Mechanical bull coming to Rosemary Street

Chapel Hill will soon be home to a new country bar called the Country Fried Duck.

After signing a lease Tuesday afternoon, Scott Kleczkowski and his fiancee Lauren Fortkort will soon begin renovating the 4,400 square foot space located at 157 E. Rosemary St.

“We are planning on doing some interior renovations and some to the exterior patio,” said Kleczkowski. “We will have a mechanical bull.”

After meeting Fortkort in Chapel Hill, Kleczkowski said the town has always been very special to them and now they look forward to helping others create such memories.

“Lauren and I have really good memories from Chapel Hill,” he said. “For the broad spectrum we can say it will be a little different from what has been in Chapel Hill before, but we really just want to show people a good time.”

“We have these enjoyable memories of Chapel Hill, and now we want to express those back out into the community.”

Kleczkowski said they hope to open the bar in May, as long as renovations go according to plan.

“We had several other people look at the space, and we think these people have a good idea,” said Jim Paliouras, whose company, Paliouras Enterprises LLC, owns the building. “And we look forward to them opening.”

The space was formerly occupied by The Heel, which closed its doors about seven months after opening because its owner relocated to Florida.

“They were absentee owners from Florida, and they decided, I guess, that they would close up,” said Paliouras.

In late September, The Heel was shut down due to building code violations and the need to refile liquor and alcohol permits with North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement.

At the time, The Heel’s general manager Giuli Lurito said in an email that the permits were being resubmitted because the bar’s owner, Glen Turner, was looking to pursue other avenues in Florida and was leaving Chapel Hill.

Ethan Dunn has worked at Bub O’Malley’s for two years, and during that time he saw firsthand the location’s previous club, The Thrill, close and The Heel take its place. Dunn said the bar’s inconsistent hours hurt its ability to have a steady stream of customers.

“When they initially opened it was busy, but after a while it was kind of a crapshoot if they would be open,” Dunn said. “There were a lot of nights you would expect them to be open and they just wouldn’t be.”

Meg McGurk, executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, said The Heel’s departure will not have a significant impact on the town’s nightlife.

“Our nightlife downtown will continue to offer something for everyone,” McGurk said. “You can enjoy a dive bar, high-end cocktail or wine bar, and we even have an art bar downtown.”

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