Greensboro-based burger chain opened in Chapel Hill two years ago and was seemingly a popular choice for UNC-Chapel Hill students and local residents.
Hop’s Burger Bar joins a number of local restaurants that have closed recently, including Babalu, Milltown, and CrossTies Bistro & Beer Garden.
A popular downtown Chapel Hill hotel is about to get a new name.
Triangle Business Journal reported last week that a Chicago-based company called Graduate Hotels has purchased the Franklin Hotel on West Franklin Street.
Renovations are set to begin in January; once they’re done, the hotel will rebrand as The Graduate Chapel Hill.
In other business news, Babalu Restaurant in Eastgate has permanently closed.
The tapas-and-tacos restaurant opened in 2017, one of eight Babalu locations across the southeastern U.S. (The chain started in Jackson, Mississippi.)
A sign on the door now reads, “THANK YOU to our Staff and to our loyal Guests over the past two years. We appreciate your support, your positive reviews and the warm welcome to the community.”
Hops has closed as well.