Spanky’s successor Lula’s has closed for good on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill
After two years on Franklin Street, fried chicken and biscuits spot Lula’s has permanently closed.
Lula’s developed a loyal following of fried chicken fans, but is perhaps best known as the successor to Spanky’s, an icon of Chapel Hill bars that was popular with UNC students for more than 40 years. Spanky’s closed in 2018.
Lula’s opened in June 2018 in the former Spanky’s space at 101 E. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.
The southern restaurant was owned by the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, which also owns seafood restaurant Squid’s and upscale Italian resturant 411 West in Chapel Hill, plus Mez and the Page Road Grill in Research Triangle Park. The company announced Lula’s closing on social media.
“It was our pleasure to serve you skillet-fried chicken & biscuits and host your special events Upstairs at Lula’s,” the company said in a statement. “Thank you to all of our guests, especially our regulars, and our amazing staff. We were lucky to have a dedicated team who provided wonderful food and service and are extremely grateful to each of them. We look forward to sharing our food with you again in another location.”
Lula’s was named after the great-grandmother of executive chef William D’Auvray and fried its chicken in cast iron pans. News & Observer restaurant critic Greg Cox gave Lula’s three and a half stars in a December 2018 review, finding the fried chicken crispy and juicy in all the right places.
D’Auvray is staying with the restaurant group and working on opening Lulu Bang Bang, a new Asian street food restaurant in RTP.
With the closing of Lula’s, the prominent intersection of Franklin and Columbia streets has become a quiet corner in Chapel Hill. Lotsa Wood-Fired Pizza was one of the earliest restaurant closings of the pandemic, and the former Midici pizzeria space has been vacant for nearly a year.
But next week, Top of the Hill, one of Chapel Hill busiest restaurants, plans to reopen on Wednesday, Aug. 5 for dine-in service on the patio.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Spanky’s successor Lula’s has closed for good on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill."
