Uptown Closed, Owner Refocuses

Uptown on East Front Street in Traverse City has closed. Owner Paul Barbas tells The Ticker he closed the doors this past Saturday night. He and wife Brigette opened Uptown – their third Traverse City restaurant – in the spring of 2013.

Barbas says while the location is great, the space ended up not working out for the restaurant. However, he is taking the restaurant concept and launching Uptown Catering. He says a deal is nearly done to be the preferred caterer for events at Ecco event space in downtown TC.

Barbas also recently sold his share in The Metro Coney & Grill near Chums Corner in June. The restaurant was a partnership between the Barbases and Mike and Ann Zipser. The Zipsers' son Shawn bought the Barbases out.

Barbas says by going from three restaurants down to one allows the restaurateurs to really focus on and expand Opa! – with plans to incorporate some of Uptown's specialties into the menu and bring its Cruvinet wine system to the location – as well as to launch into catering.