Popular Greek restaurant Kipos vowed it would reopen in Chapel Hill. Here’s where.
After closing at the beginning of the pandemic, Kipos Greek Taverna has found a new location to reopen.
The Giorgios Bakatsias restaurant will move into the Eastgate shopping center in Chapel Hill, just down the road from the original Kipos on Franklin Street.
Bakatsias announced the move Monday in a release, naming the new location three months after closing Kipos when a long-term lease could not be worked out. Kipos had been in the heart of Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street for seven years.
“While Franklin Street has been a beautiful place to call home for over seven years, our decision to move aligns with better business practices in this new age of hospitality,” Bakatsias said in a release.
The new Kipos will take over the former space of taco restaurant Babalu, which closed last year in the Eastgate development, near the Chapel Hill Trader Joe’s.
Bakatsias has opened more than two dozen restaurants in the Triangle, mostly in Durham and Chapel Hill, though the prolific restaurateur branched out to Raleigh’s North Hills last year with his newest restaurant, Rosewater. Kipos, though, is closer than most to Bakatsias’ heart, he’s said. Bakatsias’ sister, Olga, will remain the chef at Kipos when it moves into Eastgate.
“This is an especially ideal location for Kipos — which means ‘garden’ — because of the lush garden patio surrounding the restaurant,” Bakatsias said in a release. “We can’t wait to celebrate life together with the rich Greek food of our heritage prepared by my sister, Chef Olga Bakatsias, on this gorgeous garden patio.”
Bakatsias didn’t offer a timeline for opening the new Kipos, saying the restaurant will need renovating, alongside the continued challenges posed by the coronavirus on the restaurant industry.
“Once the interior up-fit and garden are reflective of the Kipos we know and love, and the business climate conducive to success, we will look forward to reopening and welcoming back our beloved community,” Bakatsias said in a release.
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 1:32 PM.
