Downtown Cary's East Chatham Street Restaurants After Dark
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
Downtown Cary's busiest corner now does most of its business after dark. The building at 107 E. Chatham St. pumped gas, fixed cars and served motorists for most of the last century. On Aug. 26, 2026 it reopened as Lloyd's Full Service, and on weekdays its doors don't open until 4 p.m.
Lloyd's isn't the only one on this schedule. Most of what has opened along East Chatham Street since early summer is built for the hours after work, and Downtown Cary Park's October calendar is weighted toward the evening too. Taken together, the old daytime main street, the one with a drugstore, a barbershop and an auto shop, is turning into an evening destination.
The building's history shows how long this corner kept daytime hours. The restaurant's own account traces it in four stages:
Across the street, Ashworth Drugs kept the same daytime rhythm for 67 years before closing in 2024. Founder Ralph Ashworth told WRAL that his son's retirement, with no third generation to take over, ended the run. For decades, those two businesses defined the intersection. People came for a prescription, a tank of gas or an oil change, and then went home.
Early Bird Night Owl runs Lloyd's. It's the same hospitality group behind The Durham and Cary's Mayton Inn. Chef Dennis Bernard leads the kitchen after years at Blackbird and The Publican in Chicago.
The schedule shows the restaurant's priorities. According to Lloyd's website, it serves dinner Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 9 p.m. On Saturdays lunch runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Sundays have the same lunch window, and dinner ends at 8 p.m. So weekday lunch, the meal a downtown drugstore lunch counter once served, is off the schedule. The week is built around dinner.
"His dynamic, seasonally-inspired menus offer guests a reason to come back often." Craig Spitzer, founder and CEO of Early Bird Night Owl, in a news release quoted by the News & Observer
The dinner menu reads like a place meant for repeat visits. The N&O lists a Seafood Cocktail with a bit of habanero heat, tomato and burrata with mint and pistachios, and Milk Bread with salted sweet butter. Larger plates include linguine with clams, a crispy pork schnitzel with fennel and mustard greens, and a Breakfast for Dinner of glazed pork belly, a poached egg and potato pave. There's also a burger with American cheese, pickles and aioli, a shrimp po' boy, and a "Meat n two" section with grilled steak, fish or chicken thighs plus two sides.
One lunch item ties straight back to the corner's past. The "Corner Dog" pays tribute to the hot dogs once served at Ashworth Drugs across the street.
On logistics, Lloyd's takes a limited number of reservations for parties of up to six and welcomes walk-ins. Groups of seven or more are asked to call. Some previews written before opening said the restaurant would be walk-in only. Go by the current policy on the website. The website also lists "truck specials" as coming soon, so that piece hasn't started yet.
Lloyd's would be one restaurant with a late start if the rest of the street hadn't moved the same way. Here's how the street now lines up, west to east:
The Arcane makes the clearest case. A bookstore is usually a daytime business, and this one comes with a bar attached. The Cary Report put it plainly: The Arcane "is focused primarily on adult fiction and nightlife."
A more traditional daytime bookstore opened just off the street. Juliet Books & Beautiful Things opened Tuesday, July 28 at 200 Parkthrough St., in the former Tart's Barbershop space. Owner Marcie Montague stocks fiction, nonfiction, romance, mysteries, children's books, curated used books and gifts from local artisans. An upstairs "Little Loft" serves younger readers, and the store plans storytimes, book clubs and author appearances. Its grand-opening celebration was Sept. 19. Between them, the two shops cover both halves of the day. Juliet handles the Saturday-morning visit, and The Arcane handles the evening after it.
Downtown Cary Park, a short walk from the Academy Street end of Chatham, fills its calendar with smaller recurring programs, but its biggest October events follow the same clock. Of the five headline events listed below, four start at 2 p.m. or later and run into the night.
These dates fit neatly with the restaurant hours. The Night Market falls on a Friday, and Lloyd's serves dinner from 4 p.m. that day, so a table before the market and a walk to the park afterward fits in one evening. The Oct. 24 screenings land on a Saturday, when Lloyd's dinner service starts at 5 p.m. Looking ahead, the park lists a daytime event in November: the free Taste of China Food and Culture Festival, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 327 S. Academy St.
The same pattern shows up out by MacGregor Downs. Insomnia Cookies held its grand opening on Aug. 29 at MacGregor Village, 107 Edinburgh South Drive, Suite 141. WRAL reported that it stays open until 1 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. The N&O called it the chain's first Cary shop. It's a small opening, but it's the latest-closing new business on this list. It sits in a shopping center most residents around the MacGregor Downs course already pass on routine errands.
The biggest addition to the evening scene is still to come. Doherty's has been around the Triangle since 1997, when Michael Doherty opened Tir Na Nog in downtown Raleigh. It later became Connolly's Irish Pub in Cary and took the Doherty's name in 2012. The N&O reported that the team spent years looking for a building near downtown Cary before signing at 701 E. Chatham. Once it opens, it will be a 13-minute drive from the existing Cary location on High House Road. As of The Cary Report's Sept. 23 update, Doherty's hadn't announced an opening date.
One other piece is still open. Ralph Ashworth said in 2024 that the drugstore building would stay standing and that he would find a new use for it. No new tenant has been announced. For now, the "Corner Dog" served across the street is the only part of Ashworth's still on the menu downtown.
Living near a club often means choosing where you'll want to spend your evenings as much as which course you'll play. If downtown Cary's new evening scene is part of your thinking about Prestonwood, MacGregor Downs or another Triangle club community, Eddie Niemeyer can show you how each one connects to Chatham Street and the park on a weeknight. Schedule a free consultation and start with the evening you want.
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