Jerry Southard started working at Hop's Bar-B-Q when he was 14, and he never left. He went on to own the place and cooked from his own recipes, including the barbecue sauce people knew it for. When he died suddenly at 67 in February 2025, he had not yet passed those recipes on. His son Jeremy kept the restaurant at 240 Sunset Ave. going for another season and a half. Then in July he announced that Hop's would close for good on Saturday, Aug. 29. During those final weeks it was open Wednesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Those hours explain the story. Hop's ran on a breakfast-and-lunch schedule that fit a downtown where people came in for the morning and midday shift. The food-and-drink spots that opened on and around Sunset Avenue in 2026 tend to unlock their doors in the afternoon and stay open until 10 p.m. or midnight. Downtown Asheboro's busiest hours are moving later, and this year's openings and closings show it block by block.
The Crowd Hop's Was Built Around
Burl Hopkins opened Hop's in 1952 in an odd little building at 240 Sunset Ave. County GIS records date it to 1930, and before the restaurant it is believed to have been a car lot or a taxi stand. Hop's started out serving short orders and sandwiches. Joe Turner owned it next, and then Jerry Southard took over.
When he spoke to Randolph Hub about the closing, Jeremy Southard traced the restaurant's slowdown back to the mills:
"Up until the '90s, tons of people in textiles came for breakfast and lunch. We always had the clientele for that."
COVID came next. Hop's got by on a drive-thru in its parking lot while downtown events were canceled and few people came into the center of town. After that came higher prices, thinner margins, and trouble hiring. Jeremy's aunt retired around the time his father died. The family had hoped to update and modernize the restaurant, but the building wasn't for sale, so the repairs and upgrades that come with owning the property weren't possible.
"We would have loved to keep it open," Jeremy said.
So a downtown institution closed on a daytime schedule whose original customers had been thinning out for about 30 years. As of early October, local coverage hasn't reported a buyer, a new tenant, or any plan for 240 Sunset Ave.
This Year's Openings Start Around the Time Hop's Closed
Put the hours of 2026's downtown food-and-drink arrivals beside Hop's, and they barely overlap.
| Spot | Address | Status | Posted or planned hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hop's Bar-B-Q | 240 Sunset Ave. | Announced final day Aug. 29 | Wed–Sat, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| Cloud Wine | 103 N. Fayetteville St. | Opened April 10 | Tue–Sat, 3–10 p.m. |
| The Corner Joint | 141 Sunset Ave. | Grand opening set for June 25 | Tue–Thu, 3 p.m.–midnight; Fri–Sun, 11 a.m.–midnight |
| Ashe & Vine | 152 Sunset Ave. | Hoping to open mid-October | Tue–Thu, 4–9 p.m.; Fri–Sat, 1–10 p.m. |
Cloud Wine opened April 10 with wine, craft beer, cocktails, cold cuts, sandwiches, and wraps. Owner Marco Layedra said he planned to add a full kitchen with Italian, Caribbean, and other dishes. The spot's tourism listing sums up the offer as "Wine • Craft Beer • Bites • Good Vibes."
The Corner Joint moved into the former Carolina Tap House space at 141 Sunset Ave. Owners Ciera Martin and Gavin Brady described it as a cocktail lounge that also serves soft drinks and mocktails so families can come in too. It has a stage big enough for a full band, a rolling library ladder behind the bar, and plans for food trucks Thursday through Saturday. "Everybody is welcome to come in and watch a band or karaoke," Martin told Randolph Hub. The latest dated posts from the business are from late August and included a karaoke night on Aug. 26 starting at 8 p.m.
Ashe & Vine is going into 152 Sunset Ave., where Lumina Wine & Beer operated for about 17 years. Andy and Lisa Doss chose the name after Gov. Samuel Ashe, the city's namesake. The plan is wine, craft beer, and spirits, bottles to go, occasional live music on the patio, and Saturday wine tastings. As of late September they were painting, putting in equipment, and setting up tables inside and on the patio, with a mid-October opening in mind.
Two of those three addresses were already evening spots. The Corner Joint took over from a taphouse, and Ashe & Vine is taking over from a wine shop. The late-afternoon and evening side of Sunset Avenue is turning over within the same kind of business. The breakfast counter at 240 Sunset doesn't have a reported successor.
The Daytime Storefronts Are Turning Into Shops
Downtown's daytime slots are being filled, just mostly by retail and appointment-based businesses rather than another breakfast-and-lunch counter.
- Afterlife Antiques & Curiosities opened July 3 at 325-B Sunset Ave. in a store of its own.
- Collective Interiors moved from 113 N. Church St. to a bigger space at 129 Sunset Ave. The retail floor was open by May, and an upstairs design studio by appointment was targeted for September.
- Oak and Iron Mercantile took Collective's old spot at 113 N. Church St. with a mix of furniture and home decor, and set its grand opening for the Oct. 3 Fall Festival.
- Back Stage Barber Club, a men's grooming lounge, opened upstairs at 109 North St., looking toward Sunset Avenue and Bicentennial Park.
- Canvas & Cargo brought European antique furniture to 508 Hoover St., starting with a public open house on Sept. 2 and switching to appointment-only visits afterward.
The largest new daytime draw is educational. On Jan. 23, Randolph Community College opened its Education & Engagement Center at 135 Sunset Ave. It offers workforce training, small-business support, and student services, a few doors from where the Corner Joint and Collective Interiors now operate.
People who come downtown during the day now have shops to browse, classes to take, and appointments to keep. Then, from about 3 p.m. on, the bars and wine rooms open.
The Fall Calendar Already Runs Into the Evening
Many of downtown's scheduled events this fall land in the hours the new spots are open. Ashe & Vine's owners have said they plan to be open during downtown events. Here's what's still coming:
- Historic Downtown Asheboro GHOSTWALK, every Tuesday from Oct. 6 to Oct. 27, with tours at 7 and 8 p.m.
- Who Killed Elvis?, staged by Randolph Youth Theater Company at the Sunset Theatre, Oct. 8–11.
- Friday Night Bluegrass: Tim Moon's Talent Showcase, Part 1, at the Sunset Theatre on Oct. 16, followed by Part 2 on Nov. 20.
- Mayor's Walk for Great Trails State Day, Saturday, Oct. 17 at 9 a.m., at Cone Health ZooCity Sportsplex, 2981 Zoo Parkway.
- BOO at the NC Zoo on Oct. 17–18 and Oct. 24–25.
- Four Old Broads on the High Seas, put on by RSVP Community Theatre at the Historic Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Ave., Oct. 23–25 and Oct. 30–Nov. 1.
- Veterans Day Parade, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 4–5 p.m., the same day as a Charters of Freedom dedication on Worth Street.
The Sunset Theatre sits just a few doors from the old Hop's building. Tuesday Ghostwalk tours fall on a night when the Corner Joint opens at 3 p.m. and Ashe & Vine plans to be open until 9.
Local beer is part of the evening picture too. Four Saints Brewing, at 218 S. Fayetteville St., took part in ASHEtoberfest at Bicentennial Park on Sept. 19, an event with beer, food, music, and activities. Over Labor Day weekend, the North Carolina Zoo started selling beer and wine, including two Four Saints beers, and guests can carry their drinks through permitted outdoor areas.
What's Still Unsettled Downtown
Hop's empty building is one of several downtown projects without a set date.
Renovation of the Bank Hotel at 115 S. Fayetteville St. had reached flooring repairs by July. The first two floors were done, and the other floors and a planned addition were still underway, and that July report gave no opening date. Construction on the roughly three-acre David and Pauline Jarrell Center City Garden on South Cox Street started in April 2026, and the city expects it to open in late 2026 or early 2027. A $225,000 state grant will help pay for the Trade and North Street project, which includes burying utilities and improving streets and sidewalks. The city expects construction to start in 2027.
There's also money available to fill storefronts. This spring the City of Asheboro started a small-business incentive program offering hiring support and grants that cover up to half the eligible cost of improving vacant or underused commercial property. Downtown Asheboro Inc.'s Duke Energy-backed Business Boost program closed applications Sept. 30 for grants of up to $2,500, and recipients will be announced Nov. 1.
Whoever ends up at 240 Sunset Ave. will choose their own hours. The two closest blocks of Sunset Avenue now have a lounge open until midnight, a wine bar planning to open around 4 p.m., and a theater with shows on Friday nights.
If you own a home or a commercial building near downtown and want to know what changes like the turnover on Sunset Avenue could mean for your property, Pam Robbins is happy to talk it through with you, neighbor to neighbor. You can learn more on our Asheboro neighborhood page, or schedule a consultation and we'll go over what's happening on your block.
