Public House coming to 300 South Brevard with indoor bocce court, 1,100 SF patio and indoor/outdoor bar

The 6,447-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor of 300 South Brevard isn’t a revival of Davidson Street’s NoDa location that operated from 2014 to 2018, though the name has carried over in part.

“We’re calling it Public House but it’s different,” says owner Chris Healy.

With the same operator and same chef, Healy points out that NoDa fans can expect at least some level of familiarity at the new Uptown location. But at about one third the size of the new Uptown location, Davidson Street was a small test run compared to what he and business partner Delano Little have planned in Uptown.

The space will seat 200 with a long 32-seat bar that opens to a covered patio with indoor/outdoor service. They’ll also have private event space available for rental.

A statement entryway opens to the main dining room with a copper-tiled drop ceiling and a mix of table, high-top and intimate booth seating.

The back half of the restaurant will have social gaming entertainment and space for private events. It can be staged as one large room or three smaller rooms equipped with A/V hookups for meetings as well as karaoke, convertible pool tables, shuffleboard and an indoor bocce court for parties.

They’ll have 48 taps at the bar including beer, pre-mixed cocktails and prosecco. Clayton Sanders, who ran the kitchen at Davidson Street Public House and developed the menu for Gin Mill, will be building out a menu of shareable small plates.

Expect full-service late-night operating hours with the kitchen open until close.

Healy says Public House will also service Middle C, a 200-seat jazz club under construction next door, and he expects to hire 60 to 80 people to staff the dual operation. “It’s gonna take an army,” he said.

Public House joins a flurry of activity currently underway on this block and throughout Second Ward.

In addition to Middle C Jazz Club next door, Brazilian steakhouse Estampa Gaucha is coming to the Embassy Suites across the street and The Brooklyn Collective, a civic-minded community hub for economic mobility, plans to open a coffee shop in the historic Mecklenburg Investment Company building by the end of the year.

A block over on Stonewall Street, “coming soon” signs for Starbucks, Fifth Third Bank, Cachet Nails, Tiff’s Treats, Lemon Love and Koureon Salon are filling in ground floor retail space in new apartment and hotel buildings.

And Gyu Kaku, a Japanese BBQ restaurant with tableside grilling, will open later this year at the new Savoy Apartments along with D9 Brewing’s new outdoor brewery, beer garden and concert pavilion.

Second Ward, formerly known as Brooklyn, was a once thriving black business and residential district leveled during the urban renewal of the 1960s and 70s. You can read more about the history of the neighborhood here.