Triangle hotel group will open new restaurant in former downtown Cary auto shop
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Lloyd's Full Service. Rendering: Courtesy of Early Bird Night Owl
Early Bird Night Owl, a Durham-based hotel group behind The Durham and The Mayton hotels, is opening a new restaurant in the heart of downtown Cary.
Why it matters: The restaurant at 107 E. Chatham St. is another sign of the rapid momentum Cary has gained in recent years, going from a sleepy afterthought of the Triangle to a popular destination thanks to Downtown Cary Park and a string of new restaurants and bars.
- Early Bird Night Owl has already played an influential role in the redevelopment of downtown Durham thanks to the success of The Durham's restaurant and rooftop bar.
Zoom in: Lloyd's Full Service will take over a 1950s-era filling station that is currently home to Gurkan's Downtown Auto Repair, according to a statement from Early Bird Night Owl.
- The goal is to renovate the auto repair shop and open the restaurant by the end of 2025.
- The name of the restaurant is an homage to K.M. Lloyd, who opened the original filling station there in 1951.
What to expect: The menu for Lloyd's is not yet available — that'll depend on the chef who gets hired, a spokesperson tells Axios. Early Bird Night Owl plans to add significantly to the existing space, including a patio.
- The current building is 1,280 square feet, but the investment group plans to add 2,300 square feet of indoor space and a 1,200-square-foot covered patio.
- Altogether, the restaurant will have room for around 195 diners, inside and out.
- The patio will include a fire pit, a stage for live music and an outdoor bar set up inside a 1940s-era delivery van.
State of play: Early Bird Night Owl is partnering on the restaurant with the Cary developers George Jordan and Jordan Gussenhoven of Chatham Street Commercial, Bill Zahn of Triangle Real Estate Company, Steve and Grant Knier of Monument Property Group and the investors Grant and Austin Yarber.
- The group all previously partnered on acquiring The Mayton hotel out of bankruptcy.
- They purchased the Gurkan's Auto Property in 2021 for $900,000, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show that Early Bird Night Owl is based in Durham (not Raleigh).