A restaurant at a prominent Franklin Street location has closed its doors and a new concept is reportedly set to open at University Place mall in Chapel Hill.
Midici Italian Kitchen has permanently closed its location at the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets in downtown Chapel Hill, according to signs outside the building. Signs indicating the restaurant was under renovation had previously been displayed, along with brown paper covering the windows. Now those renovation signs have been replaced with For Lease signs.
Midici occupied a space at 100 East Franklin Street underneath the popular Top of the Hill bar that is known for its high turnover rate.
Midici is not the first Chapel Hill-area restaurant to close this summer. Milltown and CrossTies Bistro & Beer Garden in Carrboro both announced their closings in May. In addition, Hop’s Burger Bar and Babalu Restaurant in Chapel Hill also closed in recent months.
But while some restaurants are closing in Chapel Hill, others are opening.
According to the News & Observer, Orlando-based Hawkers is set to open another location at University Place mall on Estes Drive.
Named after Asian street vendors who sell from carts and stands, Hawkers serves traditional recipes like dumplings, wonton and pork belly. It was founded in 2011 in Orlando, Florida by four friends and has locations in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville among others.
The Chapel Hill location will be Hawkers’ second restaurant in North Carolina, joining one in Charlotte.
The addition of Hawkers is part of a larger “multi-phase” renovation of University Place mall by new owners Ram Development, who announced in January that plans were being developed to “modernize the property and create a true town center for Chapel Hill.”
Hawkers will join Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill, Silverspot Cinema and Bartaco as exterior-facing spaces on the Estes Drive side of the mall.
University MALL will never be the town center.
I think City Kitchen is also an exterior restaurant facing Estes Drive.
Chapel Hill already has a “true town center.” It’s called “Franklin Street.”