by Michelle Boudin

Sometimes an offer is just too good to pass up. That’s what Paul Manley of High Tide Hospitality says of his latest venture, Packard Tavern. The concept will replace Bar One in Uptown, which closed earlier this year after just a few months in operation.

“It’s a beautiful space and I’ve been wanting to do contemporary American cuisine for awhile,” Manley says. “I was not actively looking for a space, but I just feel like it’s perfect for something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

Manley opened Sea Level NC in Uptown nearly 10 years ago, and is also the owner of The Waterman Fish Bar and multiple locations of hamburger joint Ace No. 3.  This new concept will be centered around classic American fare and a menu that he and Sea Level NC’s executive chef, DJ Ivey, are actively working on.

“With Uptown you get people traveling from all over, between leisure and business, so having a contemporary American cuisine in a refined dining setting, we’re going to do a lot of American classics,” Manley says.

Manley hopes to start construction around the first of the year but says there isn’t much work that has to be done. “It’s such a beautiful space, we’re just going to make it our own with a few new touches.”

He believes the bar area is beautiful as it is — and perfect for the professional Uptown crowd.

“There’s a marble bar-top and custom back bar so we’re going to lean into the classics that the after-work type of bar crowd enjoys,” he says. “We’ll lean heavily on the classics in the cocktail world and make sure were fantastic at those and build some of our own as well.”

The biggest changes will be the additions of a private dining room that will seat up to 35 people and a more intimate chef’s table and wine room that will have seating for twelve.

“I’m super excited to have both of these things that in Uptown will be great assets,” he says. “With Sea Level, the one business we turn away daily is private dining and once I figured out how to use the space it made sense. We work really well with the hotels to get referrals and we do a lot of groups at Sea Level but we don’t have the ability to privatize that business, and I look forward to being able to capture that.”

Between the main dining room, the additional spaces and bar area, the restaurant will seat about 180 people.

He says it’s an ideal location sandwiched in between two high-end hotel properties (The Kimpton and the Grand Bohemian) with a third under construction directly in front of the restaurant.  

Assuming all goes well with permitting and liquor licenses, he’s hopeful Packard Tavern will open in the next few months.

“I’d love to be open in Q1 if at all possible,” he says. “There’s not a lot to be done. The actual time doing construction will be a relatively short amount of time so I’d love to be open fairly soon.”