A staple of the Chapel Hill restaurant community has closed its doors for good.

Crook’s Corner, which has long served refined spins on Southern cuisine, announced in an email to customers on Wednesday it is permanently closed. The restaurant at 610 West Franklin Street in Chapel Hill first opened in 1982.

“With an incredibly heavy heart, I must share the news that we are closing,” reads the message attributed to the Crook’s Corner team. “The position we find ourselves in, exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, is no longer tenable.”

Gene Hamer and chef Bill Neal first opened the restaurant with the goal of featuring regional recipes and meals. After Neal died in 1991, Bill Smith assumed the role of chef for Crook’s Corner and earned several regional awards for his cooking. The James Beard Foundation named Crook’s Corner one of America’s Classic Restaurant in 2011, which the foundations gives to restaurants for qualities like “timeless appeal, beloved for quality of food that reflects the character of their community.”

In 2019, a new ownership group including Crook’s former bar manager Shannon Healy bought the restaurant. Asheville-based chef Justin Burdett then came on board and has served as the chef since.

“For nearly 40 years Crook’s Corner has served and been welcomed by the people of Chapel Hill and the UNC community,” read Wednesday’s message, “we sincerely thank you for your decades of support. It has been an incredible honor to both serve our community in our place and serve as Chapel Hill’s culinary ambassador to the wider world.”

Having opened its doors in 1982, the award-winning Crook’s Corner restaurant served a variety of Southern recipes to the community.

Recognized by its iconic pig figurine and its eclectic decor of local art, the building on West Franklin Street held many forms before the current version of Crook’s Corner. Initially a fish market run by community member Rachel Cook in the 1940’s, the building has served as a taxi stand, bait and tackle shop and pool hall, according to the restaurant’s website. Chapel Hill businessman and Town Council member Cam Hill remodeled in the space in 1978 and opened a barbecue house, calling it Crook’s Corner in honor of Rachel Crook, who was murdered in 1951 at the intersection of West Franklin and Merritt Mill Street.

The current ownership team referenced Crook’s history in their message to customers on Wednesday

“The place Rachel Crook built in the 1940’s on the corner of Franklin and Merritt Mill has had many lives,” it read. “It holds the memories of thousands of your celebrations and pivotal career moments for too many of us to count. On behalf of generations of Crook’s Corner staff, we thank you for your many years of support.”

In comments made to Chapelboro, a member of the ownership group indicated the Crook’s Corner team is not currently seeking other projects in the Chapel Hill area.

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