Popular Triangle restaurant, upscale dive bar ask public for help through rough patch
Rising costs and slow sales prompted two Orange County restaurants to appeal for help this month.
Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, at 431 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill, needs to raise $40,000 to help pay rent through the slow winter months, said chef and owner Vimala Rajendran.
Around the corner in Carrboro, 401 Main owner Chris Baldwin said he’s also struggling to pay the bills.
His wife, Emily Baldwin, started a GoFundMe campaign Sunday to raise $15,000.
The difficult business environment right now is a “sign of times that we live in,” Rajendran said, noting that two adjacent restaurants in The Courtyard complex recently closed.
“Our rent is high, and what has made it come to a head right now is the high rent and high cost of living for my workers, so everybody has to be paid more, [and] the cost of goods and services has gone high,” she said.
It’s not just a local problem, and even larger chain restaurants and franchises are feeling the pinch, resulting in several high-profile bankruptcies this year, including TGI Fridays, Red Lobster and Hawkers Asian Street Food, which has a location at University Place in Chapel Hill.
The National Restaurant Association reported in October that U.S. restaurants saw their first net sales increase since December 2023, following a steep decline since the pandemic.
Just 41% of restaurants said they had more customers in October 2024 than in October 2023, according to the industry report. Restaurants also added 3,700 jobs in October, but still had 240,000 fewer employees than before 2020, signs of an ongoing labor shortage.
Inflation also was an issue, raising the wholesale price for eggs 30% this year, and prompting 12% to 17% increases in the cost of beef, pork, fresh vegetables and butter. That caused an over 4% increase in menu prices, the association reported.
Rising rent, labor and food costs
Rajendran began her journey to becoming a chef as a single mother of three children escaping domestic violence. From donation-based dinners in her family’s home and microloans, she built the restaurant into a brick-and-mortar business at The Courtyard of Chapel Hill in 2010.
Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe has remained a cornerstone there as other restaurants have opened and left, and in 2013, a section of the complex was reconstructed, adding 20 upper-level apartments.
In 2019, a New Jersey-based real estate company paid $10.8 million for the complex, after which restaurateur George Bakatsias moved his popular Greek restaurant, Kipos, to Eastgate Crossing shopping center on East Franklin Street.
Ay Por Dios, which opened in the Kipos space last year, recently closed.
Vimala’s location blocks its visibility from Franklin Street, making it difficult to attract passers-by, Rajendran said. The cost of labor and food is also rising, with the restaurant’s 12 employees earning $16 to $22 an hour, plus health insurance. Vimala’s also supports the community with fundraisers, events and free meals for those who can’t pay.
Another key part of its mission is using locally sourced, organic ingredients, which now consume over a third of the budget.
But “this is a worthwhile business that is more than a business,” Rajendran said. “It’s a business that actually believes in building relationships between growers and consumers, and serving food that’s good for the body so that children can be raised on this food.”
Rajendran declined to speculate but said the Facebook post last week has revived their community support, with enough people dining in, ordering out and picking up gift cards that they hope to give Christmas meals to needy families again.
“I’m surprised that people who have lived here a long time, some of whom came in the last decade to live, haven’t heard about us at all … but now it has gotten out,” she said. “People are so impressed and surprised how great the food is.”
Keeping music, community on the corner
Co-owner Chris Baldwin teamed up with Al Bowers, former owner of Al’s Burger Shack, to open the upscale, family-owned dive bar in September 2019. The partnership ended early the next year, just before the COVID pandemic forced businesses to close their doors.
Baldwin and his son Evan DeMarr immediately transitioned 401 Main to curbside pickup, riding out disruptions caused by the pandemic, last year’s road construction, and a small interior space that limits their business during inclement weather.
401 Main has become a popular hangout, with live music on the patio, special dog treats, and a central corner for people watching, Baldwin said. But there’s no parking on site, and fewer people are going out this year, he said.
“Carrboro’s parking is not the best, which makes us more of a destination spot, and I think people have become a little less likely to walk from place to place if they have access to more parking” elsewhere, Baldwin said.
“We’ve sorted of created ourselves as a community bar, and we’ve had the luxury of having some community mainstays that come every day, but we’re just not getting the amount of people that will sustain us,” he added.
The business is now in transition, as Baldwin’s son Evan, 32, leaves for other opportunities and a new chef brings in a fresh vibe and an eye for cutting food costs, he said. Their eight employees, including two managers, handle day-to-day operations, and a new music promoter is booking bands and solo artists, in addition to weekly Beer and Banjos and open mic events.
The appeal for help on GoFundMe may be “my last hurrah,” Baldwin said.
“If we can get over this hump, then we’d love to keep the doors open,” he said. “If not, I’ll move to maybe find someone who will take over the spot.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 8:00 AM.
