New sports bar coming from the owners of some favorite Durham drinking spots
.JPEG "Michelle Vanderwalker and Sean Umstead, owners of downtown Durham spots Kingfisher, Queeny’s and QueenBurger, have a new bar in the works, E.O.’s Athletic Club.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kingfisher owners will open E.O.’s Athletic Club in downtown Durham by fall 2025.
- New venue commits to airing 50% women’s sports alongside classic game-day fare.
- Design includes community-submitted youth sports photos embedded in the bartop.
For their next restaurant concept, Kingfisher owners Sean Umstead and Michelle Vanderwalker will take on the Great American sports bar, as only they can.
The two popular restaurant owners of Kingfisher and Queeny’s will take over the former Beyu Caffe space in downtown Durham, launching a sports bar meant for everyone.
Calling it E.O.’s Athletic Club, the new bar looks to open by this fall.
“We’re going to do a full-blown sports bar,” Umstead said in a phone interview. “We want to lean in and really embrace all sports fans in Durham. The idea is to really be a sports bar for every person.”
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Women’s sports surge
Crucial to building a sports bar for every person is making sure women’s sports are playing, Vanderwalker said. That’s easier these days with the explosion in popularity of the WNBA, college basketball and women’s soccer.
“I’ve known Sean wanted to do a sports bar in the past, but I wasn’t interested unless we could commit to 50% women’s sports (on the TV),” Vanderwalker said. “This will be a place where everyone is welcomed right from the beginning. It will be really obvious we’re featuring a lot of women’s sports.”
What’s on the menu
At its heart, E.O.’S Athletic Club will be modeled on 1970s-era sports bars, aiming to tap into a Northeast vibe, Umstead said. That means a menu of thin New Jersey-style personal pizzas, Italian sandwiches, “really good wings,” salads and loaded baked potatoes.
How does the co-owner of a James Beard semifinalist cocktail bar handle drinks at a sports bar? Think simple beer and batched cocktails.
“People are there for sports. It’s not Kingfisher, where you expect to drink a great cocktail in nice atmosphere, but we can still deliver those things,” Umstead said. “We’ll have handcrafted cocktails on draft, things that are familiar and indulgent, like a pitcher of seasonal margaritas, or a sturdy old fashioned.”
There are plans for 25 TVs spread around the restaurant, even in the bathroom hallway so guests don’t have to risk missing The Big Play.
Right now, Umstead and Vanderwalker are beginning renovations on the old Beyu Caffe space, which closed in 2024 after 14 years. The large space looks out on the Five Points section of downtown, the heart of Durham’s nightlife and dining scene.
“Neither Michelle and I are chefs, we don’t come at it where we have an iron firm point of view of the food,” Umstead said. “Often it’s what do we think our neighbors might enjoy seeing added to this scene? We’re not going to be chefs like Matt Kelly (of Mateo) or Gray Brooks (of Pizzeria Toro). But we want to be a complement to those things.”
Collective joy (and misery)
Vanderwalker admits she is not a die-hard sports fan, but has recently reconnected with her athletic and competitive self through an adult soccer league and playing on the Durham Fruits, an adult baseball team in Durham that celebrates LGBTQ+ players.
“It’s so much fun to play again,” Vanderwalker said. “It reminded me of the connections you can make to people who aren’t like you who you wouldn’t otherwise run into.”
Vanderwalker said she often hasn’t felt very comfortable in traditional sports bars, but that these TV-glowing satellites of fandom are unique.
“I do totally get the camaraderie that’s created when strangers are together watching their favorite team,” Vanderwalker said. “That collective joy — or misery — is very different than sitting in front of a TV at home. ... I want to lean into the fun and joy of it.”
Vanderwalker is an artist and led the design of Kingfisher and Queeny’s, including making all of the plates and mugs herself.
Submit a photo
For E.O.’s Athletic Club, Vanderwalker is redoing the bartop as a kind of monument to the thrill of youth sports. The bar is asking the community for any youth sports pictures, the ones from t-ball or rec soccer seasons, to share and have epoxied into the bartop. In an online submission form, Vanderwalker is asking people to share the memories and meaning they took from playing sports as a kid.
“I’m really excited about it,” Vanderwalker said. “For those willing to participate, you could look up who you’re looking at. Maybe they’re a lawyer working downtown today.”
E.O. Athletic Club name
By the way, E.O.’s Athletic Club takes its name from the Biologist E.O. Wilson, who spent a career studying ants and likened the collective connection between sports fans to that of ants in a colony. Ants will also play a part in E.O.’s art.
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But the owners said don’t worry if that sounds too high-minded for a sports bar.
“It could also stand for ‘everyone,’” Vanderwalker said. “We’ll be a sports bar for everyone.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 2:47 PM with the headline "New sports bar coming from the owners of some favorite Durham drinking spots."
