Kirkpatrick's Finds New Home on Henderson Street

Kirkpatrick's, Chapel Hill's newest bar and formerly Henderson Street Bar &Grill, opened its doors Monday for the first time - sort of.

Tim Kirkpatrick owned Henderson Street Bar & Grill, which closed this summer. Before owning Henderson Street Bar & Grill, Kirkpatrick ran a bar called Kirkpatrick's on Rosemary Street.

Now Chapel Hill is again home to a newly remodeled Kirkpatrick's, this time at 108 Henderson St.

"I just totally renovated the place - ripped everything out and started over new," Kirkpatrick said.

John and Katherine Lindsey, of J W Lindsey, Inc. in Carrboro, designed the new bar and were on hand the first night of business. "Tim had to completely renovate the place, bring it up to code," Katherine Lindsey said. "He did more than he ever dreamed he would have to do. This place was gutted and redone."

The dimly lit bar now has a row of booths lining the windows along Henderson Street. The bar is to the right, which continues straight back to the kitchen. Raised tables fill the middle of the room, and tables line the wall to the right of the door.

The Lindseys had nothing but good things to say about what Kirkpatrick had done with the bar. "To my knowledge, it's the only (Americans with Disabilities Act)-compliant bar in town," John Lindsey said. "That's because Tim wanted it that way."

Kirkpatrick's features a bar designed to be wheelchair accessible.

Besides having designed the bar, the Lindseys said they came to the opening to support Kirkpatrick's.

"It'd be a good place for anybody to come and feel welcome and get a really good meal," Katherine Lindsey said.

John Lynch, of 128 Mallette St. in Chapel Hill and a 1972 UNC graduate, said he has been coming to Kirkpatrick's for more than 20 years, in its multiple incarnations. "I've known Tim essentially since school and came here regularly since it was Henderson Street and I eagerly anticipated its reopening."

Lynch said the bar was a great place to come see friends, socialize and watch UNC sporting events. "I watched the Tar Heels win the (NCAA basketball) championship here in '93," he said.

Kirkpatrick's is a little more sophisticated than other area bars, he said. "It's much more upscale. (Kirkpatrick has) made a lot of improvements."

Katherine Lindsey recounted what Kirkpatrick envisioned for the renovated bar. "What Tim told us he wanted was a place that would be nice, comfortable and 15 years from now look as good as the day it opened," she said.

While the inside of the bar is completely different from when it was Henderson Street Bar & Grill, Kirkpatrick said the bar would offer "American food" with a few changes from the old menu. "There's more entrees, a few different sandwiches, different appetizers," he said.

"The products we purchase are top-notch," from the Angus beef to the Virginia hams, he said.

Kirkpatrick said he was not worried about how to attract business.

"It's Chapel Hill," he said.

"If you've got a product and you've got a service, people appreciate that."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.