After Towel City Tavern, Downtown Kannapolis Evenings Center on the Swanee Block

For two years, 126 West Ave. was the place where a night downtown could start with smoked brisket and end on a rooftop that looked into Atrium Health Ballpark. Towel City Tavern announced it would serve its last meals on Sunday, Sept. 27, after opening in summer 2024. The owners didn't give a public reason for closing. Their farewell called the spot a gathering place for "nights out after a ballgame with friends" and for "families around the table."

The Observer's closure report didn't name a replacement tenant for the building. So for the rest of 2026, downtown's evening shifts a short walk up the street, to the stretch of West Avenue around the Swanee Theatre at No. 200. That block holds a theater with shows booked into late December, a food hall, a Latin street grill, a brewery, a cidery, and a cocktail bar, all within a few addresses of each other.

What the ballpark end held

Towel City paired barbecue with Cabarrus Brewing Co. beer. The menu was built on ribs, smoked brisket, and smothered pork chops, and the bar poured wine, cocktails, and zero-proof drinks along with drafts. The restaurant sat so close to the ballpark that guests could watch a Kannapolis Cannon Ballers game from the roof.

It also showed up for the wider community. When the closure was announced, Cabarrus Arts Council executive director Liz Fitzgerald wrote that she was "grateful for the support Towel City gave to the arts council over the past few years." The owners' farewell pointed to the "incredible rebirth" of downtown. The Observer counts 40 new businesses and restaurants opening there in recent years, plus the ballpark itself. Many of those businesses are on the next block over, and that's where the fall calendar is.

A 1940 mill theater with a 2026 booking calendar

Cannon Mills built the Swanee in 1940 as a single-screen movie house for mill workers and the wider community. It closed on Dec. 31, 1971. After that it served as a city welcome center and museum and later held community college offices. The City of Kannapolis bought the building in 2015, and the theater's own history says it was extensively restored in 2022 and now hosts live music and events.

The Swanee's events calendar runs from tribute bands to a bookstore party to a staged holiday classic:

Captain Mike and the ShipWrecked is a Jimmy Buffett tribute, and doors open at 7 p.m. for both the Oct. 9 show and ZZ Top Notch on Oct. 17. The Book Ball is the most unusual night on the list. It runs from 8 p.m. to midnight and includes a book marketplace, themed drinks, music, and a countdown to the midnight release. It also links the theater to a downtown shop. Editions Coffee Shop & Bookstore at 217 S. Main St. sells coffee alongside new, used, and collectible books.

The 200 block, address by address

The block works for a night out because everything is so close together. Across West Avenue from the Swanee's No. 200, the addresses run like this:

• The Bank Food Hall, 201 West Ave. Burgers, sushi, pizza, salads, and smoothies under one roof, with a full bar. Its website lists seasonal hours.
• Sabor Latin Street Grill, 203 West Ave. Tacos, arepas, empanadas, burritos, and bowls.
• Old Armor Beer Company, 211 West Ave. A craft brewery and taproom.
• Tipsy Hare Ciderworks, 211 West Ave. Shares the address with Old Armor. Explore Cabarrus calls it the county's first cidery.
• West Loop Local, 231 West Ave. Cocktails plus sandwiches, salads, charcuterie, snacks, and sweets.

An 8 p.m. show with doors at 7 leaves time for dinner a few doors down without moving the car. A group that can't agree on dinner has the most options at the food hall. If one person wants a beer and another wants cider, both are at 211. West Loop Local's mix of cocktails and charcuterie works for a drink after the show, since it doesn't require a full meal.

The 100 block covers the other ends of the evening

Walk back toward the ballpark and the 100 block of West Avenue still fills in the hours before and after a show, even with Towel City closed.

Chophouse 101, at 101 West Ave., serves steaks, chops, seafood, chicken, and burgers. It's the sit-down dinner choice on the street, and an August 2026 dining feature calls it a downtown dinner destination. Two doors up, B&K Tea Cafe at 103 West Ave. makes handcrafted bubble tea and customizable boba. My Sister's Place Ice Cream & Fudge at 111 A West Ave. sells ice cream and fudge. Local Patriot Roasting Co., at 139 West Ave., is a veteran-owned coffee shop.

Those four make the 100 block a good fit for a Christmas Carol matinee on Sunday, Dec. 20: coffee beforehand, ice cream or boba after the 3 p.m. curtain, and all of it within walking distance of the theater. Hours for many of these businesses change by season and aren't printed with dates in the county visitor directory, so call ahead before you plan around a specific stop.

City Hall and Village Park fill the nights the Swanee doesn't

Theater nights cluster on weekends, and the City of Kannapolis calendar covers many of the gaps.

The city's mystery dinner theater, "Death is a Cabernet, Ol' Chum," comes back on Friday, Nov. 6, at the Laureate Center in City Hall, 401 Laureate Way. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner is at 6, the show starts at 7, and tickets are $30. That's the night before Late Night Special plays the Swanee on Nov. 7. Book both and you have two dinner-and-a-show evenings downtown on back-to-back nights.

Earlier in the day:

1. Princess Breakfast, Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 to 11 a.m., in the Village Park Program Room, $10 per person. ZZ Top Notch plays the Swanee that night, so a family can do the morning event and adults can do the evening show on the same Saturday.
2. Run Kannapolis: 5K Race for Peace, Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m., at the NC Research Campus.

Holiday season opens at Village Park on back-to-back nights in November:

1. Tree Lighting & Fireworks, Friday, Nov. 13, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
2. Celebration of Light & Winterland Express, Saturday, Nov. 14, starting at 5:30 p.m.

Pandora's Box plays the Swanee at 8 p.m. on Nov. 14, so that Saturday can start with the city's light celebration and end with an Aerosmith tribute on West Avenue.

What to watch at 126 West Ave.

The building Towel City leaves behind has one feature nothing else downtown has, which is a rooftop facing the ballpark. The closure report didn't say what comes next for the space. Whoever takes the space next will decide whether the ballpark end of West Avenue becomes an evening stop again. Until then, the busiest weeks downtown fall where the Swanee calendar and the city calendar overlap: Oct. 17, the Nov. 6–7 weekend, and Nov. 13–14.

If seeing downtown Kannapolis change one storefront at a time has you wondering what your own place is worth, Angela Craghead Realty Group follows the same blocks closely and can give you a clear, local read. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, and talk with our team whenever you're ready.