Chapelboro is publishing a series called “Mind Your Business,” summarizing some of the latest stories, announcements, and updates from businesses in the community every three months. From local openings to closings to everything in-between, we are sharing a snapshot of what’s happened in the most recent quarter of the calendar year.
The report will roughly go in chronological order of the developments, and will conclude with a section of any general updates on ongoing projects that are undated. The previous edition, covering July through September 2025, can be found here.
Do you see something that is missing or want an update about your own business? Get in touch with us by emailing [email protected] with your announcements!
OCTOBER
• Mexican restaurant Ta Contento officially expanded from its relationship with Pittsboro’s The Plant. While it had been serving out of its food truck at the “eco-industrial” business park on Lorax Lane for months, it joined several other permanent businesses with a brick-and-mortar location that opened on Oct. 2, adding another place to grab fresh Mexican food in addition to its food truck and restaurant location off U.S. 15-501.
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• Just a few days later, a different Pittsboro restaurant closed its doors for good. The Postal Fish Company, a seafood-focused eatery at 75 West Salisbury Street, shut down on Oct. 11 after eight years to allow its owners to restart their food truck business, JDub’s Food Truck. But the space wasn’t vacant for long, as Postal’s ownership connected with the nonprofit Quiltmaker Café. The pay-what-you-see-fit style restaurant has since been serving up meals and hosting events for Chatham County community members.
• After a drawn out review and ruling process in Orange County over whether its plans for a live music stage — among other things — would qualify as agritourism, Union Grove Farm decided to pull its appeal of its stage plans from the county government. The component was rejected during a review in June, and farm owner Greg Bohlen released an updated rendering and shared a statement about his plans to appeal the decision — claiming the live music element was “vital” to achieving his long-term vision for attracting additional business to the site in rural Chapel Hill. In October, though, the farm announced it would ultimately not appeal and revise its plans to be “more closely aligned with community expectations.” Read more about Union Grove Farm’s plans and the debate around them in Chapelboro’s Top Stories of 2025 series.
• The fall marked several Eastgate Crossing shopping center tenants reopening after restoration from July’s Tropical Depression Chantal rain and flooding. On Oct. 20, a tenant with one of the largest damaged spaces became one of the few businesses on the south end of the property to reopen: Great Outdoor Provision Co. The outdoor sports store welcomed back customers and celebrated both its own team and the business community’s resilience since the flooding, later holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro in November.
• Ram’s Corner — a sports bar concept with a diverse menu of bar food and daily specials — opened in downtown Chapel Hill on Oct. 23 after soft-launching operations. The business slid into the 431 West Franklin Street building left behind by Ay Por Dios! after the Mexican restaurant fizzled out in 2024.
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• Chapel Hill’s Southern Village added a new taproom on Oct. 24, as the Durham-based Growler Grlz expanded to a second location and opened for business. Known for a wide selection of beers and its patio seating off of Hope Valley Road, Growler Grlz’s Chapel Hill bar also features great outdoor seating options thanks to a new space constructed on the corner of the 300 Market Street building.
Photo by Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group.
NOVEMBER
• Ram’s Plaza saw one of its newest tenants open in early November. A Gretchen’s Hallmark store began welcoming patrons after moving into the Suite 117 space vacated in 2024 by a closing a Sealy Goodnight Sleepstore. It brings a Hallmark shop, which sells anything from cards and gifts to ornaments and other decorations, back to that part of Chapel Hill after a different Hallmark store closed in Eastgate Crossing.
• Shake Shack — another of the Eastgate Crossing businesses that closed for renovations after suffering flood damage from Tropical Depression Chantal — held a grand reopening ceremony on Nov. 19. The franchise, which opened its doors nearly three years prior, welcomed back customers by fundraising for a good cause and donated a portion of each purchase to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro nonprofit PORCH.
• November also marked the first formal addition to the Eastgate Crossing shopping center’s offerings since Chantal’s flooding. J. Crew Factory had already been preparing to move into the Suite 18 space, which was previously home to a Hallmark store and the Pink Pearl boutique. The space being empty allowed it to recover relatively quickly from the floodwaters and open to customers on Nov. 20 ahead of a busy holiday season.
• Alfredo’s Pizza Villa finished its transition to a new space within Chapel Hill’s University Place on Nov. 20, welcoming a group of guests for its soft opening before returning to normal hours. The pizza shop upgraded to a larger space in the 900 Willow building across the parking lot from its longtime home in the main mall building. Alfredo’s new home will eventually add a bar space inside and continues to offer the business’ traditional patio seating in addition to more indoor tables.
The future bar space within Alfredo’s Pizza Villa’s new location, with its new kitchen in the background. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
• Eno River Brewing has gotten good word of mouth since opening in Hillsborough during the summer of 2023. Expect that continue after the business racked up enough points at the 2025 North Carolina Brewers Cup Competition to earn the title of N.C. New Brewery of the Year, as the News of Orange reported in November. Eno River Brewing’s “Cosmic Bloom” won a gold medal in the Belgian Ales category, “Second Pick” won a gold medal in the Sour Fruit or Field Beer category, and its “Blue Tape Special 2024: Point of Origin” earned a silver medal in the Stouts category.
• In an announcement that made statewide news on Nov. 28, the French manufacturer CITEL chose Hillsborough as its new North American headquarters and shared plans to invest $12.5 million in the project while creating 57 new jobs in the community. The company will move into the former site of the STIHL Mid-Atlantic operations within Orange County’s Buckhorn Economic Development District, with North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and many local leaders celebrating the move. The Board of Orange County Commissioners approved the incentives package for CITEL to make the deal official during a business meeting in December.
DECEMBER
• In Chapel Hill, the popular salad and health food chain sweetgreen opened at 122 East Franklin Street after months of renovation and preparation. The location promoted holding soft openings and special events in November before throwing its doors open for regular business on Dec. 9. The former space had been empty since the pizza joint Benny Capella’s closed in 2021 and is leased by UNC’s real estate arm.
• After announcing in November its plans to permanently close, The Casual Pint off South Elliott Road in Chapel Hill held its final week of business before shutting its doors on Dec. 12. The bar known for its long wall of taps and wide beer selection closed after six years of operating in the community. Across its run, it earned several awards from the Chapel Hill Magazine, including “Best Beer Selection,” “Best Place to Watch a Game,” and “Best Wings.”
• Struggles earlier in 2024 with finances created a cloudy forecast for Pittsboro’s Havoc Brewing Company, despite ownership pledging the business was “not going anywhere.” The brewery and coffee shop space filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in April, with Triangle Business Journal also reporting on Havoc’s outstanding significant Small Business Administration loan. By December, the main path forward was closure and the taproom off the Circle in downtown Pittsboro closed up shop.
• The Children’s Culinary Institute officially opened in Pittsboro, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 17 to celebrate. The 88 West Street location is the culinary program’s first kitchen in North Carolina. Founded by Chef Arlena Strode started the curriculum-based organization out of Arizona in 2011 and has grown it to help teach children basic to advanced cooking skills across the country.
• Hillsborough Bakeshop on Churton Street, known for its house-made pasta and baked goods, permanently closed on Dec. 20. The business shared a social media post on Dec. 2 warning about scaled-back hours for its restaurant and bakery before announcing its final day. Ownership had already scaled back operations in 2022, dropping the Panciuto name from the Italian restaurant and bumping hours up to be more morning and lunch-time focused.
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• Chef and entrepreneur Ramesh Dahal opened his latest Chapel Hill-Carrboro venture on Dec. 30. Himalayan Fried Chicken & Bar has taken over the 109 West Main Street space that formerly housed Mel’s Commissary, with the restaurant holding a grand opening ceremony and soft opening before welcoming all customers. The menu largely features the titular crunchy chicken alongside housemade dipping sauces and Himalayan sides like aloo jeera, capitalizing on Dahal’s training like Momo’s Masters and the now-closed Base Camp did. Initial hours for Himalayan Fried Chicken & Bar are 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• While gearing up for one of its busiest times of the year, the Chapel Hill location of Planet Fitness finished off a short move. On Dec. 29, the gym at University Place put a sign out telling members the spot was closing for good and transitioning to a new location on South Elliott Road in Elliott Square. The gym spent months renovating the space that was previously home to an O2 Fitness and reopened in time for the new year, welcoming customers on Dec. 31.
• On the final day of 2025, a longtime nonprofit business in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro community announced it would effectively dissolve. CommunityWorx said its thrift shop at 125 West Main Street would stop taking donations and shut down on Dec. 31, ending a 73-year run of the store initially established to raise money for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school’s Parent Teacher Association. CommunityWorx indicated the space will continue to be a thrift shop under the leadership of a different nonprofit in the new year.
UPCOMING
• Months of preparation at University Place is soon to pay off for H&H Bagels. The popular New York chain announced it will open its Chapel Hill location — the first in North Carolina — on Thursday, Jan. 15. It joins other breakfast and lunch options at the revamped mall like the Flying Biscuit Cafe, Starbucks and the upcoming doughnut shop The Salty.
• The indoor golf simulator Back Nine Golf announced its grand opening date and celebration for Friday, Jan. 9. The business moved into 227 South Elliott Road of the Elliott Square shopping center, in the corner space left vacant after Burn Boot Camp relocated. Back Nine offers state-of-the-art full-swing simulators that can be reserved for private rounds or lessons as well as used for leagues and tournaments. The grand opening will featured a ribbon-cutting with the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro, followed by an open house on Saturday, Jan. 10 offering food and prizes.
• One of the businesses along South Estes Drive that suffered flood damage from Chantal opted for relocation over staying in its previous spot. Wake Radiology announced in November it is moving its Chapel Hill offices from 110 South Estes Drive to 120 Banks Drive of the Timberlyne neighborhood, citing the new location “minimizes the threat of future service disruption due to flooding.” The move should be complete in January, with Wake Radiology’s South Estes Drive offices continuing to welcome customers until the Banks Drive office is ready.
• While owner Annie Johnston closed her Market & Moss restaurant at Southern Village in June, her coffee and gelato shop La Vita Dolce is moving forward and upgrading in size. The business posted a video with Johnston on Jan. 3 teasing a move to a bigger space “a few doors down” in Southern Village in the coming weeks — which looks suspiciously like where Market & Moss was.
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