When Kristian Bawcom and his wife strike up conversations with neighbors around their vacation home in the Wrightsville Beach area, the restaurant inevitably comes up. They’ve been the owners of the Chapel Hill-based mainstay Four Corners for 15 years.
“People would say, ‘Oh, you need to open one here,'” Bawcom said. “‘That’s just what this area needs.'”
Now, that wish is coming true. It started falling into place as soon as Bawcom saw that the space at 2025 Eastwood Road in Wilmington was for sale. It’s the former Boca Bay restaurant that eventually became Soundside Seafood & Raw Bar, which closed in November 2022.
Bawcom had a career in restaurants, working in Texas and Florida, before taking over Four Corners. He was immediately drawn to the restaurant’s long history. Named for fabled basketball coach Dean Smith’s famous “four corners” offense strategy, the restaurant has been a part of Franklin Street and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill community for 45 years.
Timeless classics: Your guide to the oldest restaurants in the Wilmington area