After 30 years, a popular Chapel Hill restaurant is lost to the pandemic
After more than 30 years, a pioneer of Chapel Hill dining will close at the end of February.
Margaret’s Cantina will close, its owner, Young Fenton, said in a phone interview, following two years of pandemic-related business losses and the end of the restaurant’s current lease. Fenton said the restaurant will go out with a bash and could possibly reappear in a smaller space in the future.
“I have to make this hard decision,” Fenton said. “The pandemic is the main thing, it started two years ago, not only here in North Carolina, but everywhere. We have to close down the door.”
Before the late Margaret Lundy opened her namesake cantina, she owned Chick it Out, a fried chicken restaurant, in 1989. A few years later, Lundy shook things up and opened a new concept, Margaret’s Cantina. The restaurant focused on fresh renditions of Southwestern dishes, becoming a pioneer in the current local eating movement.
Built in a shopping center on Weaver Dairy Road, the Cantina has been a fixture in the north Chapel Hill community for decades. Its dedication to local extended beyond the food, as the restaurant’s walls were regularly covered in work from local artists.
Margaritas and guacamole
In 2014, health issues forced Lundy to retire. She sold Margaret’s Cantina to Fenton, who previously owned the now-closed Merlion restaurant in Chapel Hill’s Southern Village.
Fenton carried on the Cantina’s recipes and traditions, mixing margaritas with freshly squeezed juices and making one of Chapel Hill’s most popular guacamoles.
“It’s been an honor to have customers still coming since 1990, especially during these times,” Fenton said.
In early 2020, the pandemic forced Margaret’s Cantina, and all restaurants, to drastically change operations, Fenton said. For the Cantina, that meant cutting hours back to only dinner service, and building an outdoor garden-esque patio.
Fenton said that for years Margaret’s Cantina aimed to be a neighborhood restaurant, offering something more casual from the bustle of downtown. She said her diners kept coming back for years, growing up in the restaurant and then bringing their own kids.
“It’s a different feel from Franklin Street,” Fenton said. “Our customers are more relaxed, it’s a different group.”
Farewell party
With the restaurant’s lease set to expire at the end of March, Fenton said she decided the restaurant would close.
The last regular service will be Feb. 25, followed by a farewell party on Feb. 26. After that, Fenton said she plans to donate the remainder of the restaurant’s food.
“We just want to say thank you to all our customers and employees for supporting Margaret’s for 31 years,” Fenton said.
This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 10:00 AM with the headline "After 30 years, a popular Chapel Hill restaurant is lost to the pandemic."
