The End of a Tradition?

The Bar Next Door and South Avenue Pizza Company are closed... for now.

Just as we went to press with our most recent cover feature about the state of downtown, a major piece of business news was breaking on South Avenue: The Bar
Next Door and South Avenue Pizza Company, linked businesses that have been downtown mainstays since the early 1990s, closed September 24.

Courtney Hayes, the former owner, declined to give specifics about why she closed the businesses, saying it was mostly a personal issue. “It’s a hard business downtown,” she says, adding later, “I personally hope downtown does survive... I wish everyone the best of luck.”

Matt Miller, who owns the building at 307 South Avenue, says Hayes’s rent was paid up. Since Hayes closed up shop, Miller—who as the original owner of the two businesses he sold in the late ’90s still owns the rights to the names—says four groups have contacted him about buying the restaurant and bar, “a couple” of which intend to keep the South Avenue Pizza Company and Bar Next Door intact. Miller wouldn’t reveal the parties, but did say they all appear to have good credentials. “I’ll probably make the decision based more on terms than anything,” Miller says.

Which is a business way of saying that if tradition has to be sacrificed for profitability, so be it. “The businesses have been there for 15 years, and I started them, so there’s a little bit of a legacy issue,” Miller adds, “though really to have a 15-year run in the restaurant and bar business, it can be chalked up as nothing but a success… It wouldn’t bother me if [the new owners] wanted to change it as long as they’re good operators.” He says none of the four potential buyers has proposed anything other than bar or restaurant concepts.

One potential buyer of the business says he wants to reopen the Bar Next Door and South Avenue Pizza in the same location. The idea would be to give the place a deep cleaning, revamp the restrooms and run it more efficiently. He wants to keep the hippie-riffic atmosphere, with a few nods to gentrification, including higher-end drinks and no smoking on the pizza side of the restaurant at night.

Local musician Cindy Woolf, who has played at The Bar Next Door since since 2000, says she’s confident the businesses will re-open. “Lots of people want to get their hands on it. I hope it’s somebody that we know, a nice downtown person.” In the meantime, the closure means one less stage for musicians like Woolf to play. “We definitely need it open. There aren’t enough music venues in this town anyway,” Woolf says.

No matter which operator Miller chooses, he says he hopes to have a decision made within a couple of weeks. “Hopefully it’ll be up and running again really soon.”