When Breadman’s customers arrived at the restaurant Aug. 6, they found more than an empty dining room. The doors of the Elliott Square location were padlocked by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office after the restaurant and its owners defaulted on their lease, ending the latest chapter of a Chapel Hill institution that has served generations of customers.
The closure followed months of unpaid rent. Landlord Tyler Lusk with SouthCoast Commercial LLC said the restaurant had not made rent payments during their period of ownership. Multiple attempts were made to arrange payment, but agreements with the tenant were not fulfilled, he said.
“We’re not in the business of kicking tenants out that don’t want out, but we are in the business of collecting rent and enforcing the leases that we purchase,” Lusk said…