Top of the Hill Restaurant selling reservations for UNC football gamedays

Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery will adjust its plan for football game days with safety protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic — hosting game day watch parties at just 50 percent capacity.

Customers will be required to wear a mask unless they are sitting at their table, as will staff members. Hand sanitizer stations will be positioned throughout the restaurant and tables and chairs are not allowed to be moved in order to maintain social distancing rules set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tables will open up for reservations starting at noon on Sunday the weekend before games. Customers can make a reservation online. 

All tables will have a minimum reservation fee based on the number of seats at the table — not the number of people in the party. On top of that, each seat will cost $25, but this money will be turned into a credit that can be used for food and beverages during the game viewing period. 

The game viewing period starts half an hour before kickoff and ends half an hour after the game is over. Top of the Hill owner Scott Maitland said he hopes game day will run smoothly with this new operation.

“That’s why we’re doing online reservations where people pay in advance, so people don’t have to crowd in the lobby," Maitland said. "They already know not only that they have a table, but when and where they can sit down.” 

Maitland also said Top of the Hill has never done online reservations before, but “it’s a brave new world,” and the coronavirus is unpredictable. 

UNC sophomore Luke Hines plans to watch a UNC football game at the restaurant with a group of friends.

“I think it is a smart thing for them to do, as they can manage the volume of foot traffic at a given time,” Hines said.  

The popularity of the event has signaled a return in business for the local restaurant. Maitland said on the last game day —  UNC's Week One win over Syracuse — Top of the Hill sold out seats with its advanced reservations. They expect to do the same for the Boston College game on Oct. 3. Reservations opened up on Sept. 27.

“Now that Mack is back, people are spending money and celebrating when they win a game and they're coming out to have a good time because they notice that the team is good and playing well,” Matt Gladdek, the executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, said.

Top of the Hill's new game day plan is one of several ways restaurants on Franklin Street have adjusted to the restrictions put in place on businesses due to COVID-19. Gladdek noted that the town of Chapel Hill has taken steps to make Franklin more friendly to businesses. 

"We've done our best to expand the sidewalk and downtown, so that businesses have more outdoor seating," Gladdek said. "I know that Four Corners has built a whole deck outside of their business and they definitely put TVs out there for that."

Maitland said Top of the Hill appreciates customers attending, even though the game day situation is frustrating without the normal festivities of tailgating and crowd noise roaring from Kenan Memorial Stadium. He said that, while it might be different from past years, Top of the Hill is still the place fans should choose to go on game days.

“If you’re not at Kenan Stadium, where else would you be?" Maitland said. "Top of the Hill."  

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