Pittsboro, NC – Long before “craft beer” became a buzzword and brewpub patios turned into year-round community living rooms, Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery — known to generations of locals and students simply as TOPO—was a bold bet on downtown Chapel Hill’s future. Founded by Scott Maitland while he was still a UNC law student, the Franklin Street landmark grew from an idea sparked by a fear familiar to many small towns: that a national chain could flatten local character. What followed was a mix of entrepreneurship, civic ambition, legal improvisation, and cultural timing—plus a steady stream of personal stories from people who say the place helped shape their lives, from first dates to engagements to wedding receptions.
TOPO’s origin story is not a neat “startup success” parable. It is messier—and more instructive. Maitland arrived in North Carolina after a winding path that included growing up near East Los Angeles, attending West Point, serving in the Gulf War, and working in politics, before landing at UNC on scholarship. In a talk captured on video—part local history, part entrepreneurship lesson—he describes seeing how communities change, how downtowns can be remade, and how a single gathering place can knit together groups that otherwise rarely mix. His goal, he said, was to build a space where different parts of Chapel Hill could come together, not another bar aimed at one slice of the town.
Decades later, TOPO sits at Franklin and Columbia—one of Chapel Hill’s most visible corners—still functioning as restaurant, brewery, and event space, with an adjacent distilling operation that expanded the brand’s footprint and ambitions…