The Southern Kitchen and Bar in downtown Asheville to change hands

Joel Hartzler, owner of The Southern Kitchen and Bar, a popular downtown bar/restaurant, announced Friday that he plans to sell the business to a new owner. The new owner plans to retain the current staff and continue operating as is, Hartzler says.

The prime location, 41 N. Lexington Ave. at the corner of Walnut Street and Lexington, had been home to Old Europe coffee shop. The spot had been vacant for about a year before Hartzler opened The Southern in 2010.

Hartzler says his goal when he opened was to fill a niche between locations that served straight bar food and those that went for the sit-down dinner.

“We wanted to be the bar with the best food in town. We wanted to offer local, organic food and do everything from scratch,” he says. “We did that really well for a couple of years, and then other people jumped in.”

Hartzler moved to Asheville from Portland, Oregon, nine years ago. He owned two bars there and says he swore he wasn’t going to “sell liquor for a living” ever again. Still, that’s what he did upon arriving in Asheville.

“I call myself a ‘publican,’ since that’s what I do. I own bars. I’m a re-publican. I’m the most left-leaning re-publican there is,” he jokes.

Hartzler said he and his family have already re-located to Wilmington, N.C. Hartzler is a fan of Crossfit, and he says he plans to open a Crossfit gym there soon. Hartzler has earned the first level of certification to be a Crossfit coach about a year ago, and back in March, Hartzler won an online contest to host an official Crossfit contest in his garage. Two Crossfit Games stars -Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson and Dan Bailey – competed in his Candler garage.