The Crunkleton creates a community

The first day Gary Crunkleton opened his bar, he forgot an important piece of equipment — the credit card reader. He went and got one the next day, even though the bar was successful without one.

The Crunkleton, located at 320 W. Franklin St., is the result of many years of experience by Crunkleton on both sides of the bar. It was one of four North Carolina businesses featured this month in Southern Living magazine’s top 100 bars in the South.

Crunkleton’s inspiration came from the five years he spent working at the former Chapel Hill establishment Henderson Street Bar & Grill, which gave him the idea to make a bar into a community.

“It was just a great bar, a nice neighborhood bar. And I wanted to create a place that was similar to that,” Crunkleton said.

Crunkleton got most of his bartending experience at Henderson Street, which closed in 2000.

N.C. permit law, which designates businesses that make more than a certain percent of profits from liquor as private clubs, helps Crunkleton control the atmosphere of his bar. Because the Crunkleton makes all of its profits from alcohol, it is required to be a private club and offers paid membership for as little as $5.

Crunkleton said the membership rule helps him keep the bar cleaner and bring in more discerning customers.

“We’ve turned the club status into a positive,” he said.

Crunkleton designed his bar with the late-1800s in mind, a time he calls the “Golden Era.” He said he accomplishes this by keeping everything from spirits to glassware authentic to the period.

“We try to make the old new again by creating cocktails the way they were done back in the 1870s,” he said.

Bartender Lauren Bishop said the bar’s style gives its employees much more experience than other locations would.

“If you can work here, you can work anywhere,” she said.

Sam Amos, another bartender, attributes the bar’s success to its attention to detail and a focus on service.

He also said the bar’s wide selection of drinks gives bartenders the ability to make customers personalized drinks.

“A lot of folks will leave it in our hands, and we’ll just make it up on the spot,” Amos said.

Crunkleton’s ultimate goal is to have a place that reflects the mindset of Chapel Hill, and he said his bar wouldn’t belong anywhere else.

“We’re in an area where the market is concerned about quality,” he said.

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