Linda’s Bar & Grill, a restaurant open for more than four decades in the downtown of Chapel Hill, is closing its doors for good on Friday, January 5.
Christopher Carini, the owner of the business at 203 East Franklin Street, confirmed the news to Chapelboro on Tuesday. The Daily Tar Heel first reported the restaurant’s plans to close.
The restaurant’s future had been in flux for months after Carini launched a GoFundMe campaign in October to raise $135,000 to help cover costs needed for infrastructure upgrades and to cover payroll. The owner had also been working since 2020 to no avail to find a successor to take over the bar and grill while maintaining its atmosphere.
But Carini — who bought the restaurant in 2011 while in his early 20s — said much of the roots of Linda’s closure can be traced back to “the residual backlash from COVID-19” and shifts in how people interact with businesses in downtown Chapel Hill.
“Things have changed very drastically in the restaurant space over the course of the last four years,” said Carini, “but it’s changed to a point where small businesses will not be able to hold on unless they’re doing gangbusters the entire time.”
Carini pointed to several factors in the downturn of business beyond the pandemic — ranging from the challenges of smaller student populations during the summer and winter periods, staffing inconsistencies, changes in downtown parking availability, and the shadow cast over the UNC community after the fatal shooting of a professor in August. He said while he tried many ways to make up the funds sunk into keeping staff and the restaurant running during the height of the pandemic, he has simply run out of options.
“I’m just me, I’m the sole proprietor,” said Carini. “I don’t have the deep corporate pockets to dig ourselves out of this. We were able to operate this place post-COVID longer than most people are able to operate their restaurants for. But financially, I’m not in a place to continue.”
Linda’s Bar & Grill shut its doors in mid-March 2020 due to COVID-19, and people left messages on its doors and windows until the business reopened for take-out orders later in the year. (Photo via Jim Kitchen)
The restaurant will be operating under its normal hours through Friday night, including hosting its typical weekly trivia and karaoke nights, to allow its patrons to say farewell. Carini said he looks forward to bringing the service and experience he’s tried to offer to people each day he’s owned Linda’s Bar & Grill — despite it being the business’ final days.
“Linda’s has always been the place where humans are welcome,” said Carini. “Until we shut the doors, we’re going to maintain the standard and make that [the case] in the time we have left. I’ve tried to live my morals with this place: I’ve always taken care of people, tried to provide the best, the safest time I can. I’ve done everything I know how to keep this thing going, but the world has changed so drastically that there’s no coming back.”
Photo via Linda’s Bar & Grill.
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