"It is already about as close to perfect as you can get." Jeremy Bailey said that about the business he had just bought, not one he was building. He and Megan Jackson took over I Love NY Pizza at 28 N. Front St. this fall. As he told WilmingtonBiz, "Our intention is not to come in and change what people love about it. We want to protect it and continue it."
That line sums up downtown Wilmington this fall. Since late summer, most of downtown's big food and drink stories have been existing rooms, tap systems, kitchens and customers passing to new people. Most of those new people say their first job is to keep what works.
A pizza counter sold on the promise of staying the same
The I Love NY Pizza sale shows the pattern most clearly. Sellers Dino Psilos and John Karonis built the Front Street shop into a local favorite. A news release about the sale said customers "should expect the things they love most about it to stay exactly the same." Psilos said in the same release that the new owners "will continue the tradition while bringing their own energy and vision to the business."
The price wasn't disclosed. What changed hands was mostly a reputation: the food, the staff and a steady crowd on one block of Front Street.
Pour keeps its 71 taps and changes what some of them pour
A few blocks north, the same thing happened at a much larger scale. Pour Taproom has been in the Murchison Building at 201 N. Front St. since 2017, when Brian Ballard, who also owns Ironclad Brewery, opened it. According to WilmingtonBiz, Justin Hamilton closed on the business Oct. 1. He said he paid $150,000 for a taproom of nearly 9,000 square feet.
Hamilton is keeping the core of the business, the self-serve tap wall where you pour your own beer or wine. He's changing the mix. Eight of the 71 taps are set aside for nonalcoholic drinks, and more coolers are coming for drinks that don't work well on tap. His reason was a shift he has seen across his businesses toward what he calls functional beverages. "Functional beverages are something that the younger generation is really attracted to," he told WilmingtonBiz.
The other changes involve how the room gets used. Food service is coming back, starting with bar food, and Hamilton said he eventually wants to hire a chef. He also plans about 100 self-hosted events a year, along with live music and upgraded arcade games. The business has a new name too, Pour Taproom at the Outpost, and was scheduled to reopen Oct. 28.
At Pour, then, the room and the tap system carried over, and the owner changed what happens in them. The next handoff shows why a finished room matters so much to someone starting out.
Why a new tiki bar wanted a room that was already a bar
Abby and Jonathan Beland moved to Wilmington from Los Angeles about 18 months before WilmingtonBiz reported their plans in late August. They had noticed beach bars around the region but no true tiki bar. They pitched Lost & Found Tiki Bar at a 1 Million Cups event at UNCW's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and then went looking for a building.
They chose 109 Market St., the former Dram & Draught, which closed in July after four years downtown. Abby Beland told WilmingtonBiz the space fit partly because, unlike others they had toured, it was already built out as a bar.
She is also clear about where Lost & Found fits on the block. "We hope that people come in before they go to dinner at Seabird or after they're at Quanto Basta and they want to come down and have a drink afterwards," she said. The drinks will stick to traditional tiki flavors like pineapple, coconut and citrus, all with freshly pressed juice, plus bar snacks. The couple was aiming for this fall, though as of late August the exact date was "a moving target" while they finished renovations.
Castle Street moved even faster. Port City Daily reported that almost a month after Coco Pippa announced it was closing, a new tenant was already renovating the building. Rook's Neighborhood Pub and Deli is planned for 506-508 Castle St. Owner Ivan "Chip" Moore's partners are his wife, Noelle Vandermark, plus Joe Sena and Deanna and Frank Iadicicco. They're aiming to open by the beginning of 2027.
Moore and Sena have done this before. They founded Tacobaby, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Underfront, and they built out, ran and sold each one. This time Moore told Port City Daily he plans to hang onto the business a while. "Between the four of us, I think we have 100 years of restaurant experience," he said.
The fall handoffs, address by address
| Address | What it was | What it's becoming | Status as last reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 N. Front St. | I Love NY Pizza | I Love NY Pizza, new owners Megan Jackson and Jeremy Bailey | Sale announced in October |
| 201 N. Front St. | Pour Taproom | Pour Taproom at the Outpost, owner Justin Hamilton | Scheduled to reopen Oct. 28 |
| 109 Market St. | Dram & Draught, closed in July | Lost & Found Tiki Bar | Planned for fall, date not set |
| 506-508 Castle St. | Coco Pippa | Rook's Neighborhood Pub and Deli | Renovating, aiming for early 2027 |
| 101 N. Third St. | A Dunkin' | Uji, matcha shop and eatery | Soft opening planned after Thanksgiving |
| Rumcow, downtown | Rumcow | Rumcow with Smoke on the Water's menu added | Combined operations set to begin Oct. 29 |
Smoke on the Water folds into an existing downtown kitchen
The biggest handoff on the list involves a restaurant leaving the waterfront. Smoke on the Water announced that its Riverlights location would close Oct. 28 and move downtown. Its downtown home is an existing restaurant. WECT reported that Smoke on the Water would begin working with Rumcow on Oct. 29, with Smoke on the Water dishes added to Rumcow's menu gradually over the following weeks.
The owners said both restaurants will honor the legacy of James Smith, who opened Smoke on the Water at Riverlights on the Cape Fear River about 10 years ago. They described the goal as combining the strengths of both kitchens "while keeping the flavors, character and hospitality guests expect." So a well-known menu is moving into a kitchen downtown regulars already know, and nobody has to wait out a buildout.
The one brand-new idea is going into a former chain coffee shop
Uji is the newest concept on the list, and even it is moving into a space that already served drinks. Owner Sada Hudson is fitting out the former Dunkin' at 101 N. Third St. as a Japanese-style matcha shop and eatery. WilmingtonBiz reported that the menu will include matcha, sandwiches inspired by Japanese convenience stores, onigiri and reservation-only omakase dinners.
A quick coffee counter on a corner downtown workers pass every morning is becoming a matcha bar by day that takes dinner reservations at night. Hudson is aiming for a soft opening after Thanksgiving and a full opening in December.
Where these addresses fit into November downtown
Most of the new owners above are counting on downtown crowds, and November brings some reliable ones.
- Saturday, Nov. 7. The Southeast North Carolina Veterans Parade has a pre-show at 10 a.m., and the parade starts at 11 a.m. on Third Street from Hanover to Market, a few blocks from Uji's future corner. Details are on the parade's site.
- Thursday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 22. The Cucalorus Film Festival returns downtown with more than 90 features and shorts, plus live performances and a three-day film conference.
- After Thanksgiving. Uji's planned soft opening at 101 N. Third St.
Lost & Found's opening date is still open, and Rook's is aiming for the start of 2027. Until those doors open, 109 Market St. and 506-508 Castle St. are two addresses to walk past and check on.
I love watching downtown's familiar rooms get new owners, and if one of your favorite spots is on this list, I'd love to hear what you want them to keep. If you own a downtown building, or a home nearby that needs a fresh start of its own, I'm glad to talk through what to keep and what to change. Kelly Peedin is always happy to grab a coffee downtown. Let's Connect.
