Exclusive: The Goodyear House owner to purchase Haymaker restaurant in Uptown

What’s happening: Chef William Dissen is selling his Uptown restaurant to fellow restaurateur Chris Coleman, chef and owner of The Good Year House, for an undisclosed amount.

• Most of the Haymaker’s menu items will remain the same, except for a few of Dissen’s signature proprietary dishes, including the mac and cheese, jalapeño biscuits and the Benton’s old fashioned.
• The restaurant’s name and brand will remain the same, too.
• Haymaker will remain true to its original personality. “William set out to explore farm-to-table and celebrate his Appalachian roots, and I plan to double down on the Appalachian aspect of it,” Coleman said, adding that he plans to “celebrate the ingredients and techniques of the region.”

“We’ll start to put in some new stuff here and there,” Coleman said. This is a chance, he added, to bring some Goodyear House favorites to Uptown — but diners won’t notice many changes at the beginning of the transition. 

Why it matters: When the Haymaker opened in 2018, the restaurant was at the forefront of the farm-to-table phenomenon, which has gained significant popularity in Charlotte in recent years.

• There was a lot of hype behind the farm-focused restaurant, led by the well-known chef who’s also behind The Market Place in Asheville. “His track record is legit and the foodie crowd really respects him,” Axios’ Ted Williams wrote at the time. 
• In the years since Haymaker opened, the restaurant has consistently remained on our list of best brunch spots and restaurants. 

“In the past five-plus years, we’ve really seen an astronomical change in the quality of food, the diversity of the restaurants and a growing chef community, and I’m so happy to be a part of it,” Dissen said. 

[Go deeper: 13 restaurants you should check out, according to Charlotte chefs and restaurant owners]

What’s next: Coleman plans to eventually launch a daily lunch service and extend hours and happy hour food specials. And legendary Charlotte mixologist Bob Peters will help develop a new summer cocktail menu. You can expect to see these changes roll out slowly in the coming weeks and months.

• Dissen, on the other hand, is in the midst of publishing a cookbook called “Thoughtful Cooking,” filled with his signature recipes. He’s also expanding Billy D’s Fried Chicken — his restaurant inside the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro — to markets outside of N.C.

Details: Haymaker is located at 225 S Poplar St.

• It’s open Monday-Thursday 5-9:30pm, Friday 5-10:30pm, Saturday 10am-2:30pm for brunch and 5-10:30pm for dinner, and Sunday 10am-4pm for brunch.