Owner of 5Church on when uptown restaurant will reopen, what changes are in store

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 5Church Charlotte is ready to return to uptown.

The North Tryon Street restaurant has set Feb. 4 as the date it’ll reopen its flagship location.

“It takes some time to get a restaurant that’s been closed ostensibly for up to a year up and running,” says Patrick Whalen, owner. “We’re approaching this like a new restaurant opening.”

The decision comes after the restaurant temporarily shuttered operations in late July — its second closure of 2020 due to the pandemic.

Whalen describes the first closing as terrifying and the second an existential crisis.

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Yet, Whalen’s 5th Street restaurant group was unwilling to give up on its flagship restaurant. Closing its doors helped protect capital reserves at a time of uncertainty, Whalen says.

“I think what made it the hardest is it is unprecedented. It put such a pinch on everyone in the restaurant business’ cash flow,” he says, “We had no control over fixing the problem.”

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Cox Media Group